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From  http://www.makepovertyhistory.ca/en

On Sunday Stephen Harper called an election, and we launched our 'Vote to Make Poverty History' campaign. Our goal is to press all candidates to commit to ending poverty at home and abroad. And we need your help to do it.

Why don't you join us? Download our election kit to find out how you can get involved, for a quick preview read "8 ways to make poverty an election issue" online. Find a local group in your area on our website and contact them to find out their plans, or sign up to volunteer in your area.

I spent Sunday afternoon meeting in Toronto with about a dozen activists from all over Southern Ontario, discussing plans for the upcoming election. These include:

• printing and distributing posters, brochures and lawn signs;
• organizing all-candidates meetings in key swing ridings;
• creating and promoting online actions to connect voters with their candidates;
• implementing a national media strategy to raise poverty as an election issue;
• seeking endorsements from candidates of our Make Poverty History goals, and reporting back to you who will and will not work to make poverty history.

Make Poverty History is a non-partisan campaign, so we won't be telling you who to vote for. But we will be making sure that all candidates in this election face questions about what they - and their parties - will do to end poverty in Canada and overseas. We need to make sure that people who want your vote know you want them to work to make poverty history.

Thanks very much,

Dennis Howlett
Coordinator
Make Poverty History

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Open Letter To Premier And All MPPs Re: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

OPEN LETTER TO PREMIER AND ALL MPPS
Re: Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy

Dear Premier McGuinty:

As we approach the beginning of the Legislature’s fall session, a historic achievement on poverty reduction is within Ontario’s reach. Building on the past 12 months of consultation and deliberation, we are writing to urge you and your colleagues to put poverty reduction at the top of your agenda this fall and to deliver on a multi-year plan to cut poverty by 25% in 5 years, and at least 50% in 10 years, backed by significant investments.

With a federal election looming, we also urge you to call on the next federal government to play its part by becoming a significant funding partner in provincial poverty reduction strategies.

Last September over 100 organizations and individuals came together in a common call to all parties in the Ontario election to commit to reduce Ontario’s poverty rate by 25% within 5 years. Since then we have made progress. Last October, Premier McGuinty, you committed to make poverty reduction a political priority in your renewed mandate from the Ontario electorate. You established a new Cabinet Committee on Poverty Reduction and appointed Minister Deb Matthews responsible for leading development of Ontario’s Poverty Strategy. Last spring community consultations began.

The economic challenges that have recently beset our province have served to underscore the importance of tackling poverty. Not only should we be moved to action by the moral imperative that in our communities no one gets left behind, but we must also confront the economic imperative that we need all hands on deck if we are going to build a sustainable path to provincial prosperity into the future.

This past summer Minister Deb Matthews led a caucus-wide initiative to engage Ontarians about ideas for a Poverty Reduction Strategy. Between May and August, more than 50 community meetings took place across Ontario, from Thunder Bay to Windsor, Kincardine to Scarborough. As several thousand Ontarians came out to voice their opinion on how to reduce poverty in our province, the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction was there to take notes.

Attached is a report based on common messages that were heard in provincial poverty reduction consultations across the province. They include:

• Take the long-view: a successful strategy should be anchored in long term solutions with significant financial resources, not just quick fixes.
• Help everyone become their best: Ontario’s strategy should focus on preventing and ending poverty for all people, not just children. Those who live in poverty should continue to be consulted as the strategy is implemented and progress tracked.
• Make work pay: a Good Jobs Strategy must be an integral component of the plan - raise minimum wages, improve access to unionization, expand health benefits, update and enforce labour laws so that temporary and contract workers are protected.
• Ensure dignity for all: the Ontario Child Benefit should be increased and social assistance fundamentally reformed to ensure a livable income for all.
• Help build strong and supportive communities with affordable housing, early learning and child care, public education and community programs that help people connect.
• Count everyone in: the plan should include targeted measures to address the higher than average levels of poverty faced by Aboriginal People, racialized communities, newcomers, single mothers, and people with disabilities. Anti racism policies should be developed including employment equity.

We sincerely hope that these same messages are reflected in the Ontario government’s poverty reduction strategy scheduled to be released this coming December.

One year ago, your bold leadership gave hope to so many thousands of Ontarians living on low incomes. Tremendous gains have been made in the last year to help Ontarians recognize that all of us have a stake in reducing poverty levels and creating a more inclusive and equitable society. We urge you now to seize this historic moment by implementing a strategy that will allow us to join with your government in celebrating 25% reduction in poverty five years down the road.

Yours sincerely,
On behalf of 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction:

Peter Clutterbuck, Social Planning Network of Ontario
Mike Creek, Voices from the Street
Jacquie Maund, Ontario Campaign 2000

www.25in5.ca
c/o 355 Church St, Toronto M5B 1Z8

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Poverty Plan Needs Real Backbone, Ontarians Say

TORONTO, September 8 - If Ontario is going to seriously tackle poverty it must invest in a comprehensive multi-year plan, not just a set of quick fixes. That’s the message that government MPPs heard in more than 50 community consultations on poverty reduction over the summer, according to a new report by the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction.

In an open letter to Dalton McGuinty, the 25 in 5 Network is urging the Premier and his caucus to make poverty reduction a priority in the fall session and deliver a substantive anti-poverty plan by the end of the year. The open letter also calls on the Premier to put pressure at the federal level to ensure that the next federal government invests in provincial poverty reduction strategies.

“Ontarians have spoken loud and clear: minor tweaks to programs won’t cut it when it comes to serious change against poverty. It’s time for a bold, multi-year plan that invests significant dollars to cut poverty by 25% in 5 years and by 50% in the next decade,” said Mehroon Kassam, a member of the Social Planning Network of Ontario, a partner in the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction.

“Our economy has been growing for over 10 years, yet Ontario’s poverty rate remains stubbornly high at 10%. If there’s a downturn coming, it’s more important than ever for governments to invest in poverty reduction now when it can make a real difference for people facing difficult times ahead,” said Jacquie Maund, of Ontario Campaign 2000, a 25 in 5 member organization.

Partners in the 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction have participated in 50 meetings across the province between May and August to provide community input to Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.

“Thousands of people have come out to community meetings to let our politicians know what’s needed to end poverty in our province. We’ve been listening, and we expect government to act on the recommendations, especially those made by low-income people,” said Michael Creek, of Voices From the Street and 25 in 5.

Partners tracked all the consultations in a consolidated report, available at www.povertywatchontario.ca. Recommendations from across the province include:

• Develop a strategy that seeks to end poverty for all people, not just children and families;
• Set targets of 25% reduction in poverty over 5 years, and indicators to track progress;
• Include a Good Jobs Strategy with increased minimum wage, access to unionization, health benefits for all, and stronger labour laws that protect contract and temporary workers;
• Target measures to address the increased poverty faced by Aboriginal people, racialized communities, newcomers, single mothers, and people with disabilities;
• Reform social assistance so people who can’t work full time have adequate incomes to meet the cost of living, and the supports they need;
• Invest in community supports such as affordable housing, early learning and child care spaces, education and training, and public transit.

The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction will continue to monitor the government’s commitment on poverty reduction. A series of public events are scheduled around October 17 (the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty) to continue to build momentum for a strong Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy.

Summary Report: Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Consultations (March-August 2008)

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The 25 in 5 Network for Poverty Reduction is a province-wide Ontario coalition of over 100 organizations and individuals calling for a 25 per cent reduction in poverty in Ontario in five years. For more information see: www.25in5.ca

Media contacts:
Jennefer Laidley, Income Security Advocacy Centre, (416) 597-5820 x5150. Cell 416-523-5228
Peter Clutterbuck, Social Planning Network of Ontario (416) 653-7947 Cell 416-738-3228