NDP calls on province to cancel pilot program
American-based Fedcap soon to lead consortium to manage employment services in Niagara, Hamilton
A low-income advocacy group located in Maine says thousands of families in the state lost their government support after a New York City-based multinational corporation was brought in to run the state’s welfare and employment services.
And Niagara’s New Democrat representatives are asking the province to cancel its pilot program, after the same organization — Fedcap Rehabilitation Services Inc. — was hired to lead a consortium to manage employment services in Niagara and Hamilton.
Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Training and Skills Development announced last week that Fedcap would lead a consortium of four Toronto-based agencies, including the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, Community Living Toronto, Corbrook and Operation Springboard. The new “prototype” for service delivery is set to start in April.
Christine Hastedt, public policy director for Maine Equal Justice Partners, said her organization has continued to hear “very disturbing problems” from people who have been referred to Fedcap since 2017, when the non-profit corporation was given a $62-million five-year contract to run the programs.
But in some cases, people referred to Fedcap were given work assignments, despite having mental or physical disabilities, or a child with a significant disability.
“They basically can’t do what they’re being asked to do,” she said. “They aren’t appropriately accommodated for those conditions.”
As a result, Hastedt said program participants are being sanctioned and lose their benefits.
“That means a family that is getting $600 a month as a family of three, is going to lose everything,” she said. “They also lose all their supports, like childcare, education — all that stuff.”
She said up to half the 16,000 people referred to Fedcap may have been sanctioned, and the corporation has failed to re-engage with about 61 per cent of them.
Most of the cases Maine Equal Justice Partners have worked on have been resolved, “because they (Fedcap) were wrong. Cases were treated incorrectly in the first place.”
Department of Health and Human Services commissioner Jeanne Lambrew sent Fedcap senior vice-president Grant Collins a letter on March13, saying the organization “lacks capacity to fulfil its contractual obligations,” citing concerns including poor customer service, a lack of sensitivity, confidentiality and professionalism.
Fedcap did not respond to interview requests from The Standard.
Hastedt said her agency has since “seen some limited improvement, but we continue to see an unacceptable number of clients calling us with complaints.”
Niagara Centre MPP Jeff Burch shared the concerns in the legislature on Thursday.
“This government’s reckless decision to sell off employment services in Hamilton and Niagara to a US-based multinational corporation will leave people in my riding worse off,” he said.
“In Maine, only 10 per cent of participants were ever placed in any real skills training program, and 48 per cent of all participants lost their assistance without securing a job.”
“Based on this disastrous evidence from Maine, will the premier cancel the pilot program and admit that this was all a mistake?” Burch asked.
Minister of Labour is Monte McNaughton replied: “Only one per cent of people on OW and ODSP on a monthly basis are finding employment.”
“That is not good enough for Premier (Doug) Ford or our government. The opposition can continue to defend the status quo. We’re not going to do that.”
St. Catharines MPP Jennie Stevens and Niagara Falls MPP Wayne Gates shared Burch’s concerns in a media release.
Gates said if the experience in Maine “is any indicator, then people in our community have a high risk of losing their jobs, and if we include all of the service providers and front-line workers we may be looking at a lot of good paying jobs lost.” Stevens urged people to “stand up for these workers and their employment and say no to selling their livelihoods to an American company with no roots in Niagara.”