1. INCREASE
Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) TO RATE OF INFLATION
AUGMENTATION des prestations DU Programme
ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées (posph) au taux d’inflation
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COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION as amended
That
Council approve that the City of Ottawa collaborate with the provincial
government in order to raise the subsidy of the Ontario Disability Support
Program to the provincial cost of living (inflation rate) and to take into
consideration the situation of persons in charge of persons with disabilities
in this raise.
Recommandation modifiÉEs du comité
Que le Conseil
approuve que la Ville d'Ottawa collabore avec le gouvernement provincial dans
le but d'augmenter les prestations du Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées en fonction du coût de la vie dans la province
(taux d'inflation) et, en déterminant cette augmentation, de prendre en
considération la situation des personnes s'occupant de personnes handicapées.
DOCUMENTATION
1.
Committee Coordinator report dated 11
October 2007
(ACS2007-CCV-POI-0004).
2.
Extract of Draft Minute, 1 November
2007.
3.
Canadian Mental Health Association
letter dated 1 November 2007.
Report
to/Rapport au:
Community and Protective Services Committee
Comité des services communautaires et de
protection
and Council / et au Conseil
11 October 2007 / le 11 octobre 2007
Submitted by/Soumis par: Chair, Poverty Issues
Advisory Committee
Présidente, Comité consultatif sur
les questions liées à la pauvreté
Contact
Person/Personne-ressource: Brenda Emond,
Advisory Committee Coordinator/Coordonnatrice
de comités consultatifs
City Clerk’s Branch/Direction du greffe
(613) 580-2424 x21801, Brenda.Emond@ottawa.ca
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Ref N°: ACS2007-CCV-POI-0004
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SUBJECT:
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INCREASE Ontario Disability
Support Program (ODSP) TO RATE OF
INFLATION
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OBJET:
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AUGMENTATION des
prestations DU Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées
(posph) au taux d’inflation
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REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
That the Poverty Issues Advisory Committee recommend that the Community
and Protective Service Committee recommend to Council:
1. To take into consideration that the
issues relative to the socio-economical conditions of persons with disabilities
constitute human rights.
2. That the City of Ottawa collaborate
with the provincial government in order to raise the subsidy of the Ontario
Disability Support Program to the provincial cost of living (inflation rate)
and to take into consideration the situation of persons in charge of persons
with disabilities in this raise.
RECOMMANDATIONS DU RAPPORT
Que le Comité consultatif sur les questions liées à la pauvreté recommande au Comité
des services communautaires et de protection de recommander au Conseil :
1. de
tenir compte du fait que les questions liées aux conditions socio-économiques
des personnes handicapées ressortissent aux droits de la personne;
2. de
décider que la Ville d'Ottawa collaborera avec le gouvernement provincial dans
le but d'augmenter les prestations du Programme ontarien de soutien aux personnes handicapées en fonction du coût de la vie dans la province
(taux d'inflation) et, en déterminant cette augmentation, de prendre en
considération la situation des personnes s'occupant de personnes handicapées.
BACKGROUND
The mandate of the Poverty Issues Advisory
Committee is to provide advice to Ottawa City Council, through the Community
and Protective Services Committee, and its Departments, on issues that impact
and address poverty in the City.
The Poverty Issues Advisory Committee heard from delegations at its
meeting on 11 September 2007. The
following are examples of exclusion and marginalization that persons with
disabilities are facing in society despite the Canadian Charter of Rights
and Freedoms which prohibits discrimination on the basis of physical or
mental disability as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code:
- the Government of
Ontario has never taken inflation into account during the very few raises
of ODSP over the last 15 years;
- no dental coverage for
crowns;
- being penalized from
ODSP due to the fact that you have worked previously and are now receiving
CPP;
- not enough money to
cover cost to live on a monthly basis
CONSULTATION
Staff in
Community and Protective Services were consulted and support
the recommendation outlined in this report
Legal Services has reviewed this report in particular with
respect to Recommendation 1 and is unclear as to its intent and corresponding
legal implications. In this regard it
may be helpful that, prior to considering Recommendation 1, the term “human
rights” be clarified by the Advisory Committee. Generally speaking, the Federal and Provincial human rights
legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. However, those Acts do not broadly require a
positive action on the part of government agencies to improve the
socio-economic status of persons with disabilities. If that is the intent of the first recommendation, then further
analysis may be required prior to Committee and Council approving
Recommendation 1.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no direct
financial implications associated with this report.
DISPOSITION
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION
Attachment 1 – Letter dated 18 September 2007 from Lesley Gabos
Attachment 2 – Draft Minute extract of 11 September 2007
Attachment
1
September 18, 2007
Poverty Advisory Committee (PIAC)
Ottawa City Hall
110 Laurier Avenue West
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 1J1
Ontario
Disability Support Program (ODSP)
Dear PIAC Members,
My
name is Lesley Gabos and I made a presentation along with my colleague Michael
Seguin in front of your Committee during your September 11, 2007 meeting. The purpose of this letter is to inform you
about the problem we are having with the Ontario Disability Support Program.
In
May 2007, my wife had a dental problem and she had to have her tooth taken out
because it could not be saved. She also
needed to have a crown made but it could not be done. When I discussed the issue with ODSP, I was informed that it is
my problem, and that my wife should have all her teeth taken out because a
crown was not an option for her because she was doing public speaking at the
time. I tried to contact my MPP as well
as my MP for help without success.
It
is also important to note that the Government of Ontario has never take into
account the inflation during the very few raises of ODSP for the last 15 years.
These
are blatant examples of exclusion and marginalization that persons with
disabilities are facing in our society despite the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code.
We
would like to ask PIAC to forward this letter to the City of Ottawa councillors
as well as any other person that can help resolve this issue.
Best
Regards,
Lesley
Gabos.
Attachment
2
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Poverty Issues
Advisory
Committee
Minutes 7
11 september 2007
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Comité consultatif
sur les
questions liÉes À la
pauvretÉ
Procès-verbal 7
le 11 septembre 2007
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ONTARIO DISABILITY
SUPPORT PROGRAM (ODSP) RATES
PROGRAMME ONTARIEN DE SOUTIEN AUX PERSONNES HANDICAPÉES (POSPH)
Lesley Gabos explained that in May 2007,
his wife had a dental problem and she had to have her tooth taken out because
it could not be saved. She also needed
to have a crown made but it could not be done.
When he discussed this issue with ODSP, he was informed that it was his
problem, and that his wife should have all her teeth taken out because a crown
was not an option for her. He tried to
contact his MPP as well as his MP for help without success. He noted that the Government of Ontario has
never taken inflation into account during the very few raises of ODSP over the
last 15 years. He emphasized that these
were blatant examples of exclusion and marginalization that persons with
disabilities are facing in society despite the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which prohibits
discrimination on the basis of physical or mental disability as well as the Ontario Human Rights Code.
He asked that PIAC forward a letter to councillors as well as any
other person that may help resolve this issue.
Michael Seguin stated that although he
was single, he deals with the same situation as Mr. Gabos of not having enough
money to live on a monthly basis. He supported
the request for the Committee’s assistance.
Catherine Gardner stated that she was
being penalized from ODSP due to fact that she had worked previously and is now
receiving CPP. She echoed previous
comments and further suggested that the Committee request the City to lobby the
provincial government for funding of repairs on all social housing units.
Moved by F.
Dufresne
The Poverty Issues Advisory Committee request that the Community
Protective Service Committee and City Council take into consideration that the
issues relative to the socio-economical conditions of persons with disabilities
constitute human rights and that the City collaborate with the provincial
government in order to raise the subsidy of the Ontario Disability Support
Program to the provincial cost of living (inflation rate) and to take into
consideration the situation of persons in charge of persons with disabilities
in this raise.
CARRIED
Ottawa Branch, Section d’Ottawa
1355 Bank Street, Suite 301
Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8K7
Tel:
(613) 737-7791
Fax:
(613) 737-7644
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November 1st, 2007
Re: PIAC
Recommendation to raise ODSP Ref #
ACS2007-CCV-PO1- 0004
Dear Chairperson Deans and Members
of the Community and Protective Services
Committee,
Our
Support and Request
On behalf of the Financial Accessibility
Committee of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch (CMHA), we would like to express our strong support
for the concerns and ideas raised in the PIAC report referenced above.
We
ask that the City of Ottawa Council send a strong message to the Ontario
Government that Ontario must take real action to end poverty, including raising
social assistance rates to an adequate level. The Ontario Liberals campaigned on a
promise for a “Poverty Reduction Strategy”.
Now is a very good time to remind the Ontario Government that a
fundamental underpinning of a poverty reduction strategy is social assistance
rates that are set at levels that ensure access to basic needs including
adequate housing, sufficient, nutritious food, over-the-counter medicines and
toiletries, transportation and clothing.
Social assistance rates must also be indexed annually to inflation.
Poverty,
Disability and Serious Mental Illness
Particular attention needs to be paid to
the poverty experienced by individuals with disabilities. People with disabilities are twice as
likely to be living in poverty. The majority of CMHA clients receive Ontario
Disability Support Program (ODSP) benefits as their primary source of
income. For single individuals, ODSP
rates are 58% below the Statistics Canada Low Income Cut-offs [LICO’s]. More than 45% of the 16,000 households
receiving ODSP in the Ottawa area are individuals living with serious mental
illnesses and they, like all ODSP recipients, are condemned to live in
poverty.
As you know, individuals receiving OW
benefits face even more grave economic circumstances. Are you also aware that a considerable number of OW recipients
are individuals with disabilities who are too unwell, or face too many
barriers, to access ODSP? Centre 454,
in partnership with CMHA and with the support of the City of Ottawa, has been
tackling this issue through the ODSP Application Support Project. We look forward to telling you more about
that project at a later date.
Reality
Signs
The 2nd Annual Vital Signs report which the
Community Foundation is presenting before your
Committee today highlights the growing gap between rich and poor people
in Ottawa. The truth of this can
readily be seen on our city streets. If
the report took socio-economic status into consideration when analyzing the
other indicators - safety, health and
wellness, learning, housing, environment and belonging - you would see how weak the vital signs are
for those living in poverty. Raising
social assistance rates to adequate levels will help facilitate access to many
other social determinants of health.
Poverty
and Human Rights
In 1976, the
Canadian government signed the United Nation’s International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights. This Covenant
states that it is every person’s right to have an adequate standard of living,
thereby defining poverty as a human rights issue.
Canada has not
met its commitment to this covenant, and in May 2006, the UN Committee on
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights rebuked Canada for its failure, over 30
years, to meet its treaty obligations.
We live in a prosperous country. Canada has the ability to end poverty for
its citizens. When is Canada going to start taking its
commitment to economic rights seriously?
When will all levels of government join together on a strategic and
coordinated plan to end poverty? We hope
that growing pressure from individuals and communities will help make this happen
very soon.
We urge Ottawa City Council to make ending
poverty a priority and to work with senior levels of government to meet this
important goal. Council’s support of
the concerns raised by PIAC and communication to the Ontario Government to take
real action to end poverty, including increasing social assistance to adequate
levels, is a step toward this goal.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Donald Shultz,
Chairperson Lisa
Jamieson, FAC Coordinator
Financial
Accessibility Committee CMHA