Visit The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty's website to get more information and to join the fight to raise social assitance rates and re-instate The Special Diet.

Welfare Rates are Making Us Sick: Poverty, Health and Fighting Austerity

Calling all health care providers, health and public sector workers, poor people, anti-poverty activists and allies!

The Ontario Council for Hospital Unions, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty, Ontario Nurses Association and Health Providers Against Poverty invite you to join us on September 8th and 9th for an important and timely public forum and conference on poverty, health, austerity and how we can fight back together.

Public Evening Forum
Thursday, September 8th 6-9pm Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St, Toronto

Featuring panel discussion with:
• Angela Robertson (Women’s College Hospital, former Executive Director of Sistering)
• Community Organizers from Ontario Coalition Against Poverty and Jane-Finch Action Against Poverty
• Special Video Launch of a joint project between OCHU and OCAP on ‘Raise the Rates and the Special Diet’
Moderated by Michael Hurley and Patti Encinas of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions
*Food and on-site childcare provided*

One-day Conference *Free*
Friday, September 9th Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St, Toronto

Workshops, training and discussions on:
- Poverty and health: How does poverty in Ontario today determine illness?
- Understanding social assistance, cuts to the Special Diet and support for the Raise the Rates
Campaign
- Austerity and health: How cuts to healthcare, social programs and the public sector are related,
and why they are making us sick.
- Campaigns and strategies for fighting back!

*Pre-registration is requested to determine accessibility needs, space and meals
* For more information and to register, please contact: raisetheratescampaign@gmail.com OR 416-925-6939
Raise the Rates! ocap.ca
Poverty in Ontario is steadily increasing, and while the rich are getting richer, the poor are losing their livelihoods, their homes and are having difficulty providing for themselves and others. With the financial crisis used as a catalyst to cut from those who make the least, attacks on the most vulnerable in our country are becoming more brazen and the financial gap between the rich and poor gets wider every day.

One cause of this increased wage gap is the cut to the Special Diet - a food supplement program which provided up to $250 a month for those who could not afford to eat healthy food. This program is being replaced by a system which would exclude a significant portion of those who were previously using it to ensure they had access to decent meals.

Good paying jobs are also at risk, with library closures, entire board dismissals, system-wide cuts, privatization and more in the city of Toronto. These cuts hurt our communities by selling off public assets, removing good jobs, and decreasing the amount of services available to you as a member of your community.

Poverty and the Provincial Budget



Health, Jobs, and Resistance


On March 25th The McGuinty government released Ontario's 2010 budget which announced the cut to The Special Diet Allowance. Even before the predicted cuts to public services, poor and working people are being forced to endure the devastating brunt of the recession. From piecemeal job cuts to impudent attacks on social programs, provincial policies are already starving Ontario families.

Visit The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty's website to get more information and to join the fight to raise social assitance rates and re-instate The Special Diet.

Links

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