THUNDER BAY -- Thunder Bay-Superior North MPP Lise Vaugeois is taking a bite out of her food budget in a bid to highlight what she calls unacceptably low social assistance rates.
Vaugeois will join four NPD colleagues in limiting her spending on groceries to $95.21 over two weeks, an approximation of what an average recipient of social assistance can budget for food over that period.
Vaugeois and other participating MPPs, including Chandra Pasma, Monique Taylor, Jessica Bell, and Joel Harden, will track their spending for the campaign, and rely largely on walking and public transit for grocery trips, in the effort to call attention to the issue.
The campaign, announced in a press conference Tuesday, is intended to pressure the Ford government into doubling rates for recipients of the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW).
The government announced last month it would raise ODSP amounts by 5 per cent, to a maximum of $1,227, and tie it to inflation going forward.
OW has remained at $733 per month.
Advocates say those rates leave recipients trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Andrea Hatala, a co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition, spoke at Tuesday's press conference about her experience relying on the program.
The Ford government’s recent 5 per cent increase still leaves ODSP rates falling behind rising inflation, she said, and doesn’t address the fact those rates leave recipients trapped in poverty.
“No matter how careful I am, I find myself running out of money before the month is through,” she said, adding she sometimes has to turn to food banks and other programs to make ends meet. “We just want dignified lives and enough money to live on.”
Monique Taylor, NPD critic for Community and Social Services, said she hoped the stunt could put pressure on the government to double rates, while acknowledging MPPs would get only a taste of the challenges those on assistance face.
“People who are disabled are literally living in legislated poverty, and that’s why we’re doing this advocacy,” she said.
The maximum yearly ODSP amount of $14,724 falls well below the poverty line across Ontario, as calculated by Statistics Canada.
Vaugeois, the party’s critic for persons with disabilities and accessibility, argued the low rates perversely make it difficult for recipients to create stability in their lives and find time and energy to pursue work or participate in public life.
“We are MPPs, which means we have a public platform,” said Vaugeois. “We’re using our privilege as MPPs to amplify the voices of people who are simply not heard, not listened to often enough. We know the amount of OW, $733, is not even enough to pay for housing in most communities.”
ODSP, meanwhile, may cover rent but leaves little for groceries, let alone other basics, Vaugeois said.
At the presser, she also highlighted additional challenges for those in the north, including spottier or non-existent public transit.
NDP Poverty and Homelessness Reduction critic Chandra Pasma, meanwhile, challenged Ford and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Merrilee Fullerton to join them on the social assistance diet.
Last month, Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy declined to say whether he thought he could survive comfortably if he were relying on ODSP.
