10PEOPLE. solutions for poverty
Civic-minded Torontonians offer suggestions to improve the city they love
When Joe Mihevc’s mother fled Slovenia as a refugee after the Second World War, one of her most precious belongings was her bicycle.
It was so important, she even brought it on the boat with her to Canada, recalls Mihevc, city councillor running for reelection in the new Ward 12 — Toronto-St. Paul’s. “As kids, we got paper routes and the first thing we did was buy a bike. It gave us mobility.”
Mihevc, who helped spark Toronto’s 20year poverty reduction strategy before the city’s last municipal election, believes cycling — including safe routes and more bike-sharing stations — should be part of the new city council’s commitment to the poverty-busting plan.
“And what about offering every kid on social assistance a bicycle for $5 or a Bike Share account for $5?” he asks.
“It’s just a small thing, but it promotes active living and could make a big difference in the life of a low-income family.”
About one in five city residents are living in poverty, a figure that jumps to more than 26 per cent for children under the age of 18, giving Toronto the shameful title of child poverty capital of Canada.
A household is considered to be living in poverty if their annual income is below Statistics Canada’s low-income measure, after taxes, which in Toronto in 2015 was $18,213 for a single person, $31,301 for a single parent with one child and $44,266 for a couple with two children.
TO Prosperity, unanimously approved by city council in 2015, committed the city to a 20-year strategy to ensure residents have access to quality jobs and livable incomes, nutritious food, high-quality and co-ordinated services, equitable transit and stable, affordable housing.
But Mihevc, who officially assumed the role of council’s poverty reduction advocate after Coun. Pam McConnell’s death in 2017, believes Toronto can — and must — do more.
After a series of public forums earlier this year, and consultations with a city advisory group of people living in poverty, Mihevc drafted a list of doable projects for council’s next four-year term.
In an open letter released last week, he is urging all municipal candidates and city staff to get on board.
“We can’t do everything, but we can do something,” he says in an interview.
“And this call goes out to all sectors — faith communities, philanthropic organizations, businesses, the private sector. Everyone needs to be part of the solution.”
Along with low-cost cycling options, Mihevc’s letter urges the city to step-up ef- forts to get community benefits agreements with all of its contractors, to ensure city spending supports good jobs and local businesses in disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
“Encouraging our contractors to exercise employment equity and pay livable incomes is getting your money to work for you twice,” he says.
Other suggestions include free internet in the city’s shelter system, online applications for Toronto Community Housing buildings to limit vacancies, expanding free learn-to-swim programs to every Grade 4 student, a community investment fund to seed nutritious food initiatives and a city directory of services for low-income residents to improve access.
“Poverty is not inevitable. It is a result of political, social and economic processes,” Mihevc says. “We have to make our poverty reduction strategy a living document for the whole city and not just for those whose business it is to care about poverty.”
Toronto’s Lived Experience Advisory Committee is helping to shape the city’s anti-poverty efforts. Ten committee members spoke to the Star about their experiences, their hardest day, the one small thing the city could do that would make a huge difference to them and the one big problem the city should fix.
“What about offering every kid on social assistance a bicycle for $5 or a Bike Share account for $5? It’s just a small thing, but it promotes active living and could make a big difference in the life of a low-income family.”
JOE MIHEVC
CITY COUNCILLOR FOR TORONTO—ST. PAUL’S