Stop the War on the Poor

2nd page NEWS:
Toronto's Homeless Moose- July.2000 - Mayor Lastman's Moose in the city statues have been appearing in front of landmarks around Toronto. Now a homeless moose - pictured right - has been appearing in strange parts of the city. Apparently to haunt politicians on the  poverty problems they have been ignoring.
--------
Cut the Police Budget to Fund Housing - July 19, 2000
(Plummeting Crime Rate justifies reallocation of funds)
   Statistics released today show that the overall national crime rate has hit its lowest level in 20 years -- dropping 5% in the eighth consecutive year of decline. Toronto's crime rate has fallen drastically. It slid 7.9% from 1998-1999. Violent crime in the city is down 3.9% and property-related offences have dropped 6.5%.
   The drop is enough to justify reallocating some of the massive yearly police budget to things like housing and aid for tenants and the poor. The planned police helicopter project and Target Policing should simply be dropped. A sharp budget axe could easily chop 30 million dollars from the 524 million-dollar yearly police budget. This money could be used in social reallocation.
   We do have a problem in that councilors and the mayor don't have the courage to act, so let's hope that the many social justice groups in Toronto will see the light and start lobby for a reallocation of funds. Excess dollars are being spent on needless over policing in this city.
--------
Poverty the Heritage of Young Canadian Families - July.2000
   The Canadian Fact Book on Poverty, just released by the Canadian Council on Social Development says that the percentage of young Canadian families living in poverty has more than doubled in a generation to 46.1 per cent.
   In Toronto, the poverty line for a family of two is defined by a low-income cut-off of $17,705 annually after taxes. For a family of four, the cut-off is $27,890. Considering the high cost of housing in Toronto, $17,705 certainly is living in poverty.
   One out of five of Canada's youngest citizens are growing up in poverty. The market system has not delivered jobs or reasonable to pay to these people.
   The report notes that Canada stands out in the international community as having no coherent family policy. A patchwork of programs is in place across the country.
--------
Harris spends $782,000 on Welfare Cuts Pamphlet - July.2000
   You'd think welfare cuts were the only issue in Ontario. The Harris government's email bulletin talks of nothing else. And now Mighty Mike is spending $782,000 in public money on a pamphlet extolling its record on welfare.
   John Baird, the Social Services Minister calls it an exercise in accountability. The four million pamphlets don't mention that many people have been cut off social assistance only to create a larger financial burden on community services by being homeless on the streets.
   Earlier this year the Tories spent $5-million on ads to attack the federal government. In June, the education ministry spent about $200,000 on radio ads attacking teachers.
--------
Toronto Squeegee Youth Program extended - July.2000
    A successful program that helps get squeegee kids into counselling, training and education has been extended another year.
   The Squeegee Working Youth Mobilization (SWYM) initiative passed through the community services committee yesterday by a unanimous vote.
   Brad Duguid, the committee chairman, said that's because the program has proved so successful.122 squeegee kids who have graduated from the SWYM program since last July are now  leading productive lives.
   The federal government contributed a $400,000 grant from Human Resources Development Canada to start the 10-week courses and City Hall is currently in negotiations with Ottawa to secure additional funding for next year.
   Olivia Chow, a Downtown councillor and the city's advocate for youth issues, said giving squeegee kids opportunities with a program designed especially for them has proved cheaper than allowing the youths to drift aimlessly toward more nefarious pursuits. Given that it costs between $60,000 and $100,000 to keep one person in jail for a year, spending $250,000 to help scores of teens at risk is as financially prudent as it is socially responsible.
--------
UN Leads Weak Attempt to Cut World Poverty - July.2000
   A United Nations special assembly on poverty reduction ended at the weekend with a pledge to halve the numbers living in extreme poverty by 2015.
   Development and labor groups said they were disappointed at the weak outcome of the summit, called to review progress since the UN social summit in Copenhagen five years ago.
   Kofi Annan, UN secretary general, personally came in for severe criticism for putting the UN's name on a joint report, by the World Bank, the IMF and the OECD. The report in question, A Better World For All, outlines seven uncontroversial anti-poverty objectives, including cutting child mortality and enrolling all children in primary school. However, the NGOs criticized the final policy section, which appears to imply UN endorsement for the market-led development model of the Bretton Woods institutions dominated by the rich nations and the US in particular. The World Council of Churches accused Annan of taking part in a "propaganda exercise" for international financial institutions.
   The 40-page summit declaration for the first time includes a time-bound pledge to halve extreme poverty - defined as income of $1 a day or less - by 2015. But while endorsing existing policies on development aid and debt relief, the non-binding declaration says little on new resources and contains no commitments to a follow-up meeting to review progress.
--------
Harris Appeal of anti-Women Welfare Law a Disgrace- July.2000
   Though the court accused the Tories of governing according to myths in regards to women, Mike Harris will appeal a court decision that struck down his spouse-in-the-house rule on welfare.
   The rule violates the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Four women launched a lawsuit in 1995 after the government changed the definition of common-law spouse in its welfare law.
   In the 85-page decision, the court said the law exacts from women a price payable in human dignity by forcing them to turn to a man, rather than the state, for support. The evidence shows that frequently the effect is that she and her children are forced to be economically tied to a man, or that she must give up having live-in relationships or even merely sharing accommodation with men. Such a state requirement is inimical to the human dignity of the single mother and is demanded only of persons receiving income assistance.
   More than 10,000 women have been victimized by this change to the Family Benefits Act and it is an outright disgrace for Mike Harris to be using public money in a legal attempt to reinstate the law.
--------
New Site - SHELTERNET B.C
http://members.home.net/shelterpete/shelternet.htm
   Resource listing for shelters in British Columbia, Canada. The site provides information to ShelterNet BC members as well as collects news stories, commentary and information around the issue of homlessness in BC and Canada.
--------
Safe Streets Act challenge - July.2000 -  Peter Rosenthal, lawyer for the Toronto Disaster  Relief Committee says that The Safe Streets Act challenge will be heard the week of January 8, 2001.
   Peter will be in court on Sept 25 to put it over to   that date, and decide which cases to procede on.
--------
Harris humiliated in court appeal over welfare moms - June.2000
   The Harris government has lost a court bid to reinstate its policy of reducing welfare assistance for mothers who live with a common-law partner.
  In a 2-1 ruling the Divisional Court confirmed that to compel a common-law partner to support a welfare mother financially regardless of the permanence of the relationship would be a violation of the couple's constitutional rights.
   In August, 1998, the Social Assistance Review Board said the government's policy violated the privacy and non-discrimination rights of mothers on welfare, who were forced to divulge personal details. It also created a chill on their ability to form new relationships.
   Judges wrote that the government based its policy on "false stereotypes and myths . . ."
--------
Showdown at Queen's Park - Toronto, June 15 2000
*Just in - June Fifteenth Queen's Park Protesters on Bail
(Three Denied Bail - Racism in the Courts)
Poverty Protesters Battle Police as Mike Harris Refuses to Address Poverty Issues
- read a complete report
--------
End Social Condition Discrimination - June.2000
   A panel report just delivered to Justice Minister Anne McLellan recommends expanding the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on social condition.
   "To have that recognition will make an immeasurable difference in poor people's lives,'' said Laurie Rektor of the National Anti-Poverty Organization. According to Rekto the biggest problem the poor face is stereotypes blaming them for their poverty.
--------
Week of Resistance to Poverty & Homelessness Begins Monday June 11.2000
From: David McNally <dmcnally@yorku.ca>