A People's Budget

7/30/2019 A People's Budget

1/20


2/20

A Peoples BudgetTowards a Fair Ontario

A white paper rom the Ontario Federation o Labour

April 2013

For more inormation, please visit

www.thpopbdgt.c

Th Pop Bdgt

c/o The Ontario Federation o Labour

15 Gervais Drive, Suite 202, Toronto ON M3C 1Y8

Telephone. 416 441-2731

Fax. 416 441-1893 or 416 441-0722

Toll-Free. 1-800-668-9138

TDD. 416-443-6305

Printed with unionized labour: COPE343


3/20


4/20


5/20

1

The Ontario Federation o Labour is proud tosupport A Peoples Budget Towards a FairOntario. The Peoples Budget campaign was

initiated as a response to the continuing evidence othe ailure o the austerity agenda. Austerity measureshave had a devastating impact on the people o

Ontario, particularly its most vulnerable citizens.When even organizations such as the InternationalMonetary Fund and the World Economic Forum arecalling or a reconsideration o the austerity agenda, it

is time or Ontario to chart a new course.

To change the conversation on austerity, and prepareor a more inclusive, more just 2013 Ontario Budget,

the Peoples Budget campaign solicited eedback romOntarians rom across the province. In an ambitiousinitiative, the Peoples Budget campaign held publicconsultations with citizens and organizations in nine

communities: Windsor, London, Hamilton-Niagara,Kitchener-Waterloo, Brampton-Mississauga, Toronto,Sudbury, Thunder Bay, and Ottawa. The campaign also

encouraged eedback through our website (www.thpopbdgt.c), email, and social media.

What we heard were stories o hard-working Ontariansalling behind, young people losing their optimism,

and amilies struggling to make sense o theunairness o income inequality. We also heardinspiring stories o success, o overcoming dicult

odds, and most encouragingly, thoughtul ideas tomake Ontario a air society. Specically, three keythemes emerged rom our consultations:

1 Austerity is ailing the people o this province,

particularly our most vulnerable citizens.

2 Ontarians want to live in a air society.

3 Government can do a better job o supporting

Ontarians to realize their ull potential.

From this eedback we have developed this report aPeoples Budget that oers a positive path orward,away rom austerity and towards a air society based

on equity and shared prosperity. Our recommendationsare grouped into ve key areas: creating good jobs,alleviating poverty, supporting workers and their

amilies, giving young people a air chance, and taxairness and revenue generation.

Eectie SarOut o these broadareas, there are threespecic priority

recommendations:

1 Increase theminimum wage

and put in placea ormula ordeterminingregular uture

increases.

2 Establish an inrastructure und to be used orthe expansion o public transit, rebuilding aging

inrastructure, and green inrastructure initiatives.

3 Implement a air taxation package that willinclude a range o tools to generate revenue.

Now is the time to embrace the potential o Ontarians.We look orward to working with the Governmento Ontario, all Members o Provincial Parliament,other stakeholders, and the people o Ontario to

implement these recommendations.

A Peoples Budgetoers a positivepath orward,away rom austerityand towards aair society basedon equity andshared prosperity


6/20

How do w mk Otro bttr for vryo?This was the undamental question posed by thePeoples Budget campaign, an initiative o the

Ontario Federation o Labour (OFL) to engage

residents o the province in a thoughtul, positivediscussion about the 2013 Ontario Budget.

Since Conederation, Ontario has been on a pathorward building, growing, innovating, and becoming

more prosperous. Over generations we became betterat sharing the ruits o our collective labour too. Wedeveloped a public school system that was the envy

o the world. We made important investments in ourphysical and social inrastructure. We recognized theneed to saeguard our environment. We nurtured acollective responsibility to care or the ill and support

those who are struggling.

In short, Ontario evolved into a society that temperedgreat wealth with enduring compassion, rewarded

individual success while recognizing community need.

For many in Ontario today, these reminders o whatour province once was are too remote rom the reality

o their current situation. Unemployment remainsstubbornly high, employment is becoming moreprecarious, and income inequality is growing. Publicsupports that used to be available or those o us who

were struggling are getting weaker aordable housingwaiting lists are getting longer, as are those orsubsidized child care spaces; social assistance rateshave not kept pace with infation; and government

cutbacks have made lie more dicult or seniors,students, newcomers, injured workers, and amilieswith children with special needs.

While the province is still eeling the eects o the glob-al economic recession, we are also being squeezed bya ederal government that is increasingly abdicatingits leadership and taking its unding with it in areas

o social policy, health care, and newcomer settlement,to name just a ew. Despite this challenging context,our provincial government can still choose whether ornot to pursue an agenda o austerity in Ontario.

In February o this year the Ontario Federation oLabour released a green paper challenging the current,

dominant political discourse around the provinces scalpolicy, namely the need or austerity. The paperexposed our o the most common myths perpetuatedby the proponents o austerity. They are the ollowing:

The government can no longer aord to deliver thesame level o services to Ontarians.

Cutting the decit will grow the economy.

The experts are never wrong.

Everyone is being asked to do their share to reducethe decit.

The paper revealed that Ontario is already spendingless per capita on public programs and services thanany other province in Canada (Ontario Ministry o

Finance, Ontario Budget 2012). The Canadian Centre

or Policy Alternatives estimates in a new report MoreHarm than Good: Austeritys Impact in Ontario, thatOntario program spending declined by close to 1% o

provincial GDP between 2009 and 2012.

At the same time, theprovincial governmenthas maintained una-

ordable tax cuts thatbenet the wealthiestcitizens and corpora-

tions tax cuts thathave reduced theprovinces annualrevenue by $15 billion

per year (CanadianCentre or Policy Alternatives Decit Mania, 2010).In the absence o this revenue, the decit is now beingused to justiy hundreds o program and service cuts

that hurt Ontario amilies, particularly children, andthe most vulnerable citizens.

We should know better. Cutting our way to economic

growth ailed in the 1930s and it is not working now.

Itroctio

2

Public supportsthat used tobe availableor those ous who werestruggling aregetting weaker


7/20

Te Peopes Betcostatio process

Towards a Peoples Budget called or changing theconversation on austerity. Following this call, we hosted

a province-wide consultation that endeavoured toexpand the conversation about the provinces scal

priorities rom the halls o government, the back-rooms, and corporate boardrooms, into peopleshomes, their community centres, and workplaces.

This is how we did it.

In sum, we heard presentations rom 83 individualsand organizations at consultations attended by severalhundred more, some o whom lled out comment

cards oering their own ideas or the Ontario Budget.We also received 55 written submissions throughonline channels.

Over the course o six weeks, the Peoples Budgetcampaign heard rom a broad cross-section o Ontarians including educators, economists, anti-povertyadvocates, small business people, injured work-

ers, health proessionals, students, and members o

racialized and Aboriginal communities.

The diversity o this eedback is at the centre o the

Peoples Budget recommendations to the Ontariogovernment. The success o the consultations isevidence that Ontarians want to have a greater sayin the direction o their government, and are ready

to provide thoughtul ideas and commentary whengiven the opportunity.

As one observer o

the Peoples Budgetconsultation

processremarked:

this is howgovernmentconsultationshould bedone.

3

Even the International Monetary Fund recently

concluded in its paper Growth Forecast Errors andFiscal Multipliers, that deep cuts that accompanyausterity have had a much greater negative impact

on economic growth than anticipated. In their GlobalRisks 2013 report, the World Economic Forum alsosuggested that the greatest threat to the global economyis income inequality, not government decits.

The vitality o our democracy is dependent oncitizens having meaningul opportunities toshape the public policy decisions that aect theirlives. Choices governments make about how to raiseand spend tax dollars shape the kind o society welive in, including the economic opportunities that are

available to Ontarians, what our health centres andschools are like, and the quality o our public services.

There is a trend among governments at all levels to

scale back opportunities or public consultation. InOntario in 2012, the usual multi-city public budget

consultation was scrapped, with cost savings beingthe rationale. It is always a mistake to nickel-and-dimedemocracy, and the 2013 Ontario Budget comes ata critical time or the province. Greater public inputis required to validate a path orward. The Peoples

Budget campaign set out to help ll this void.

The campaign set an ambitious plan to conductits own consultations throughout the province,

rom the shores o Lake Superior to the edge o theNiagara escarpment, rom the mining city o Sudburyto the multicultural Region o Peel, and rom the

provinces political and economic capital to itsagricultural heartland.

Ontarians were invited to participate in this processby attending an in-person consultation in one o nine

communities: Windsor, London, Hamilton-Niagara,Kitchener-Waterloo, Brampton-Mississauga, Toronto,Sudbury, Thunder Bay, or Ottawa. We also encouragedeedback through our website (www.thpop-bdgt.c), email, and social media.


8/20

Te ie ro Otario

4

The Peoples Budget campaign asked Ontarians toshare their thoughts on the 2013 Budget and theuture o the province and Ontarians responded.Among the deeply personal examples o dreams puton hold, or worse, abandoned, we heard many inspiring

stories about commitment to community, theunparalleled value o airness, and unyielding hope or

a better uture.

What we ound was a dierent vision o Ontario romthe one deemed necessary and responsible by theproponents o austerity. Instead o the usual politics odivision, we heard calls or greater inclusion. Instead

o talk o cuts, we heard ideas or spurring growth.Rather than repetitive calls to pursue the ailedpolicies o the past, we heard pleas that government

show condence in its citizens and move their creativeproposals orward.

Between the heartbreaking tales o amily struggle andthe upliting accounts o individuals overcoming barriers

to achievement, three distinct themes came up repeatedlyat consultations in cities across the province. They ormthe basis o our recommendations outlined in this

report. The themes are:

1 Austerity is ailing the people o this province,particularly our most vulnerable citizens.

2 Ontarians want to live in a air society.

3 Government can do a better job o supporting

Ontarians to realize their ull potential.

Austerity is fAiling the people

of this prov ince, pArticulArly

our most vulnerAble citizensAgain and again, residents and groups told us all isnot well in Ontario. The lingering eects o the 2008

recession continue to negatively impact amilies andcommunities, and any recovery has yet to be elt bylarge segments o the population. In this economicclimate the new normal or workers and their amilies isno longer about moving orward, but instead about

simply hanging on.

In the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area, or example,hal o all residents are working in what a recent

United Way Toronto report calls precarious employ-ment. Some are workers with part-time, low-wage,or insecure jobs without benets. Others are sel-

employed or living rom contract to contract, againwithout benets.

This situation is not unique to southern Ontario.According to the Sudbury Social Planning Council,

15% o the 14,000 monthly users o ood banks in thatcity are working. In WindsorEssex, Pathway to Potentialexplains that one in ve renters pays more than

50% o their income on rent, placing them at risko homelessness.

Across Ontario, people are literally working harder

only to nd themselves alling arther behind. Thechallenges o the current economic climate arebeing compounded by the consequences o thegovernments scal choices.

Perhaps there is no clearer evidence o the impact opublic spending reduction than when citizens seekaccess to public health care. As noted previously,the Government o Ontario spends less per capita

than any other province on programs and services,and this includes health care. As a result, according

Ontario has the opportunity to be a model or all the provinces and or the

ederal government, [by being] a caring community, one that works to take

care o all who live within its boundaries. Lyndsay, rom Shumacher


9/20

to the Ontario Health Coalition, hospital beds are at98% capacity, while 80% is the international norm;

patients are waiting 50% longer or Emergency Roomtreatment than they should be; and waiting lists oraccess to home and community care continue to grow.

Perhaps less immediately dramatic, but with seriouslong-term ramications, is the eect o austerity onour public schools. More and more, it was noted byThunder Bay City Councillor and Ontario Secondary

School Teachers Federation representative AndrewFoulds, that we are seeing the development o have

and have not schools based on their ability toundraise. The reality is that, like our health caresystem and other public programs and services, ourpublic schools are not as well unded as those in otherprovinces. The impact o this underunding was

a prominent point o discussion throughout theconsultation process. Among the examples we heardabout were:

In Ottawa, a school trustee remarked on thepoor physical condition o public schools.

In Windsor, a teacher lamented the recent

closures o both rural and urban schools.

In Thunder Bay, a parent noted that northernschools cost more to build, maintain, and heat.

The Elementary Teachers Federation o Ontariocalled or a unding ormula based on need, ratherthan number o students, noting the lack o sup-

port or special education programming.

A strong public education system is not only thedriver o our uture economic growth but it is also

the best social program we have. Rather than laying

o teachers as planned in Toronto which ostersunnecessary tension in schools, and leaves studentswho require English as a Second Language or spe-

cial education support without such assistance, theprovincial government and local school boards shouldbe working together to solidiy and strengthen our

public education system. We need to also addressthe reality that on First Nations reserves across theprovince, education inrastructure is grossly inadequate.

Deputants appearing at the Peoples Budgetconsultations also raised concerns about recentgovernment cuts made to the arts, environmentalinitiatives and enorcement, and delays to municipal

inrastructure improvements.

Still, it is the impact that austerity measures have hadon urthering income inequality and increasing poverty

that was the most common point o discussion. Fromthe Canadian Centre or Policy Alternatives we heardthat Ontario is experiencing some o the largestchanges in income inequality in Canada, second only

to Alberta. On average, the richest 1% in Ontariohave incomes that are 16 times greater than thebottom 90%.

Meanwhile, the austerity agenda is also cementing anepidemic o poverty. Consider these acts:

According to the Workers Action Centre, 383,000children are currently living in poverty.

In Windsor-Essex alone, notes Pathway to Potential,more than 16,000 children and youth live in poverty.

The poverty rate among immigrants residing in

Peel Region is 33% (Peel Newcomer Group). In the Waterloo Region, the Homelessness and

Housing Umbrella Group revealed that in 2011there were 3,133 people who stayed in emergencyshelters, a 30% increase in the number o amilies

accessing shelters compared to 2010.

In 2012, there were 1,420 people on the waitinglist or social housing in Thunder Bay, 27% o

whom were on the urgent list (Poverty FreeThunder Bay).

5


10/20

In Toronto the wealthiest city in the country 42 homeless people have died on the streets in the

past 15 months (Ontario Coalition Against Poverty).

Freezes in social assistance rates and the maintenance

o archaic rules governing how Ontarians qualiy,maintain, and transition o Ontario Works (OW) and

the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) aretrapping individuals and amilies in poverty.

Consider Joes story. He is an ODSP recipient living

in Toronto, who wants to be able to access thesame work programs that are oered to people onOntario Works.

I am unable to access a job program

that is ofered only to people onOntario Works called Investment

in Neighbourhoods. Instead, I am

orced to compete with the general

population although I have the

same, i not more, barriers than

someone on Ontario Works has. I

cannot compete with the average

job search candidate and will

remain on assistance, which is

continually being eroded, but

the supports to get out o [my

situation] are non-existent.Among the most potentially devastating and short-sighted o recent government austerity cuts was the

decision to eliminate the Community Start-Up and

Maintenance Benet, which provides emergencyhousing unding or the homeless and those onsocial assistance. The benet helps people get o the

streets and into new homes by providing rst and lastmonths rent, supports abused women to move romshelters into sae housing, and ensures a amily doesnot lose their home due to the cost o an emergency

repair. While special one-time unding was providedby the Province on January 1st to municipalitiesto continue the program, its uture, and those o the

benets recipients, is less certain.

ontAriAns wAnt to

live in A fAir societyOntarians value airness, but we are still a long way

o rom achieving the kind o air society one that isequitable and adequately supports our mostvulnerable members that many o us imagine.

Michelle Friesen, an advocate with the Windsor-Essex

Family Network, shared with us her story. Michelle hasa 32-year-old daughter who was born with a severebrain injury. When Michelles daughter was 18 months

old, Michelles amily received government-undedhome support to care or her. Had Michelles daughterbeen born in the last ve years, however, she wouldnot have received this support and Michelle is unsure

i she would have been able to care or her at home.Today, there are 350 people with a developmentaldisability on a waiting list or support in the Windsorarea alone. Is this consistent with a air society?

Over the course o our consultations we heard rommany post-secondary education students. We learnedrom the Canadian Federation o Students that since

2006 tuition has increased by 71%. Food banks arenot uncommon on university campuses and the averagedebt load or a post-secondary education graduateis $37,000. At the same time, youth unemployment

is high. At the end o 2012 the unemployment rate inOntario was 7.8%, while or youth it was 16.9% (http://www.n.gov.on.ca/en/economy/ecupdates/actsheet.

html and Labour Force Survey, Cansim Table 282-0002).Unortunately, unpaid internships have also becomecommonplace and when young people do nd workit is more likely to be temporary or short-term. Is this a

air burden to place on the next generation?

Another requent voice at our consultations was thato injured workers. We learned that the Workplace

Saety and Insurance Board (WSIB) has been drastically

cutting back on injured workers benets, while main-taining low premiums or employers. This has orcedmany injured workers to apply or social assistance, at

a cost to municipal and provincial taxpayers. We alsoheard that the WSIB is working to reduce their un-unded liability through cuts to benets and servicesor injured workers, despite past promises rom the

government that this would not take place. Is this airto injured workers?

6


11/20

7

Sometimes, airness is as simple as being properlycompensated or the work you do. For a lot oOntarians, having a job is not enough to adequately

support themselves and their amilies. Ontarios

minimum wage has been rozen since 2010 at $10.25per hour, while costs or ood, housing, and transit have

continued to increase. The number o people earningminimum wage also doubled between 2000 and2009, according to the Workers Action Centre. Overall,there are 750,000 Ontarians earning this wage. Is a

minimum wage that leaves workers living below thepoverty line refective o a air society?

Fairness also applies to how Ontarians contribute

nancially to the overall well-being o the province.Doctors or Fair Taxation and other air tax groups

advocate that those with the means to contribute moreto the common good through income tax should do so.

Others, including the Broadbent Institute, also recom-mend that corporations pay more. Currently, Ontariohas a corporate tax rate that is lower than every U.S.

state, even Alabama or Texas (speech by then Ontariopremier Dalton McGuinty to the Canadian Club o To-ronto, January 2012). Yet there is no evidence that thislow tax rate has generated new jobs or the people o

this province. The Ontario Health Coalition argues thatexemptions rom the Employer Health Tax are costingthe treasury badly needed unds. The Auditor General

reports that the Province is missing up to $2.4 billionin unpaid taxes. I those who can aord to contributemore are not asked to do so, or are unwilling to do so,the cost o paying or the programs and services that

benet us all will be borne disproportionately by thosewho can aord it least. Is a tax system that benetsthose with the greatest ability to contribute air?

As John Rae rom Toronto so succinctly put it,

Ontario needs a budget that is

airer than the last several. Whileno one likes to pay more in taxes,

the wealthiest individuals and

corporations need to pay their

air share.

government cAn do A better

job of supporting ontAriAns

to reAlize their full potentiAl

We need long-term thinking. Bill Thompson, small business owner, HamiltonFor too many years our governments at many levels

have shied away rom establishing policies and com-mitting unding to projects that will realize long-termbenets, even when the cost o inaction is signicant.

There is perhaps no greater maniestation o this thanthe current debate about transportation in the Greater

Toronto-Hamilton Area. Improving productivity as ameans to achieving greater economic growth has

become a requent talking point among manyeconomists and bureaucrats in recent years. Discussionon the role government can play in supportingimproved productivity, however, is oten limited

to recommendations or urther tax cuts orcorporations, without any guaranteed return oninvestment. A more tangible opportunity or

governments to improve productivity involvesinvesting in inrastructure such as public transit.


12/20

The Toronto Region Board o Trade has calculatedthe cost o lost productivity in the region due to tra-

c congestion at $6 billion annually. They predictthis number could more than double, to $15 billion,

by 2031. Even the most ambitious transit propos-als will cost a raction o what would be recouped

through economic growth not to mention the addedenvironmental benets o ewer cars on the road andthe new jobs that would be created by building andsupporting new transit inrastructure.

More broadly, rebuilding and maintaining inrastructure,such as water pipes and roadways, and investingin new green inrastructure such as stormwater

management ponds and green roos, is a concern omunicipalities throughout urban and rural Ontario.

With interest rates at historic lows, governmentshave an aordable opportunity to make substantial

investments in Ontarios uture right now.

Not all o governments strategic investments needto be as grand in ambition or signicant in unding,

however. The Government o Ontario can and shouldinvest not just in projects but in people.

In Windsor, a program o the Unemployed Help Centre

supporting the retraining o older workers so they cannd new work is realizing tremendous success. In thepast scal year 113 people aged 55-64 participated in

the program, 77 o whom are now employed, alongwith 21 people still enrolled and receiving training.With increased unding, the organization couldsupport even more individuals.

In Hamilton, an innovative poverty reduction strategyhas helped that city weather the recession better thanwhat might have been expected considering the recentloss o manuacturing jobs in the steel industry. Part

o this strategy, according to the Hamilton Roundtableon Poverty Reduction and the Social Planning andResearch Council o Hamilton, was the creation o an

aordable bus pass or low-income residents. Sinceits inception, 5,000 people, 70% o whom are women,have beneted rom the pass by making it possibleto get to and rom work or appointments. The modest

unding the Province provided or this pass is notbeing renewed, orcing the City to absorb the cost.Rather than being cut, this is a model that should beconsidered or other communities in Ontario.

I we can match up newcomers in Ontario with theappropriate resources early on, both newcomers and

the broader community will benet. This was themotivation behind the provincial governments creation

o the rst-ever Ontario Immigration Strategy last year.According to the Peel Newcomers Strategy Group,

58% o all newcomers to Ontario settle in Toronto,and 26.4% o newcomers settle in Peel Region. Theorganization also notes that approximately 40% o

immigrants aged 24-65 have a post-secondary degree,compared with 23% o the total population. At a timewhen ederal settlement support is declining, theProvince will be more heavily relied upon or resources

or programs that oster social inclusion, support thetranser o qualications, and assist with employment.It is in the long-term interests o the Province to pick

up this unding slack, even while advocating or astronger commitment rom the ederal government.

Most Ontario cities have unacceptably long waitinglists or aordable housing. Governments have been

too timid in building new aordable housing, evenwhen aced with the societal cost, including too otenthe tragic consequences o homelessness. Research

by Dr. Stephen Hwang, a leading medical researcheron homelessness in Canada, concluded governmentsrecoup their contributions during construction o newhousing through income and payroll taxes. There is no

legitimate argument or ailing to support Ontarianswho require aordable housing so that they can raisea amily and contribute to their communities.

Throughout the provincethere are growing wait-ing lists or subsidizedchild care, which ensures

parents can aord towork. According to theHamilton Social PlanningCouncil, the waiting list

or subsidized childcare has doubled inthe past two years. Yet

child care is a publicprogram that pays oritsel. Economist Pierre Fortins study o the cost-eectiveness o the Province o Quebecs public child

care program concluded that this program has made anet contribution o $1.7 billion to the provinces GDP.

8

Finally, unlockingthe potentialo Ontarians tocontribute totheir provincethrough a gooddays workshould not beunderestimated.


13/20

RecoeatiosThe Peoples Budget campaign is proud to share the

ollowing positive recommendations or the 2013Ontario Budget. These recommendations are basedon the eedback generated during our extensiveconsultation process. Collectively, they chart a bold

new path or the province o Ontario that will helpbuild a air society.

Priority recommendations:

1 Increase the minimum wage and put in place aormula or determining regular uture increases.

2 Establish an inrastructure und to be used or

the expansion o public transit, rebuilding aginginrastructure, and green inrastructure initiatives.

3 Implement a air taxation package that willinclude a range o tools to generate revenue.

Ontarians understand that when people are paid aair wage, the economy is stronger and ewer people

have to rely on government programs, such as socialassistance. That is why we commit to ensuring airwages and recommend an increase and new approach

to raising the minimum wage. Ontarians also know

Finally, unlocking the potential o Ontarians to contributeto their province through a good days work should

not be underestimated. We heard many examples osuccessul industries that require ongoing nurturing

by the government to continue to grow. For example,the Northern Lights Arts Festival noted that across theprovince arts and tourism industries contribute $3.7billion to the provinces GDP and are responsible or67,000 jobs. It would be a mistake or the government

to carry on with cuts to this sector.

Environmentalists who presented at the Peoples Budgetsconsultations spoke o the opportunities to create

jobs, reduce energy use, and save money by greeningand retrotting public acilities and providing supportor home owners to do likewise.

David Robinson, Proessor o Economics at LaurentianUniversity in Sudbury, called or more strategic regionaldevelopment to support job growth, including thecreation o two new northern schools one ocused

on sustainable economic development and anotheron industrial design.

that strategic investments in green inrastructure,in transportation and housing, and in health andeducation pay multiple dividends scally, economically

and socially. That is why we emphasize an inrastructureund as an important part o a new approach totransorm the economy and help Ontarians realizetheir potential. Finally, Ontarians are committed to

a air society where those who benet most paytheir air share, those that pollute most pay or theremediation, and those in greatest need are given

the help they need. That is why we recommendsignicant reorms to make our tax system air.

AdditionAl specific

recommendAtionsThe ollowing recommendations are grouped into

ve important public policy areas that were consist-ently raised as priorities throughout our consultations:creating good jobs, alleviating poverty, supporting

workers and their amilies, giving young people a airchance, and tax airness and revenue generation.

All these ideas are designed to leverage the knowledge,skills, experience, and passion o Ontarians to contribute

to the provincial economy. This is exactly the kindo support responsible governments should aordtheir citizens.

9


14/20

AllEvIATIng POvERTy1 Reorm social assistance programs to better support

Ontarians. Specically, the Province should:

a Increase rates or Ontario Works and theOntario Disability Support Program;

b Raise the earning exemptions or social

assistance recipients to $200 per month;

c Re-establish the Community Start-Up andMaintenance Benet.

d Restore the Special Diet Allowance and

Discretionary Health Benets.

2 Continue unding or a share o Hamiltons

aordable bus pass and look at expanding thisunding throughout the Greater Toronto-Hamilton Area and beyond.

3 The Province should ollow the lead o a numbero Ontario cities and adopt a Fair Wage Policy

to ensure that the companies it does businesswith are not exploiting their workers.

4 Set annual targets or each year over the nextdecade or new aordable housing.

5 Explore the easibility o adopting a Guaranteed

Annual Income.

10

1 Create an inrastructure und to provide long-termunding or the expansion o public transit,rebuilding o aging public inrastructure, and

supporting the development o green inrastructure.

a Consider additional revenue generation tools

or a dedicated transit und.

b Commit to public operation and maintenance

o all publicly nanced inrastructure projects.

2 Support key sectors in the Ontario economy thatoster innovation and create good jobs, particular-

ly by establishing a local procurement policy tiedto major public inrastructure investments.

3 Support more green collar jobs including byconsidering subsidies or homeowners and smallbusinesses that implement water and energyeciencies and reviewing regulatory options

or maximizing these same eciencies in newdevelopments.

4 Continue to work with northern and First Nations

communities to develop clear guidelines that tieresource extraction to local processing.

5 Increase unding to support regional arts andtourism initiatives.

CREATIng gOOd jOBS


15/20

gIvIng yOung PEOPlE A fAIR ChAnCE

SuPPORTIng wORkERS And ThEIR fAmIlIES

1 Work with labour, municipalities, school boards,public health care organizations, and the non-prot sector to develop and strengthen skillstraining, mentorship and apprenticeship

programs or young workers.

1 Raise the minimum wage to $14 per hour, whichis 10% above the poverty line based on a 35-hourweek, and de-politicize the minimum wage by

implementing a ormula that would determineregular uture increases.

2 Phase in an aordable, public early learning and

child care program.

3 Support our armers in accessing local marketsby developing a broad local ood procurementpolicy or Ontario schools, hospitals, and other

public institutions.

4 Create an Employment Equity Secretariat to ensureall equity-seeking groups have equal access to

public and private sector jobs.

5 Increase unding or proactive enorcement oemployment standards to ensure that all workersrights, including those o temporary and migrant

workers, are respected.

2 Reduce tuition ees or all Ontario post-secondarystudents by 30% over three years.

3 Revisit the public school unding ormula so that

unding is allocated based on actual need, ratherthan on number o students.

6 Provide unding or the recently establishedOntario Immigration Strategy.

7 Increase supports or injured workers, including

restoring ull cost o living allowance andenhancing resources or injured workerrepresentation and sta in the workers

compensation system.

8 Support calls or enhancing the CanadaPension Plan.

9 Strengthen unding or a universal, equitable,and accessible public health care system.Eliminate such practices as the competitivebidding process, the delisting o public

services, and the public-private-partnershipinvestment model.

TAx fAIRnESS And REvEnuE gEnERATIOn1 Increase by 2% the income tax rate or those

earning above $250,000, which could generateup to $700 million.

2 Increase the corporate tax rate rom 11% to14%, which could generate up to $2.5 billion.

3 Increase eorts to collect the $2.4 billion inunpaid taxes the Auditor General has uncovered.

4 Remove the exemptions rom the Employer HealthTax, which could generate up to $2.5 billion.

5 Increase nes or polluters and restore unding

or research, oversight, and investigation at theMinistry o the Environment and the Ministry oNatural Resources.

6 Increase the provinces mining tax rate to ensure

air public benet rom resource extraction.

11


16/20

net stepsThe Peoples Budget campaign has charted an ambitious,

inclusive, and prudent course or the uture oOntario. We hope that the values and priorities thathave emerged throughout our campaign are refectedin the 2013 Ontario Budget. We know that the voicescalling or austerity are loud and powerul. Yet i we

consider the economic evidence, listen to Ontariansstories about the negative impacts o austerity, andremember what we are capable o when we work

together or the common good, then we can leavethe austerity agenda behind and embrace a newcourse.

We appreciate that real change takes time, and thatthe implementation o policy that refects the publicinterest requires ongoing dialogue with key stakeholders.We recommend that a Labour Market Partners Forum

be struck. This Forum would consist o two bodies aPremiers Advisory Council, which would meet twicea year, and a Labour Market Partners Committee,which would meet monthly. These bodies would be

made up equally o representatives rom government,labour, and business, and would address a wide range oeconomic and labour market challenges while advising

on public policy, particularly employment strategies.Other provinces, including Nova Scotia andNewoundland, use these types o orums successully.

The Peoples Budget campaign wishes the Government

o Ontario and all Members o Provincial Parliamentcourage and oresight as it deliberates on the path the

province will take ollowing the introduction o the

2013 Budget. Our province aces great challenges, butwe have a history o rising to meet such challenges.Time and again, when aced with adversity, the peopleo Ontario have demonstrated compassion, diligence,

and commitment to community.

The citizens o this beautiul province want to live in aair society. The government, in its most recent Speechrom the Throne, indicated that it shares this goal. Let

us go orward and build a air Ontario together.

12


17/20

BRAMPTON-MISSISSAUGAPanelisTs:

Simon Black, Chair, Peel Action Against Poverty

Jim McDowell, Brampton-Mississauga & District Labour Council

Irwin Nanda, Executive Vice-President, OntarioFederation o Labour

Sid Ryan, President, Ontario Federation o Labour

DePuTaTiOns:Aamna Ashra and Nikesh Amit, Peel Newcomer Strategy Group

Harman Dulay

Grace Guo, University o Toronto (Mississauga) Student Union

Danny Jarmana

Fayaz Karim

Novi Mangat, University Graduate speaking on Youthunemployment ater graduation

Christine Massey, Council o Canadians Peel Chapter

Srimanth Mohanty, Social Planning Council o Peel

Vishu Roche

Edna Toth and Annamarie Bohus, Peel Poverty Action Group

Shelly White, CEO, United Way o Peel Region

Darryl Wolk, Fair Share Peel

HAMILTON-NIAGARAPanelisTs:

Nancy Hutchison, Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario Federationo Labour

Wayne Lewchuk, Proessor, School o Labour Studies,

Department o Economics, McMaster University

DePuTaTiOns:

Tom Cooper, Hamilton Roundtable on Poverty Reduction

Sue Hotte, Niagara Health Coalition

Kim Kerridge, Greenpeace Canada

Sara Mayo, Social Planning & Research Council o Hamilton

Peter Page and Karl Crevar, ONIWG

Bill Thompson, Environmental Consultant

Roy Walker, Niagara Region Labour Council

KITCHENER-WATERLOOPanelisTs:

Elizabeth Clarke, Executive Director, YWCA Kitchener-Waterloo

Nancy Hutchison, Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario Federation

o Labour

Marc Xuereb, President, Waterloo Regional Labour Council

DePuTaTiOns:

Trudy Beaulne, Social Planning Council o Kitchener-Waterloo

Oz Cole-Arnal, Alliance Against PovertyShannon Dea, University o Waterloo Equity Committee

Aleksandra Petrovic, Poverty-Free Kitchener-Waterloo

Sandi Ellis, Ontario Federation o Labour Retirees Waterloo Region

Lynn Macauley, Homelessness and Housing Umbrella Group

Greg Michalenko, Grand River Environmental Network

Shawn Rouse, President, CAW Healthcare Ontario Council

Rebecca Roy, Assistant Director o Employment Services Lutherwood Employment Services

Linda Terry, Social Planning Council o Cambridge

& North Dumries

LONDONPanelisTs:

Patti Dalton, President, London & District Labour Council

Duncan MacDonald, Ontario Federation o Labour

Megan Walker, Executive Director o London Abused

Womens Shelter

DePuTaTiOns:

Joyce Balaz, Ontario Disability Support Program recipient

Lucille Brennan, Unemployment Help Centre

Jef Hanks, London Health Coalition

Wendy Knelson, London Injured Workers

Hector McClellan, Congress o Union Retirees o CanadaBrian Tansy, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 741

Anthony Verberkmos, London Common Front

OTTAWAPanelisTs:

Meg Hamilton, Executive Director, Council o HeritageOrganizations

Sean McKenny, President, Ottawa & District Labour Council


DePuTaTiOns:

Adam Awad, Canadian Federation o StudentsJosh Bizjac, Broadbent Institute

Dennis Howlett, Canadians or Tax Fairness

Rob Macdonald, Housing Help

Dan Maxwell, Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation,District 25

Jennier McKenzie, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board

(Trustee/Chair)

Toby Sanger, Canadian Union o Public Employees National

Marlene Rivier, Ottawa Health Coalition

Nadia Willard, ACORN Ottawa

idx of Pop Bdgt cottoprtr d wrtt bmo

13


18/20

SUDBURYPanelisTs:

Grace Alcaide-Janicas, Sudbury Social Planning Council

John Closs, President, Sudbury & District Labour Council

Irwin Nanda, Executive Vice-President o the Ontario Federationo Labour

DePuTaTiOns:

Nathan Knott, Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre

Jessica Lamirande, Executive Director, Laurentian GraduateStudents Association

Pat Lemieux, Sudbury Coalition Against Poverty

Paul Loewenberg, Artistic Director, Northern Lights Festival Boral

John Lindsay, Friendly to Seniors

Cathy Orlando, Citizens Climate Lobby

Annette Reszczynski, Social Planning Council o Sudbury

David Robinson, Laurentian University

THUNDER BAYPanelisTs:

Irwin Nanda, Executive Vice-President, Ontario Federationo Labour

Paul Pugh, Thunder Bay City Council

Carlos Santander, Acting President, Thunder Bay and District

Labour Council

DePuTaTiOns:

Emma Brightwell, Lakehead University Student Union

Terri Carter, Poverty Free Thunder Bay

Andrew Foulds, OSSTF representative and City Councillor

Patty Hajdu, Shelter House

Steve Mantis and Eugene Lerancois, Thunder Bay and DistrictInjured Workers

Evelina Pan and Jules Tupker, Thunder Bay Health Coalition

Saku Pinta, Lakehead Social Planning Council

Regional Food Distribution Association

George Saarinen, Public School Trustee

TORONTOPanelisTs:

John Cartwright, President, Toronto and York Region

Labour Council

Avvy Go, Colour o Poverty/Colour o Change


DePuTaTiOns:

Angela Bischof, Ontario Clean Air Alliance

Orlando Buonastella, Injured Workers Consultants

John Campey, Social Planning Toronto (SPT)

Amy Casipullai, Ontario Council o AgenciesServicing Immigrants (OCASI)

John Clarke, Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP)

Trish Hennessy, Canadian Centre or Policy Alternatives (CCPA) Ontario Rebekah Pater, Ontario Coalition or Better Childcare

Michael Kerr, Colour o Poverty/Colour o Change

Brendan McKay, Sustain Ontario

Herman Roseneld, TTC Riders

Miles Rubin, Campaign 2000

Sonia Singh, Workers Action Centre

Toby Whiteld, Canadian Federation o Students

WINDSORPanelisTs:

Dino Chiodo, President, Windsor and District Labour CouncilDr. Alan Hall, Director o Labour Studies, University o Windsor

Nancy Hutchison, Secretary-Treasurer, Ontario Federation

o Labour

DePuTaTiOns:

Andrea Ducharme, Unemployed Help CentreKatha Fortier and David Wonham,

Windsor Essex Health Coalition

Michelle Friesen, Windsor/Essex Family Network

Genevieve Isaak, Hiatus House

Marion Overholt and Andr Rivard, Legal Assistance Windsor

Richard Paquette, Windsor & District Labour Council

Mario Spagnuolo, Elementary Teachers Federation o Ontario

Adam Vasay, Pathway To Potential

Written and online submissions:

14

David Arbuckle

Chris Baillargeon

Eleanor Batchelder

Lyndsey Butcher

Bill Browett

Todd Brown

Mary Campbell

Michelle Caplan

Grace Carr

John Cooper

Kendra Coulter, Brock University

Jesse Cullen

Ron Dancey

Stephen De Bliek

Jennier French

Eleanor Grant

Ramsey Hart

Sandy Hudson

Del Jones

Louisette Lanteigne

Dave Mackay

Joe Manson

J. Maselli

Natalie Mehra

Lyndsay Mollins Koene

Andres Musta

Daniel Peat

Veronica Penold

Marla Powers

Kathleen Quinn

John Rae

Sadia Raquddin, Seva Food

Bank

Judith Richardson

Robert Sellner

Michael Shapcott, Wellesley

Institute

Paul Shtogryn

Heather Skolly

Louise Taylor

Eric Tucs

Justen Wilson


19/20


20/20

Documents

A People's Budget