From: THE TORONTO SUN ,JUNE 10, 1999

Ontario poor get the shaft: Report

By Greg MacDonald
Toronto Sun

Life in Ontario is almost as good as it was in pre-recession 1990, but a growing class of people mired in poverty are being left behind, says a report released yesterday. The quality of Life in Ontario, a study issued by the Ontario Social Development Council and the Social Planning Network of Ontario, evaluated social, health, economic and environmental statistics from 1990 to this year.

"Although the overall quality of life seems to have improved, there is a social deficit that is affecting vulnerable populations," said Malcolm Shookner, author of the report. "That means children, young families and elderly people who are poor and have housing problems."

Although there are fewer people on social assistance, a declining number of low-birth-weight babies and an apparent improvement in the environment, the report cites setbacks in public housing, the number of children admitted to welfare authorities and a lack of resources for long-term care for the elderly.

Shookner added that "the provincial and federal governments have walked away from these problems and, to a fair extent, have made them worse by withdrawing funding from social housing, social assistance and by not adequately providing funding for elderly long-term care." Social Services Minister Janet Ecker defended her government's record, saying welfare rates in Ontario "are the most generous in Canada." Ecker said poor families benefit from the Ontario child-care supplement and no longer have to pay Ontario income tax.