Ontario Campaign 2000 is outraged by the continued systemic violence and police brutality against Black bodies and the hostile responses to protests opposing anti-Black racism and supporting civil liberties.  We grieve with our Black and Indigenous colleagues and community members who are suffering.

We denounce all forms of anti-Black racism, colonialism and white supremacy, and any effort to erase or deny the legacies and ongoing impacts of these systems of oppression and repression.    

As an organization focused on poverty eradication, we know that Black and Indigenous communities have much worse health outcomes and exponentially higher rates of poverty than white Canadians and that this is a both a result of and a strategy to maintain systemic oppression. Poverty rates for Black (33%), First Nations (ranging from 32%-48%), Inuit (31%), and Metis (21%) children in Ontario are astronomical, particularly in contrast to the national average (17%). This should serve as a sobering reminder that systemic inequities based on discrimination become intergenerational quickly. This cycle must be ended in our lifetimes.

ONC2000 supports the calls from Black leaders and organizations to:

• Declare anti-Black racism a public health crisis. 
• Enhance accountability infrastructure to address police brutality, police violence and harms to Black communities.
• Strengthen the Toronto Anti-Racism Directorate with a clearly articulated, targeted and systemic anti-Black racism strategy. 
• Demand the province of Ontario commit to the allocation of protected funds to provide culturally appropriate health and well-being support within Black communities. A critical component of undoing anti-Black racism is working towards making Black life livable. Culturally appropriate organizations must be given the support they need to continue providing these services. 

ONC2000 also support the calls from the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants (OCASI) to:

• Fully implement the recommendations of the 2017 Andrew Loku inquest.
• Fully implement the 2019 Ontario Human Rights Commission recommendations on ending racial profiling in law enforcement.
• Strengthen the Ontario Anti-Racism Directorate and the Canada Anti-Racism Secretariat with a clear mandate to end anti-Black racism.

You can read the full C2000 statement, produced with Family Service Toronto, our host organization

Stop the Cuts to Social Assistance Campaign launched last month. Ontario Campaign 2000 joined 2 dozen organizations to figure out what to do about the many cuts coming to social assistance. With the Transition Child Benefit due to be eliminated November 1st, the definition of disability due to change shortly thereafter, and hundreds of millions in cuts due shortly after that, there is a lot to worry about.

In response the groups have formed a coalition called the Campaign Against the Cuts to Social Assistance.

We hope you will join in.

Over the next few weeks, we are working to raise awareness about the TCB cut. Since we are just 37 days from the end of a program that serves approximately 32,000 children, and makes up as much as 30% of the income of vulnerable families, we are zeroing in on that.

The first step of that is to launch our new coalition, which we announced today with the attached release.

The coalition is off and running, with our web site launched as of today at www.stopcuts.ca . Our Ottawa partners will be holding a Town Hall this evening while Windsor, Thunder Bay, Hamilton and Toronto activists are raising the issue in municipal and provincial venues this week.  As we move forward more partners will be tabling motions for their local councils, writing open letters to their MPPs, inviting their networks to sign our online petition, and posting on social media (hashtagging #TransitionChildBenefit and @ mentioning @stopcuts1). These and other action are all ways to make noise in every part of the province about the TCB, and this coalition is here to support that work. 

We hope you will join in the advocacy and we hope you will join the coalition.

Please let us know if you’d like to be a member, and send along a logo if you’d like us to add you to the web site.

Please also let us know about actions your organization is taking , however big or small, and we will add it to updates

And of course take a moment to go to stopcuts.ca, where we have tools like:

               • Links to our online petition

               • Some sharable graphics for social media

               • A draft of an open letter you can send out

               • Backgrounders and information on the TCB
As well, we will soon be adding:

               • A draft of a motion you can take to your local council

               • A guide to how to lobby your MPP

We look forward to working with you to turn around the pending cuts to Ontario’s most vulnerable people.

Thanks for taking a stand on this important issue.

On September 18th, we submitted a letter to Mayor Tory and Executive Committee on behalf of 30 organizations and individuals supporting the development and resourcing of a Gender Equity Lens and a Gender Equality Office for the City of Toronto. 

Read the City’s report and our response.

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Income from social assistance should play an important role in poverty reduction among families in Ontario.  As we approach the provincial budget, we feel it is an appropriate time to reflect on these proposed changes and to highlight where government can fulfill its promise to provide a caring and compassionate system for those who need it most. Read our full analysis.

On January 16, 2019, Ontario Campaign 2000 brought together individuals and organizations across Ontario to discuss recent changes to social assistance and workers’ protections — and discuss next steps for advocacy. Jennefer Laidley (Income Security Advocacy Centre) and Pam Frache (Workers’ Action Centre) presented. Time was dedicated to participants’ questions and key messages concerning the proposed and legislated changes.

Read teleconference summary. 

On International Women’s Day, we celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and call for gender parity. It is also a day of unity, reflection, advocacy and action. In commemoration of International Women’s Day, Ontario Campaign 2000 has created an infographic highlighting the gendered nature of poverty and the sorts of polices needed to help lift women up and create a more just society.

Ontario is a wealthy province, yet the latest child and family poverty data illustrate that not all Ontarians start from an equal place. According to the latest tax filer data, 19.5% of children under the age of 18 live in poverty (Census Family Low Income Measure After Tax). The percentage of children in marginalized families who live in poverty increases dramatically due to systemic barriers: one in two children of immigrants, one in four racialized children, and one in three Indigenous children.  Significant levels of child and family poverty are present in each and every riding across Ontario. Families in Ontario need a strong social safety net to escape poverty. The Ontario government has the opportunity to drive down poverty rates through the 2019 budget by investing in key areas to support work becoming a pathway out poverty, access to child care, improved income security and affordable housing.

Read Pre-Budget Submission to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

Campaign 2000 and partner Dignity for All are collecting signatures for an open letter that will be sent to Minister Jean-Yves Duclos in mid-February. The letter provides concrete recommendations to strengthen Bill C-87, An Act respecting the reduction of poverty. It also urges Canada to commit to ending poverty by 2030 to align with the United Nations’ first Sustainable Development Goal.

We urge all concerned individuals and organizations across Canada to read and sign this Open Letter by February 6, 2019.  Please visit the Dignity for All website for a list of recommendations and to read the full letter.

Our recommendations include aligning with, and explicitly referencing, Canada’s international human rights obligations; ensuring that Canada’s official poverty line genuinely reflects the experiences of poverty in Canada, especially as faced by those in marginalized groups; and ensuring that the National Advisory Council on Poverty provides an effective accountability mechanism for those living in poverty.

This legislation provides Canada the historic opportunity to be a global leader in human rights and to commit to a country free of poverty where every child and family thrives.

With no clear poverty reduction strategy from the Ontario government, the proposed amendments to Ontario’s labour laws are a setback for families trying to lift themselves out of poverty. Ontario Campaign 2000 is deeply concerned by the Ontario government’s recent announcements related to the Making Ontario Open for Business Act. Recent reforms to the Labour Relations Act (LRA) and Employment Standards Act (ESA) sought to improve worker’s rights, particularly for those in precarious jobs. With the suggested changes, working families’ livelihoods and pathways to a healthy and prosperous life are now again in jeopardy.

Read our response here

On September 20, 2018, Ontario Campaign 2000 and CCPA Ontario brought together individuals and organizations concerned about government plans for reforming Ontario’s social assistance programs and rollbacks to hard fought gains to the rights of workers across the province. We also heard updates from leaders in basic income, childcare, housing, and issues affecting immigrants and racialized people.

With the clock ticking on the 100-day review of social assistance, and the fate of workers’ rights and the $15/hour minimum wage uncertain, we are all trying to stay informed of the resources and tools needed to support people in poverty.

This written summary of the teleconference also lists immediate actions you can take to protect income security in Ontario. We hope this helps keep the momentum going on all the great work we’ve seen over the past month.