Province Must Address Ontario's Dignity Deficit in Budget

In a recent submission to the Minister of Finance's 2015 Pre-Budget Consultation, the Diocese articulated its conviction that a socially just society is one in which all citizens have enough to flourish. While Ontario’s fiscal deficit is a pressing issue, so is its dignity deficit according to the Reverend Bill Mous, Director of Justice, Community and Global Ministries.

The submission outlines some of the many ways that our churches witness firsthand how society debits the dignity of its citizens:

1. 374,698 of our neighbours continue to rely on food banks like St. Matthew’s House in Hamilton and the compassionate but inadequate charity they provide;
2. our minimum wage level still means that people working full time in Burlington remain in poverty;
3. families are waiting for affordable housing in communities like Orangeville, Acton and St. Catharines as long as a five years;
4. access to health and dental care in Welland and many other communities is out of reach for hard working, full-time but low-income citizens;

 

Guided by this experience, the voice of marginalized people within our communities, as well as the work of our partners and other community organizations the Diocese made the following recommendations to the Minister, the Honourable Charles Sousa:

1. Increase the minimum wage rate to a living wage

2. Ensure fair, adequate and indexed social assistance rates

3. Expedite health and dental benefits for all low-income adults

4. Create a monthly housing supplement for low-income tenants

5. Enhance the fairness of our tax system

Through the 2015 budget, the Government of Ontario can make investments that will narrow the province’s dignity deficit while also addressing its fiscal deficit, continuing the good work of recent budgets by charting course to a society where all citizens have enough to flourish. The submission ends with the words of former Commissioners Munir Sheikh and Frances Lankin: “the costs of inaction are simply too high."