MPP plans public round table on poverty

from the Guelph Mercury

Nicole Visschedyk

GUELPH

MPP Liz Sandals will hold a public forum at the end of June with the goal of tackling local poverty, and how the provincial government can be involved.

"We will have a round table so we can get input from interested organizations," Sandals said. "I will make sure the information gets back to the ministers' table."

George Kelly works with the Guelph-Wellington Coalition for Social Justice, which works to end poverty. Kelly said Guelph has some serious poverty issues. An increasing number of people can't pay for food and housing, he said.

"People have to be pretty desperate to use a food bank," he said.

Kelly thinks another big part of the problem is a lack of quality employment.

"We need ways to replace blue-collar jobs with green-economy jobs."

Sandals identified three main groups of people living in poverty who will be the focus of the forum.

People identified with some kind of disability, or who are on disability support, is the first group. The second is people on welfare or in welfare-to-work programs; people without jobs, "who we hope will eventually go back into the workforce," Sandals said.

The third group is the working poor -- people who have jobs but are still unable to meet their food and housing needs.

"From an Ontario government perspective, how do we set up a program that helps all three?" Sandals asked.

Kelly believes a key component is guaranteed income.

He hopes there will be discussion around a guaranteed wage for all Ontarians.

"We need an income floor of some kind so people aren't falling through the cracks," he said. "The city also needs more affordable housing so people don't have to spend more than 30 per cent of their money of a house."

Sandals said the annual influx of university students exacerbates the housing issue.

Children are often the first victims of poverty in the city and their concerns need to be front and centre during any discussion, she said.

"The support for children needs to be tied to the child and not to the reason for the low income," Sandals said.

Kelly agrees, and said the best way to find working solutions is through partnerships with the poor, who should be included in any policy discussion.

"We don't want to go in assuming we know what's best for people," he said.

For more information about the upcoming forum, contact Sandals's constituency office at 519-836-4190.

nvisschedyk@guelphmercury.com

if you're interested

The public forum is scheduled for late June. Anyone wanting more information should call MPP Liz Sandals's constituency office at 519-836-4190.