Why Ontario Works Doesn't Work

Currently, more than 185,000 single adults in Ontario are trapped in this government program of cyclical systemic deprivation. I am one of 'those people', as we are so often called, and have been stranded in this system for almost 5 years. And, as someone who has been unsuccessful at navigating their own way out of the Ontario Works program, I'd like to share some insights on this system based on my own personal experiences.

The systemic ‘trap’ caused by O/W’s poor policies & procedures leaves its recipients in a Predispositioning Deficit due to what I refer to as ‘The Dear Liza Dilemma’. This is because, every month, an Ontario Works recipient anxiously awaits their next ‘Bucket Full of Hope’; yet, every month, the recipient is left hopeless due to the continual loss of almost half of their Basic Needs Allowance before they can even spend their cheque on the necessities of life- never mind on progressing in life.

And, not only is O/W income support more than 60% below the poverty line, but, through O/W's own counter-productive internal policies & procedures, the recipients allowance is again garnished an additional 30-60% to offset the financial shortfalls of the O/W income support program itself.

This predisposes O/W recipients into a life of dependence and servitude within charitable food & meal programs and other related social services, which are nothing more than a band-aid response to the inadequacies of our provincial governments own primary income support program.

Consider if you will, when people are left in a constant state of crisis and peril due to inadequate financial supports & services, it doesn’t allow the ability to achieve or maintain a stable emotional and physical state of well being; and, therefore, we cannot realistically expect a person to rise up above their current situation and ‘join the rest of mainstream society’. This is a known fact within our social service sector.

This is why the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) is a more practical and viable solution to ending the impoverishment, entrapment, and demoralization of vulnerable & disadvantaged members of our society by replacing O/W & ODSP income support with a more realistic basic allowance.

That said though, the 185,000 single adult recipients of O/W income support don’t have a decade to wait for the bureaucratic process to unfold to see if the BIG initiative will actually be integrated into our social policy- especially if it isn’t accepted as the practical solution.

Our current ‘welfare’ system is incredibly broken. We need to raise the rates immediately for all O/W recipients to at least alleviate some of the current and ongoing deprivation of basic human needs and rights that are blatantly prevalent within our social service system.

In part one of my presentation titled, 'The Other Side Of The Coin; A First Person Perspective', I illustrate in detail what happens to a recipients income support payments, and, I make the following 3 simple suggestions to improve the programs effectiveness:

1. Increase Shelter Allowance from $376/month, to $500/month,

2. Increase Basic Needs allowance from $330/month, to $400/month,

3. Defer Over-payment Recovery until the recipient is gainfully employed.

These increases and deferrals will not cost taxpayers more money to implement since the money is already in the system; in fact, there’s millions upon millions of taxpayers’ dollars being wasted every year on a system that’s inefficient, ineffective, and inadequate at preventing or ending poverty.

It’s time for change, and the time is now!