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Where compassion hides its face
The Toronto Star, (Canada's largest daily newspaper) by CAROL GOAR, Sep. 1,
2006 He was a nice kid. He didn't deserve to run into a voter like me. I
live in Parkdale-High Park, the west-end riding where a by-election is being
fought to replace Gerard Kennedy, who resigned his seat in the provincial
Legislature in May to run for the federal Liberal leadership. An earnest young
canvasser for New Democratic Party candidate Cheri DiNovo knocked on my door the
other day. He asked if I was aware there was a by-election going on. I said I
was. He asked if I had read any of DiNovo's campaign brochures. I said I had.
He tried to gauge whether I was a NDP supporter. I was unhelpful. Finally, he
asked whether I had any questions. I thought about smiling and saying no but
couldn't. "Well, yes, as a matter of fact," I said. "I don't see anything in Ms.
DiNovo's literature about raising social assistance rates. I'm concerned that
politicians at Queen's Park are ignoring the poorest people in the province."
He agreed emphatically and told me the NDP was committed to addressing their
plight.
"I can't find that in any of your party's policy statements." He started to
look nervous. "I haven't read our policies in detail since the last election,"
he said. Even then, the New Democrats weren't pledging to restore welfare
rates, which had been cut by 21.6 per cent by former premier Mike Harris. They
were merely promising to adjust benefits to cover market rents and provide more
help to people moving into the workforce. In fairness, that was more than the
Conservatives or Liberals were offering. Ernie Eves, who led the Tories to
defeat, was proposing a 5 per cent increase in payments for disabled welfare
recipients. Dalton McGuinty, who became premier, said his party would index
social assistance to the cost of living. He hasn't done even that. As the third
anniversary of the Liberal government approaches, inflation continues to erode
welfare incomes. Initially, McGuinty said he couldn't afford to protect the
poor from rising prices because of the $5.6 billion deficit he inherited.
Nevertheless, he found billions of dollars to pour into schools, universities
and health care. Then last spring, with the budget almost balanced, he
invested $1.2 billion in roads and subways. Meanwhile, he allocated $113 million
(over two years) to social assistance. Not surprisingly, the Tories were
uncritical. But the New Democrats did not raise much of an outcry either. Party
leader Howard Hampton called the budget "a missed opportunity for working
families." But what about housebound single mothers raising children on social
assistance that falls 53 per cent below the poverty line? What about people with
disabilities living on support payments that fall 45 per cent below the poverty
line? What about laid-off casual workers (who don't qualify for employment
insurance) subsisting on welfare cheques that fall 68 per cent below the poverty
line? No one at the Legislature is standing up for our most vulnerable
citizens. Most voters seem to find this acceptable. It is certainly not a
campaign issue in Parkdale-High Park. Conservative David Hutcheon is stressing
the need to crack down on crime, cut taxes and shorten waiting lists for health
care. Liberal Sylvia Watson is running on the McGuinty government's record of
investing in education, health care and community policing. Back at my
doorstep, the NDP volunteer was trying gamely to answer my questions, while his
partner shuffled uneasily on the sidewalk. "I can see that you need to go," I
said. "Thanks for dropping by." He suggested I call campaign headquarters and
speak to DiNovo directly. So I did. She said she was personally committed to
reversing the 21.6 per cent cut in welfare rates imposed by Harris and making up
the ground lost to inflation. "That is not the (NDP) caucus position, but it's
certainly mine," said DiNovo, a United Church minister. "It's one of the
pre-eminent reasons I'm running. I think it's absolutely abysmal the way we
treat the poorest among us." As a journalist, I weighed the possibility that
she was saying what I wanted to hear. But as a citizen, I knew that DiNovo's
community record matched her words. She has opened her church to street people,
she volunteers regularly at local food banks, she helps new Canadians find
social services and she has many friends among the poor. Still, it saddened me
that I had to ask to find out where she stood on social assistance. I'd like to
live in a riding and a province where compassion doesn't have to be
downplayed. I give the young canvasser credit. He turned me from a circumspect
voter to one who bothered to pick up the phone and learn. |