MacLeod needs to understand the working poor

Low-income people chip in, too, writes Douglas Pawson

The new Ontario government has decided to cancel the basic income pilot project, and to reduce increases to social assistance rates to 1.5 per cent from the planned three per cent this year. It is a stingy increase that will give little help to individuals; neither will it save much public money if it maintains people’s reliance on social housing or food banks.

But program and budget cuts are the simplest decisions to make; the policies that will alleviate poverty — and reduce dependence on social assistance — are much more complex.

The most recent data from the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (MCSS) showed that in June 2018 there were almost one million beneficiaries of social assistance programs in Ontario (including dependents of recipients). Of those, 507,320 were beneficiaries of ODSP, the province’s Disability Supports Program, and 457,245 were beneficiaries of Ontario Works.

What does “being on social assistance” look like?

A single person on Ontario Works receives a maximum of $721 a month, with $384 of that allocated for shelter. A single person on ODSP receives a maximum of $1,151 a month with $489 for shelter. With inflation at 2.4 per cent and market rent in Ottawa for a one-bedroom apartment averaging $1,023 a month, a 1.5-percent increase to social assistance keeps basic needs, including housing, out of reach.

The rationale provided by Lisa MacLeod, the minister responsible for MCSS (and the MPP for Nepean), was “to do more than just help people remain mired in poverty.” MacLeod went further, echoing former premier Mike Harris, “but let me be clear: the best social program is a job, for those who can get one.”

Reducing poverty is always a good thing. But reducing income supports is not the best way to motivate people to “get a job, if they can get one.” Before I explore a more compassionate solution, I want to share my experience.

Many of our clients tell us they work because a job gives them confidence and hope.

At Causeway, we support people who have been excluded from the labour force as they find their way into jobs, including with our own social businesses. Every year, we serve hundreds of individuals, most of whom are beneficiaries of social assistance. Every day, we’re privileged to see the resilience our clients display as they work to find and maintain a job.

Many of our clients have been forced to use up all their resources — liquidate assets or separate from their families — in order to qualify for social assistance. They resorted to living in deep poverty to ensure they had access to a low-but-stable income and health benefits.

If MacLeod and the Progressive Conservative government are interested in supporting people mired in poverty, they might wish to look at existing regulations that entrap people in the system. For example, ODSP has a myriad of regulations as to how earned income is treated. It’s confusing and serves as a deterrent for many who would like to work. Allowing people to have a flat-rate earned-income exemption adjusted to their municipality’s poverty line might encourage people to work and plan for their future.

In Causeway’s four social enterprises, virtually everyone we hire receives social assistance. Yet they come to work day after day. They come to work to earn a wage that allows them to buy groceries, pay their bills, or have a bit of extra money to enjoy a modicum of a social life. Many of our clients tell us they work because a job gives them confidence and hope. More importantly, it gives them a chance to contribute.

I would encourage MacLeod to come visit us at Causeway. Stop by for lunch at our social enterprise, Krackers Katering. Take a tour and see all that people who live in poverty contribute. Cutting planned increases will not lift them out of poverty. Nor will it decrease social spending.

I encourage her to learn from those who are directly affected by these cuts and how they now have to adjust their future plans. But what I really want MacLeod to see is how people who already live in poverty continue to work — to work hard, despite their conditions, to find ways to contribute to the fabric of our community.