Latest Media & Policy News: 31 Oct 2014

Top Stories

Harper government buries Private Members Bill C-585 in omnibus Budget bill:
CP story covered by all major outlets: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/federal-omnibus-bill-restricts-refugee-access-to-social-assistance/article21305565/

Budget bill's cuts to refugee assistance tops NDP list of complaints:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/budget-bill-s-cuts-to-refugee-assistance-tops-ndp-list-of-complaints-1.2815504

Refugee advocates blast proposed changes to welfare in budget bill:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/refugee-advocates-blast-proposed-changes-to-welfare-in-budget-bill/article21359353/

Amnesty International statement on how denying social assistance to refugee claimants violates international law:
http://www.amnesty.ca/news/public-statements/denying-social-assistance-to-refugee-claimants-violates-international-law-bil

Interview on The Current with a former refugee claimant, CCR head Loly Rico, and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation:
http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2014/10/31/refugee-advocates-say-omnibus-bill-will-cut-off-refugees-from-social-services/

Letter to the Editor from Dr. Philip Berger: http://www.thestar.com/opinion/letters_to_the_editors/2014/10/27/refugee_bullying_reaches_new_low.html

Globe and Mail editorial:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/editorials/harpers-ottawa-is-omnibusted/article21332975/

Here are the relevant sections of Budget Bill C-43:
http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Language=E&Mode=1&DocId=6737565&File=176#27

Here’s ISAC’s analysis of its implications:

Top Ontario News

Ontario hikes income threshold to qualify for legal aid services:

Government’s announcement: http://news.ontario.ca/mag/en/2014/10/giving-more-ontarians-access-to-affordable-legal-services.html

Great infographic on the gap in Ontario between social assistance and food and shelter:
http://www.homelesshub.ca/blog/infographic-social-assistance-and-food-and-shelter-gap

Reports and Other Interesting Stuff

New report shows homeless could be drastically reduced with only $46 per Canadian per year:
http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/46-per-canadian-a-year-could-drastically-reduce-homelessness-report-1.2076556

Here’s the Homelessness Hub’s report: http://www.homelesshub.ca/SOHC2014

New report shows minimum wage hikes don’t kill jobs:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2014/10/20/minimum_wage_hike_does_not_kill_jobs_report.html

Here’s the CCPA’s report: https://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/minimum-wage-has-no-consistent-effect-employment-levels-study

Recommended report: “Putting the fight against poverty and social exclusion at the heart of the EU agenda: A contribution to the Mid-Term Review of the Europe 2020 Strategy”:
http://www.ose.be/EN/publications/ose_paper_series.htm

CPJ: Making sense of poverty measures:
http://cpj.ca/content/making-sense-poverty-measures

United Way of Toronto job posting for Manager, Research, Public Policy, and Evaluation: http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/document.doc?id=258

Around the Province

St. Catherines has the expertise – politicians better listen and act on poverty:
http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/2014/10/29/listen-up-politicians-you-need-to-act-on-poverty

Bedbugs should not be a reason for vulnerable people to be denied services in Hamilton:
http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4913643-the-spectator-s-view-bedbug-battle-shouldn-t-hurt-the-vulnerable/

Open letter to Toronto’s new Mayor John Tory: Listen to the voices of the poor and marginalized:
http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2014/10/27/open_letter_to_mayor_tory_listen_to_voices_of_the_poor_and_marginalized.html

Across the Country

Saskatchewan pledges to create that province’s first Poverty Reduction Strategy:
http://www.leaderpost.com/business/Poverty+reduction+strategy+will+living+document/10327382/story.html

Good steps on Poverty Reduction in Manitoba after two years, but more needs to be done:
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/stepping-up-the-war-on-poverty-280490032.html

BC First Nation implementing $17.22 / hour Living Wage policy
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/living+wage/10332831/story.html

Dr. Gary Bloch tells Vancouver that the economic costs of poverty can’t be ignored:
http://www.biv.com/article/2014/10/gary-bloch-vancouver-raised-doctor-has-prescriptio/

Public sector unions and the CD Howe Institute pan Pooled Registered Pension Plans coming to Nova Scotia:
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1247460-mcilveen-unions-cd-howe-institute-pan-pooled-pension-plans

More on union opposition: http://metronews.ca/news/canada/1195595/unions-oppose-registered-pooled-pensions/

Finding affordable housing in Moncton is a problem:
http://globalnews.ca/news/1643347/finding-affordable-housing-a-problem-in-moncton/

National

UNICEF report says Canada and provinces made progress on child poverty during the recession:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/drop-in-canadas-child-poverty-rate-during-recession-impressive-unicef-says/article21347874/

Why Canada needs a national pharmacare program:
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/why-canada-needs-a-national-pharmacare-program/article21086014/?service=mobile#menu

Coverage – mostly negative – of the federal government’s income splitting plan:

Is the NDP’s $15 / day childcare plan Canada’s hottest new political pledge?
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/behind-numbers/2014/10/15-day-child-care-canadas-hottest-new-political-pledge

The end of federal agreements threatens affordable housing solution:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/partners/advcoop1014/end-of-federal-agreements-threatens-affordable-housing-solution/article20890091/

Canadians spend more income on housing than almost anyone in the world:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/personal-finance/household-finances/canadians-spend-more-of-their-income-on-housing-than-almost-anyone-in-the-world/article21369414/

Eating healthy? Not if you’re below the poverty line:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/the-dilemma-between-healthy-eating-and-staying-above-the-poverty-line/article21150445/?page=1

International

How homelessness consultants helped ban food sharing in 22 American cities:
http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/how-wonky-homelessness-consultants-helped-ban-food-sharing-22-cities

US has highest poverty among all OECD countries:
http://www.bloomberg.com/video/poverty-u-s-has-highest-level-of-any-oecd-country-report-GimM6r4yS6yNnsqoEORk~g.html

UNICEF says it also has the highest child poverty:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/10/29/child-poverty-in-the-u-s-is-among-the-worst-in-the-developed-world/

Proposal in Zurich to ban welfare recipients from using cars gains support, as campaign to reduce benefits announced:
http://www.thelocal.ch/20141027/ban-on-cars-proposed-for-welfare-recipients

A decade is lost as children in Ireland bear the brunt of the recession:
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/decade-lost-as-children-in-ireland-bear-brunt-of-recession-1.1979612

Pope says structural causes of poverty must be dismantled:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1404449.htm

Jennefer Laidley
Research & Policy Analyst
Income Security Advocacy Centre

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