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Duncan follows McGuinty's first steps

TORONTO, ON (March 25th, 2008) – The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) welcomes the provincial government’s next steps towards poverty reduction in today’s budget, but calls on the government to make giant leaps by the end of this year.

The province re-affirmed previous commitments that represent a downpayment on a poverty reduction plan with an up-front investment in improved child benefits, dental care for children, the quality of affordable housing, and student nutrition.  The budget announcement also took additional steps to reduce poverty which are in line with policy recommendations made by the OAFB. These changes include:

• a two per cent increase to the Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP); and
• a pilot asset building program to build savings for home ownership, business development, and education for low-income Ontarians.

“Economic uncertainty is a real worry around many dinner tables across the province, so we welcome these changes,” said Adam Spence, Executive Director of the OAFB.  “Food banks began and experienced our greatest growth during hard economic times. The provincial government must continue to increase its necessary investments in poverty reduction to ensure the health, success, and quality of life of all Ontarians.”

The OAFB calls on the provincial government to improve the affordability of housing by introducing an emergency housing allowance program for households in urgent need, to build opportunity by making necessary investments to support social enterprise, and to improve the adequacy and accessibility of social assistance.

The provincial government also reaffirmed its commitment to complete the poverty reduction plan by the end of 2008, including program investments, legislative changes, targets and indicators.  It will require an unprecedented effort by government to ensure that the poverty reduction plan is completed and supported by the necessary funds, legislation, measures and targets to reduce hunger and poverty for the hundreds of thousands of Ontarians that are forced to turn to food banks every month.

“Food banks have waited for over a generation for significant change, and the government has committed to a plan to achieve that change within the next nine months,” said Sandy Singers, Chair of the OAFB and Executive Director of Partners in Mission Food Bank in Kingston.  “The provincial government has taken the next steps in the right direction in today’s budget.  Now they must make great leaps in a very short period of time.”

The Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB) is a network of over 100 food banks including communities across the province from Ottawa to Windsor, and Niagara Falls to Thunder Bay.  Over 330,000 Ontarians are served by food banks every month, and 40 per cent of those served are children.  For more information about the OAFB, and hunger and poverty in Ontario, please visit www.oafb.ca.

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For further information, contact:
Adam Spence, Executive Director, Ontario Association of Food Banks (OAFB),
w: 416.656.4100, c: 416.543.0897