You’re Invited: Holiday Lunch Dec.19 + Urge Dalton McGuinty to Give a $100 Increase to OW and ODSP

The following video portrays these concerns:

• currently a single person on social assistance in Ontario, Canada, gets $585 per month to cover housing, food, transport, and everything else

• this amount is not enough to cover a healthy food supply and

• forces those in need to find a different food bank source for day to day.

• Do the Math yourself and advocate to Put Food In the Budget with an extra $100 increase in social assistance to support healthy food choices. http://putfoodinthebudget.ca/

Put Food in the Budget and the ODSP Action Coalition invite you to a holiday lunch and to sign a special Holiday Card to Dalton McGuinty calling for an immediate $100 increase to OW (Ontario Works) and ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) as a down payment on social assistance rates that reflect the real cost of living.

Your Invite:

FREE Holiday Lunch

December 19, 2011
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm

 The Stop Community Food Centre
1884 DAVENPORT RD,  Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Please R.S.V.P. to mark@thestop.org

The Special Holiday Card to Dalton McGuinty reads as follows:

“Dear Dalton,

Your government’s 1% increase for people on social assistance provides an additional:

• 23 cents a day for a single person on Ontario Works, who will now receive $599 per month

• 36 cents a day for a single person assisted by the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), who will now receive $1,064 per month

• 46 cents a day for a single mother with two children receiving ODSP, who will now receive $1,742 per month

Please write to me and answer two questions:

1. Since grocery store prices have increased 5% in the last year,* why did you raise social assistance rates by only 1%?
2. What extra food could you afford with an additional 23 cents a day?

Sincerely,

(Name)_________________________________________________

(Address)_______________________________________________

*Source: Statistics Canada, October 2011

Premier Dalton McGuinty
Ontario Legislature (Queen’s Park)
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 1A1

The Put Food in the Budget campaign demands an immediate $100 increase to Ontario Works and ODSP rates as a first step towards social assistance that matches the real cost of living and is indexed to keep up with inflation.“

Please click here to download your own DearDalton card to mail!

 ——————————–

You may also want to know:

• National Volunteer Week and PUT FOOD IN THE BUDGET’s Plea

• Temporary Income Assistance for the Unemployed: Canada’s Salving Solution

• “Let’s Vote for a Poverty Free Ontario”: New Date for Election Sign Blitz is September 15, 2011