The hopelessness of Ontario’s poor has never been more apparent than during this past provincial election campaign. In 2003, there was great hope that the new Liberal government would bring relief to those who had suffered under two terms of the Conservative government’s "Common Sense Revolution." Among other things, those 8 years saw funding for social assistance benefits slashed by 21.6 per cent, stricter policies for qualifying for social assistance benefits enforced, funding for non-profit housing abruptly cancelled, and no increase in the hourly minimum wage.
Led by Dalton McGuinty, the Liberals won the 2003 election with promises of change. But in the almost 4 years since then, low-income people have seen little change in their situations.
Hope for decisive action under the new Liberal government quickly evaporated. One example: Social assistance was only increased by a mere 5 percent, which left many citizens far below the poverty line. After inflation is taken into account, people on social assistance were actually worse off than before. Compounding this was the fact that 20,000 new affordable housing units promised in 2003 have only translated into 6724 built --or in progress-- so far. This is even more frustrating knowing the Liberals have $392 million in funding from the federal government available for these homes, but won’t touch it (since they’re in dispute with the federal government over the amount). As a result, families on the waiting list for affordable housing can anticipate up to a 10-year wait. So a single person over 50 on social assistance has little hope of ever acquiring this affordable housing.
The working poor have also been hit hard by slow government anti-poverty action. The minimum hourly wage has gone up to $8 from $6.85, but it’s still badly inadequate. According to information published by the Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC), low-wage earners are 10 percent worse off than they were in 1995, even before the Conservatives were in power.
Hunger and homelessness are also issues for Ontarians. Churches and non-profit groups struggle to catch those who fall through the "holes in the social safety nets" with food banks, emergency shelters, soup kitchens, and community programs. If the low-wage earners have to use these kinds of services just to get by during this time of economic stability, what would happen to them if the economy took a downturn?
It all comes as no surprise then that low-income Ontarians were the ones least likely to vote in the past provincial election. Hopefulness at the outcome of the 2003 provincial election has turned to despondency. They feel that no one is listening. When the primary focus this time was on health care, education, and property tax assessments, low-income voters despaired to see that anti-poverty action was only on a few candidates’ agendas.
But public apathy is what has allowed the government to put these issues on the back burner. If there are enough voices demanding change, the government will have to heed the demands. Although we must continue to educate people about the reality of being poor, it’s disheartening to think that we know more than our opinions and actions show. For example, 90 percent of 501 voters polled by SES Research/ Osprey Media believe that poverty is the same or worse than it was in 2003 when the Liberals first came into power. Those polled were right: Ontario’s poverty numbers have grown. Some hoped that voter awareness of the Liberal governments failure to reduce poverty could cost them the election. But reducing poverty wasn’t a major issue in the election campaign. It wasn’t even a minor one. This strongly indicates the general level of apathy toward the plight of the poor. If we don’t care, why should the government?
The election campaign may be over, but it’s not the time to give up hope. It’s even more important to continue advocating for the poor by challenging middle-class consciousness. We need to keep talking until enough people care enough to demand change from the government, because it’s going to take the combined effort of the community and the government to make change happen.
Robyn Lee is a regular contributor to The Social Edge.
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