ODSP Action Coalition

Meet with Your MPP about ODSP and the Social Assistance Review

nancy — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:01:55 +0000

The ODSP Action Coalition's Public Awareness and Advocacy Committee has created a new Lobby Kit to help our members and supporters talk with their local Memeber of Provincial Parliament about the adequacy of social assistance rates, and other issues coming up in the Review of Social Assistance. You can access the Lobby Kit here:

http://sareview.ca/isac-resources/mpp-lobby-kit/

Employment Issues Discussed in 2nd Coalition Submission to Social Assistance Review

nancy — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 16:10:09 +0000

After meeting with the Commission for the Review of Social Assistance in early July, the ODSP Action Coalition decided we should do a follow-up submission on key issues and questions that emerged during our discussion with the Commiission. These issues include: whether people with disabilities should be divided into two groups--those who can work, and those who cannot work; whether there should be a requirement for people with disabilities to work, or to agree to treatment or rehabilitation in order to get income support; and whether the Accessibility for People with Disabilities Act is effective in removing barriers and making workplaces fully accommodating. We also stress in this submission that there are some good things in the ODSP Act, such as a definition of disability that recognizes that disability is not just a medical issue but includes factors like social barriers. Although the Coalition has always had lots of complaints about the way current program is

Coalition Meets Commission Reviewing Social Assistance

nancy — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 15:18:33 +0000

On July 6 representatives of the ODSP Action Coalition met with Francis Lankin and Munir Sheikh, the commissioners who are currently reviewing Ontario Works and ODSP. We gave them highlights from our submission, Dignity, Adequacy, Inclusion: Rethinking the Ontario Disability Support Program. We were impressed that they had taken the time to read our substantial brief (which we had sent in advance). Key recommendations which we highlighted included:

"TELLING OUR STORIES: Disability Should Not Equal Poverty" Report Released

nancy — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 14:25:51 +0000

236 people from all over Ontario who receive ODSP shared their struggles to survive with the ODSP Action Coalition. Their stories are summarized and quoted in a report released today, July 7 2010, at Toronto's Metro Hall.

The report is organized around the themes of

Adequacy: Living with Dignity;
Aspirations: Education & Employment
Stress & Social Interaction
Beyond the Basics
Program "Service"
Program Design

Running throughout the six categories are overlapping values and needs expressed: independence, choice, health and dignity.

The Coalition will be using this report, based on the lived experiences of the people who shared their stories, along with our Disability Declaration, in our advocacy work to push for an improved system of income and employment support for people with disabilities.

"STUPID RULES" CREATE DIRE CONSEQUENCES

nancy — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:38:47 +0000

The Coalition had an opportunity to meet with members of the Social Assistance Review Advisory Council (SARAC) in late January, and to present them with a list of quick changes that could be made to some of the "stupid rules" in ODSP. This Council was recently appointed by the government to give advice on two things: some "quick fix" changes to counterproductive rules, and the mandate and scope of a more conprehensive social assistance review to be carried out later this year.

ENDORSE THE DISABILITY DECLARATION

nancy — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 15:33:25 +0000

The ODSP Action Coalition is requesting individuals and groups to endorse our Disability Declaration. The Declaration sets out some of the rights that people with disabilities have according to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, and then states what changes the Ontario government needs to make to ODSP to fulfill those rights. Although Canada has not yet ratified the Convention, the Coalition beleives it is important for people with disabilities and organizations that work with them to use it in articulating how and why their needs must be met.