Ottawa ACORN Rally for Improved Social Assistance
- Article Information
- Category: Other Updates & Local Campaigns
- Created on Monday, 14 May 2012 19:38
Ottawa ACORN members and our allies from the Put Food in the Budget campaign will take Dalton McGuinty shopping to show how social assistance is failing recipients who are trying to buy healthy food for their families. There will be a press event and outreach in front of 1465 Merivale Rd (Food Basics) on Thurs, May 24 at 12 noon.
Ottawa ACORN & Put Food in the Budget are calling for an increase in Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program.
Ottawa Citizen: Tenants group presses for better housing standards
- Article Information
- Category: Affordable Liveable Housing
- Created on Thursday, 10 May 2012 19:20
OTTAWA — Members of Ottawa ACORN rallied Wednesday in Sandalwood Park to press the City of Ottawa for better housing standards in their battle to get quicker action from landlords on repair and maintenance issues.
About 20 members were at the park near Herongate Mall, holding signs that read “We Want Healthy Homes” and “Make Landlords Accountable” and reiterating their concerns about the need to live in safe and clean housing.
ACORN Ottawa has about 9,700 members and is one of the largest tenant organizations in the city.
1310 News: Herongate residents denounce 'appalling' living conditions
- Article Information
- Category: Affordable Liveable Housing
- Created on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 22:44
Their bathrooms are leaking, their ceilings are caving.
Some homes have birds nesting in the walls, other mould growing on the window sills. Many have been waiting months on end for their landlord to make repairs.
Now they are calling for the city to step in.
Members of ACORN Ottawa, a low to moderate income rights group, is pushing for better housing and more rights for tenants as part of its campaign for healthy homes in the city.
A group of about 20 residents and ACORN members rallied at Sandalwood Park Wednesday afternoon.
CFRA: ACORN Urges McGuinty To Lower Cost of Living In Ontario
- Article Information
- Category: Ottawa Living Wage Campaign
- Created on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 15:01
Ottawa ACORN members are demanding an increase to raise social assistance rates.
They'll be petitioning on Mayview Avenue just off Merivale Road this afternoon. Nathalie is a single mother who lives in Carlington. She says the cost of living is too high. "When you go to work, then Ottawa Housing boosts up your rent. And then...you find yourself paying your whole paycheck. So it's like almost the same thing as being on social assistance so it's like a repetitive circle and there's no way out of it."
The group will be sending post cards to Premier Dalton McGuinty urging his government to take action.
CFRA: ACORN Calls for Healthy Homes
- Article Information
- Category: Affordable Liveable Housing
- Created on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 14:57
Ottawa ACORN wants to make sure tenants live in safe and clean housing.
The group will launch a campaign today for Healthy Homes in Ottawa.
ACORN wants the City of Ottawa to create an action plan on how to bring problem properties to a "Healthy Home" standard, including a minimum timeframe for landlords to respond to repairs and maintenance requests and improving the fine system.
The City is also being urged to improve the minimum standards for residential properties
CBC: What new Canadians should know about the tax system
- Article Information
- Category: Financial Literacy and Free Tax Prep
- Created on Monday, 30 April 2012 16:34
When Tahir Mazari arrived in Canada in 1999 from Afghanistan, filing his taxes for the first time was a challenging task. "At the beginning it was difficult for me [knowing] what to do, but some of my friends helped me," he said. "We [didn’t have] that system in our country. It was very new to us."
Mazari now volunteers in Ottawa at ACORN Canada to help new Canadians with their taxes come tax time.
"Usually they come to file their taxes, but they are not familiar with the documents," he said.
Canadians who have lived in the country all their lives struggle every year to file their taxes, but new immigrants not familiar with the system may face even greater challenges.
