Ontario program cutbacks a "blatant attack" on the elderly, poor: NDP


Oct 09, 2008
Romina Maurino
THE CANADIAN PRESS http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/515022

TORONTO–People trying to raise their grandchildren with limited financial means are being advised by the province to go on welfare rather than receive a few hundred dollars from a government program each month to help cover their expenses.

In what critics called it a "blatant attack" on vulnerable families by a government that has promised to fight poverty, the province is changing the rules for who qualifies for the Ontario Works Temporary Care Assistance program.

That means living arrangements that show any sign of permanence – such as grandparents taking their grandchildren to sporting events – will disqualify people from financial assistance.

"It's like any other parents: If they are in need, there are other benefits. There is Ontario Works and they are also eligible for Ontario Child Benefits," Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur said today.

"If they qualify for welfare, they will receive welfare, like any other mother who has two or three children and is in a difficult situation."

NDP critic Paul Miller called the changes a "blatant attack on our province's most vulnerable," saying most grandparents only receive between $200 and $300 a month from the program, which they use to pay for activities, bills or even maintain their homes.

"Cut off grandmothers who need it the most, trying to bring up their grandchildren – that's a real example of a war on poverty," Miller said.

"We're worried about crime, we're worried about our streets, we're worried kids with guns. Does poverty go hand-in-hand with that? I think so. So what are we doing here? We're creating another poverty situation to add to our poverty situation to add to our social breakdown."

Erlene Weaver, a 70-year-old woman raising three grandchildren in Hamilton, said she was cut off two-and-a half years ago without explanation.

She's worried that changes announced this week will leave others among the 20,000 people raising grandchildren in similar situations.

"Everything is a struggle," said Weaver, founder of the Hamilton-based support group Raising Our Children's Kids.

"I have no medical coverage. It's almost like we're in the Third World – my kids get no dental, no eyeglasses.

"I had to give up Christmas two years ago because between glasses and dental, it cost over $2,000 just before Christmas."

Under the government program, she had been receiving $561 a month for three children.

"It's very costly just to buy them clothes and shoes," said Beverly McIntosh, 61, a grandmother raising two kids with fetal alcohol syndrome and other disorders.

"It's very expensive nowadays and my pension does not go up."

She has had to re-mortgage her house since taking in her grandkids, and now owes $120,000 on a property that used to belong to her.

"When I'm 65 I will lose my work pension, I'll be living on the government pension, and I think I'll have to sell my house so that we can live," she said.

The government said it changed the rules to ensure "consistency" after learning that when municipalities were left to administer the funding, people in Hamilton and Ottawa were being cut off when their situation wasn't deemed temporary enough, while those in other cities continued to receive assistance.

Before the changes, people with children under 18 who needed the help were eligible for the Temporary Care Assistance program "for as long as they require care."

Meilleur said the changes weren't about savings but rather about whether the 5,000 recipients were entitled to the benefit.

"This is going to be reviewed in the poverty reduction strategy and there may be different decisions there, but for now the rules that are in place will apply," she said.