Speech not enough: poverty advocates; Affordable housing, minimum wage key to tackling issue

from The Sudbury Star

Diane Guertin rolled her eyes when she heard the provincial government pledged to reduce poverty in its Thursday afternoon throne speech.

"We've been hearing that same thing for about 20 years," she said. "There hasn't been any improvement in all those years."

Guertin should know. As a single mother raising two girls, she hovered around the poverty line working two jobs to make ends meet.

Now on Ontario Disability Support Program, Guertin said she was lucky to get into co-op housing a few months ago with her daughter and granddaughter.

"We had to stay in a friend's basement for a little while while we waited. There was just nowhere to go," said the 49-year-old.

Guertin is also on the front lines of the poverty battle, offering her services as a volunteer cook at The Samaritan Centre on Elgin Street.

"I do it because I love the people. This is one way I can help them," she said.

If it were up to her, the government would ensure Sudbury had an adequate supply of affordable housing. The minimum wage should also be higher, she said.

"How do you support two or three kids on minimum wage? You can't," she said.

New Lt.-Gov. David Onley read Thursday's speech from the throne on behalf of the Liberal government.

It outlined a plan to establish government targets for reducing poverty, including a $45-million dental plan for low-income families.

A new cabinet committee will begin work developing poverty indicators and targets and a focused strategy for making clear-cut progress on reducing child poverty," Onley said as he delivered the speech in a packed legislative chamber to open a new session.

The speech pledges to boost the minimum wage to $10.25 by 2010, increase child-care spaces and increase the new Ontario Child Benefit to $1,100 per child.

"There is going to be a focus on poverty," said Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci. "It's an investment in making Ontario a much stronger place."

His government's "creative" and "collaborative" approach to fighting poverty is going to make a difference, he said.

"Now, we have to be realistic in what our expectations and outcomes are," Bartolucci said, adding there will still be people living in poverty four years from now.

"I think, over the course of the next four years, you will see a very, very, very intense action plan on the part of the provincial government to make a difference," he said.

If politicians are serious about tackling poverty, they would make sure organizations fighting the issue had stable funding, said Tammy VanLimbeek, Elgin Street Mission administrator.

"We don't want funding for initiatives, but stable funding," she said. "Poverty is a long-term issue."

The normally 24-hour mission almost had to close its doors for the overnight hours of the winter season due to a funding crunch.

Community generosity, especially from Cambrian College students and staff, helped the agency reopen its doors at night.

The mission is located at The Samaritan Centre, along with the Blue Door Cafe, the Corner Clinic and First Steps to Freedom.

Jane Ansamaa, program director at First Steps, said the city needs more transitional housing.

Transitional housing provides shelter for homeless people, as well as support so they can gain independence and be successful when they find their own home.

"You can't put a person who is homeless in a home without giving them life skills," Ansamaa said. "Simple things like how to clean the house, shop for groceries and cook a meal."

The Ontario Works rate needs to be increased and people need to be given an opportunity to get the skills to get a job, Ansamaa said.

"There is nothing done to give them an opportunity to succeed," she said.

Nickel Belt MPP France Gelinas said she was "truly, truly disappointed" with the throne speech, calling it an "opportunity missed" to do something about poverty.

The Liberals could have provided some "concrete action that people agree will make a difference in the lives of people living in poverty," said the NDP MPP.

For example, the minimum wage should immediately be raised to $10 an hour, she said.

"Those people need that money now," she said.

Bartolucci said the Liberals campaigned on their timeline to increase the minimum wage, and they are going to stick to it.

Thousands of people are on the waiting list for subsidized housing and more needs to be done to provide child care, Gelinas said.

"Those people cannot wait for a committee to meet and do a report and start thinking," she said. "Those are things that could happen right now and none of that was in the throne speech. That was really disheartening."

Face of poverty

Poverty in Greater Sudbury

14,250 families lived below the poverty level in Greater Sudbury in 2005, down from 14,790 in 2000;

the child poverty rate in Sudbury was 22.3 per cent in 2005;

13,454 Sudburians visited local food banks in March 2006, up from 13,000 in 2005 and 11,000 in 2004.

Source: The Sudbury Community Foundation's 2007 Vital Signs report.