Staggering poverty report has province listening 2007
Ian Urquhart
In the rest of the province
and the country,
The reality is quite
different, according to a report to be released today by the
But
The median family income
in
Even more troubling than this
snapshot is the trend line: the number of families living below the poverty
line in
Here's another staggering
statistic: families below the poverty line now represent 28.8 per cent of
all
"Our city is changing in
ways that pose a threat to its social cohesion and quality of life,"
concludes the
There are various reasons for
this:
High-paying manufacturing
jobs have been replaced by lower-paying and temporary service jobs – or what
the report calls "precarious employment."
The rules for employment
insurance, based on the old fat cat assumption, discriminate against
What this means is that, when
the next recession hits, the vast majority of its victims will have to depend
on welfare, which is partly financed by the city, rather than employment
insurance, which is entirely funded by
"So the prospect of an
economic downturn remains one of the most serious threats to the health of the
city," says the
The question is: what should
be done about it?
The report makes several
recommendations, including a Toronto-specific anti-poverty policy (as part
of a broader strategy for the whole province) and a comprehensive non-profit
housing program.
The report also calls for much
stricter regulation of the payday lending shops that prey on the poor with
annualized interest rates in excess of 400 per cent. (The
Finally, the report
recommends a loosening of the EI eligibility rules for
With the notable exception of
the EI rules, all of these recommendations are within the jurisdiction of the
province.
Fortunately, the provincial
government appears to be listening. United Way president Frances Lankin was shopping her report around Queen's Park last
week and found an attentive audience.
So we can likely expect to
see some of the report's recommendations reflected in Thursday's throne speech
at Queen's Park.
As for the
EI rules, since the issue involves
Ian Urquhart's provincial
affairs column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Email:
iurquha@thestar.ca