The Association of Ontario Health Centres (AOHC) welcomes the government’s continued commitment to tackle poverty with the focus on health benefits and ending homelessness in Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2014-2019. However, the plan fails to include specific targets and timelines with an implementation plan.
Cutting poverty rates in Ontario is essential to achieving community health and wellbeing. This second Poverty Reduction Strategy takes a significant step to address the impact of poverty on health with the commitment to provide health benefits, such as free prescription drugs, vision care and mental health services, to low income children. The plan recommits to reducing child poverty by 25 per cent, but sets no target date for this goal.
“Expanding public health benefits for low income children will help reduce child and family poverty while improving health and wellbeing for vulnerable children. We urge the government to keep moving forward to improve health outcomes and cut poverty rates by ensuring access to prescription drugs and oral health care for low income adults as well,” said Jacquie Maund, Policy and Government Relations Lead, AOHC.
“AOHC strongly supports the new focus in Ontario’s Poverty Reduction Strategy on ending homelessness, but we are disappointed that the strategy includes no targets, timelines or implementation plan to achieve this goal. We urge the government to set an interim target with a timeline and immediately begin discussions with stakeholders so that programs and funding can be identified for the 2015 Ontario budget,” said Adrianna Tetley, CEO, Association of Ontario Health Centres.
The province will seek expert advice to measure homelessness, set targets and develop evidence-based solutions. AOHC is keen to provide input to this work as a number of our member health centres have expertise based on the services they now provide to people who are homeless or insecurely housed.
The new strategy commits to continued transformation of social assistance, and to removal of barriers to employment for vulnerable groups through partnership programs. However, no new funding commitments are made beyond the 2014 budget or new programs included in the strategy. AOHC has called on the government to increase the minimum wage to $14/hour by 2015 but the strategy proposes no further increases to minimum wage beyond inflation indexation.
In summary, AOHC commends the Ontario government for re-affirming its commitment to poverty reduction but warns that new investment will be required if Ontario is to successfully end homelessness and meet the 25 percent target to cut child poverty. AOHC will work with our partners in the anti- poverty movement to press the government for credible targets and timelines and an implementation plan with adequate funding.
As Minister Responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy and President of Treasury Board, Minister Deb Matthews needs to identify the revenue tools to ensure sufficient public resources to make the required investments in poverty eradication.
AOHC knows from our work with the Canadian Index of Wellbeing that most Ontarians have not seen a strong improvement in their living standards since 2007 as evidenced in Ontario’s growing income gap, higher rates of precarious employment and the poor quality of job creation. Continued progress in eradicating poverty in Ontario is essential if we are to achieve better population health and reduce health care costs, increased productivity, greater social cohesion and improved life opportunities for marginalized people.
Read a copy of the strategy at www.ontario.ca/povertyreduction (link is external)