Help stop Ford government’s ‘extremely damaging’ social service cuts, city council urged

Thestar.com
December 18, 2019
Laurie Monsebraaten

Toronto Councillors Brad Bradford and Paul Ainslie are urging city council to oppose $1 billion in Ford government cuts to social services, including plans to limit eligibility for the Ontario Disability Support Program.

In a motion before council Wednesday, Bradford (Ward 19 Beaches-East York) and Ainslie (Ward 24 Scarborough-Guildwood) say these plans “have the potential to create significant financial challenges for vulnerable Torontonians.”

Roughly 120,000 people in Toronto rely on ODSP, which provides up to $1,169 a month for basic needs and shelter.

The proposed plan to narrow the definition of disability could make it more difficult to qualify for ODSP, especially for people with episodic disabilities such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and some mental illnesses and cancers.

And it could force them to rely on even more meagre support through Ontario Works (OW), which provides just $733 a month, they say in their motion.

“In the Toronto context, that would be extremely damaging for some of our most vulnerable residents,” Bradford said in an interview.

Both programs force people to live on incomes significantly below Canada’s new official poverty line, as defined in the 2019 federal poverty reduction strategy, the motion notes. The ODSP monthly benefit falls 32 per cent short, while OW is a staggering 57 per cent below the federal poverty line of $21,207 a year for a single person.

The city’s recently approved four-year action plan to cut poverty warned that provincial regulatory and funding changes to social assistance will have “detrimental consequences” for low-income residents and for Toronto’s ability to respond, the motion adds.

It’s important for council to speak up because “at the end of the day, when the province pulls back, who’s left holding the bag? It’s the municipality,” Bradford added.

Bradford acknowledged Ontario’s bureaucratic and rule-bound social assistance program is in serious need of an overhaul. But he said announcing sweeping changes “and then trying to figure out how to do it after ... is not a smart way to make policy.”

The province instead should be consulting with people who use the system and those who administer it, he added.

Many groups have urged the province to maintain the current definition of disability, including the Defend Disability coalition of more than 80 health-care providers, social service groups and people living on social assistance, who held a Queen’s Park news conference last week.

Children, Community and Social Services Minister Todd Smith has said the province is “continuing to review” social assistance and that a recent auditor general’s report that flagged a 50-per-cent increase in the number of ODSP recipients “shows we need to do something.”

On Dec. 13, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released mandate letters for cabinet ministers, including an expectation that Carla Qualtrough, minister for employment, workforce development and disability inclusion, conduct a “comprehensive review” of disability inclusion and support, including a new definition of disability consistent with the recently approved Accessible Canada Act.

When asked if Smith would ensure Ontario’s definition matched an expected broadening of the federal definition, a spokeswoman said the minister’s “previous statements stand ... however, we look forward to working with our federal counterparts and discussing how we can best support people with disabilities.”