06) WORSE THAN HARRIS: ONTARIO'S NEW SOCIAL ASSISTANCE CUTS

By Jean Kenyon

     When Premier Mike Harris slashed welfare and froze disability benefits in 1995, he subsequently mitigated some of the worst impacts by introducing two new benefits in 1997. One was the Community Start‑Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB), which a recipient could access once every two years for special housing needs, such as first and last month's rent or getting disconnected utilities turned back on. The second was a Discretionary Benefit for welfare recipients, by which the municipality could dole out small amounts for adult dental work or food hampers.

     Well, Grinch McGuinty has decided these small graces are too rich for Ontarians to sustain. As of Dec. 31 the CSUMB will be gone and the Discretionary Benefit capped. It means the municipalities will get less than half of the money the province used to provide through both benefits. They will have to either slash benefits to the poorest people or jack up regressive property taxes, because municipalities aren't allowed to run a deficit.

     But the people of Ontario aren't taking it lying down. Town halls have been held around Ontario with speakers from Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and CUPE. Occupations of Liberal MPPs' offices have taken place from Sudbury to Kitchener ‑ especially at the office of Social Services minister John Milloy, whom activists have dubbed the Minister of Misery. Many more actions are planned throughout December.

     Meanwhile a long‑awaited review of social assistance was completed in October. Before the ink was even dry, Minister Milloy told the media that Ontario couldn't afford the recommended meagre $100/month increase.

     Alliances are now forming between poverty activists and the labour movement, stinging from McGuinty's assaults on public sector bargaining rights and wages. Watch for much new militancy in Ontario's streets in the new year.

(The above article is from the December 1-31, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)