Ontario urged to make ending child poverty an election issue
Annual child-poverty report being released in Ottawa Tuesday looks to all parties to address the issue in the 2018 Ontario election.

Thestar.com
Laurie Monsebraaten
Nov. 21, 2017

Ontario’s proposed $15 minimum wage, legislation to address precarious work and a plan to double the number of licensed child-care spots for young children represent promising progress in the battle against child poverty, a new report says.

But with a provincial election just over six months away, any gains could be swept away at the ballot box unless all parties make ending child poverty a key platform, warns Ontario Campaign 2000 in its annual report card being released today.

“Children and families in Ontario need commitments from all parties to say enough is enough,” says the network of advocacy groups dedicated to eliminating child poverty. “It is time to work together to ensure ending child and family poverty is a top priority.”

More than 475,000 Ontario children - or 17.2 per cent - are living in poverty, says the report, which uses 2015 taxfiler data, the most current available.

That is slightly below the Canadian average of 17.4 per cent, or 1.2 million children, according to the network’s national report, also being released Tuesday.