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 2010 Social Audit: A Faith Community Assessment of the Status of Poverty in Ontario
... listening to the voices of the poor
ISARC mobilized
again to provide opportunities for the most vulnerable of our society
to tell their stories of living in poverty and give us their ideas for change at the political level.
This past March, April and
May, community hearings on poverty took place across Ontario as part of ISARC’s Social Audit.
This Social Audit sought to communicate the social effects of the current
Ontario government’s policies and actions towards people living in
poverty and our society as a whole.
Read about The Social Audit in the Media.
Read about the Social Audits
that took place in the Waterloo
Region and Southwest
Rural Ontario.
Read about 2010 Social Audit Hearing
Locations and Dates.
For a quick introduction, please read: Social Audit Flyer.
For detailed information, please read: 2010 Social
Audit: A Faith Community Assessment of the Status of Poverty in Ontario -
Guidelines for Local Planning Committees, Facilitators, Rapporteurs,
and Recorders.
Resources for the Social Audit [from Guidelines above]
 Social Audit
Flyer
Hearing Invite Flyer
Invite to Local Service Providers
Invite to Local Municipal Politicians
Handout for Facilitators
Handout for Recorders
Handout for Rapporteurs
Bulletin Insert
From Data to Report: Compiling the data from your local social audit
 The Social Audit in the Media
Chatham Kent
Sacrificing financial future to receive welfare
Cornwall
Social Audit Hearing Captures Lived Experiences of Poverty
Hamilton
Little mishaps add up living a life in poverty
Kingston
Flyer/Poster
Mountain
Survey to take a hard look at rural poverty
Interfaith coalition conducts social audit in Mountain
Putting poverty on the agenda
Niagara
Niagarans asked to share stories of struggle
Tears shed over need for social assistance reform
Book aimed at improving lives of the poor
Hearing tales of despair and hope
Seeding hope in the Rose City
Churches step up for poor
Dialogue aimed at welfare reform
London city councillor sticks up for social justice
North
Bay
City to participate in social audit hearings
Post
Social Audit Media Release
Vicious cycle lacks easy solution
Ottawa
Recession still haunts Main St., Canada
Peterborough
Coalition calls on the poor to share their wisdom, experience and
strength
Sault St. Marie
Tony Martin and Community Legal Clinic to host Forum about Poverty
Southwest Rural Ontario
Lack of transportation, services, housing
Read the social audit Results
for Huron County
Social audit of Huron County puts a human face on rural poverty
Waterloo Region
The pain was palpable
Audit shines light on the struggles of
living in poverty
Windsor
Pathway to Potential and Voices Against Poverty
York
Region
York to be part of social service audit
ISARC – Successful Social Audit in York Region, Ontario, Canada
New poor a 'disturbing phenomenon'
Please check out:
It's about dignity
by Bruce Voogd
Will the social audit make a difference?
by Brice Balmer
No one in Ontario should go hungry
View the compelling video of Darren Nesbit
(Sarnia) as he tells of his struggle to live on limited groceries after
paying his rent.This presentation occurred at an event convened in Hamilton
on Friday, December 4 to mark the first anniversary of the Ontario
Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy.
The reality of poverty: growing up working poor and invisible is a first-hand account of what it is like to grow up in poverty
by Sharon Murphy, published in the Catalyst, Vol. 32, No. 3 - Summer/Fall 2009. Citizens for Public Justice.
A Faith Community Assessment of the Status of Poverty in Ontario
by Alexandra Béasse
Social Assistance Review
2010 Social Audit Hearing
Locations and Dates
| Location: |
Date: |
Local Contact:
|
Barrie
Orillia
|
April 22
April 22
|
Laurie van den Hurk
Jody Maltby
|
| Belleville |
April 13, 14, 16, 19, 21 |
John Brisebois |
| Brantford |
April 14, 29, May 6
|
JoAnne Dubois
|
| Chatham Kent |
March 22, April 16
|
Jim Paddon
|
| Cornwall |
April 7
|
Michelle Gratton
|
Durham Region
|
April 5, 26, June 3, 4
|
Ted Glover
|
Halton Burlington Oakville
|
April 26
|
Colleen Sym
|
Hamilton
|
April 22
|
Diedre Pike
Colleen Sym
|
| Kingston |
April 22
|
Jamie Swift
|
| London |
May 26
|
Susan Eagle
|
Mississauga Brampton Peel
|
March 24,
April 7, 9, 14, 19, 20
|
Larry Englander
Donna McBride
|
| Mountain |
April 15
|
Pauline Pratt
|
| Niagara |
April 13, 20
|
Gracia Jones
|
North Bay
|
March 23-24
|
Tawnia Healy
|
| Ottawa |
April 21
|
Joe Gunn
|
Ottawa Valley
Pembroke Renfrew
|
April 26, 27, 29
|
Lyn Smith
|
Sault St. Marie
|
June 4
|
Jill Hewgill |
South West Ontario (Rural)
|
March 31
|
Alexandra Béasse |
| Toronto Central |
May 27
|
Bruce Voogd
|
| Toronto East |
April 15 |
Murray MacAdam |
Toronto West
|
June 10
|
Bruce Voogd
|
Waterloo Region
|
February 25
|
Brice Balmer
Dina Etmanskie
Greg DeGroot-Maggetti
Michael Hackbusch
Janet Howitt
|
| Winsdor |
April 22, 30, May 14 |
Adam Vasey
|
York Region
|
April 20
|
Tom Pearson
Yvonne Kelly
|
ISARC is mobilizing again to provide opportunities for the most
vulnerable in our society to tell their stories of living in poverty. The
Social Audit will seek to communicate the social effects of the current
Ontario government’s policies and actions towards people living in
poverty and our society as a whole.
Using a modified UN
rapporteur model, people with the lived experiences of poverty, whether
they are single parents, disabled, working poor, people of colour, new
immigrants, or single adults, will have an opportunity to share their
stories, be heard, and offer solutions from their experience. If we want
to advocate for change to the current system, it is imperative that
people directly affected by government policy be given voice to how
these policies are helping or hindering them in their struggles with
poverty.
ISARC hopes to conduct Hearings right across the
province in urban, rural, northern, and Aboriginal communities, where
people living in poverty can safely come together.
Contact us at info@isarc.ca if you would like to help out.
Will the social audit make a difference?
By Brice Balmer, ISARC Director [article
in ISARC e-newsletter, January 2010]
In 2003, a group of
persons with mental health issues hosted an ISARC Social Audit Team. A
few people told of their experiences with Ontario Works (OW) and Ontario
Disability Support Program (ODSP) and then one man said, “Is this going
to make any difference? How much power do you have?”
The group
took a break for coffee and “a smoke”.
When they returned, it was
obvious there had been conversation. The same man said, “You listen.
Most people don’t listen to us.” But there were other changes, one of
the rapporteurs, a pastor of a large church in the area, found the
social audit a personally transforming experience. As a leader in his
denomination, he often talked about his day listening to people he
rarely met. He spoke to his MPP and others of his experience and urged
changes to eliminate poverty in Ontario.
The Social Audit process
will not bring revolutionary changes to the lives of Ontarians most
marginalized by social assistance and low wage jobs. It will not build
affordable housing nor put food on the table.
But it will allow
for a different kind of power or influence to emerge for all who
participant in the Social Audit. People testifying feel a spark of
dignity returning. A group of persons with low incomes, after holding a
session to talk about their experiences with staff from a social
planning centre, decided that they would testify at a public meeting
where politicians and other community leaders attended. They found
courage.
The truth is that the Interfaith Social Assistance
Reform Coalition (ISARC) has no power to make changes. On that day in
2003, the audit team listened, the testimony of people living in poverty
became part of the audit report, Lives in the Balance, which was
distributed to all Members of the Provincial Parliament, and later ISARC
was involved in working for significant changes to social assistance as
well as other measures to eliminate poverty.
Rapporteurs,
recorders, facilitators, and conveners who listen have the opportunity
to reflect on the difficult experiences of people on the margins. How do
I walk with them? How would I cope? What does this do to their
spirituality and faith? How do we understand how a “higher power” allows
these tragedies? How can we understand justice? How do we get beyond
charity? What can be done?
The social audit is a transforming
event both professionally and spiritually for the many who participate.
This is a power stronger than changing legislation. One that encourages
people to participate in the political process and argue for the
elimination of poverty. It is passion, which moves not only in the
political sphere but also builds solidarity.
As a result of past
social audits, there are new ideas in the legislative, rules and
regulations around social assistance in Ontario. Citizens have been
mobilized to speak with politicians. Many who participated no longer
believe in the myths, political ideologies, and the media that speak
about poverty being only their fault. They also see that there are
systemic reasons for poverty and these need to be changed.
When
the results of the 2010 ISARC Social Audit are published, all Members of
the Provincial Parliament and Members of Parliament in Ontario will
receive a copy. Many provinces have now passed poverty reduction laws. A
federal legislative committee has been working on similar legislation
at the national level, but has been stopped while Parliament is
prorogued. The Social Audit is another moment and opportunity to propose
positive alternatives to these processes.
Our intention is that
the 2010 Social Audit be part of the growing effort to eliminate
poverty in Ontario and Canada. People on the margins will be heard and
their voices and ideas will significantly contribute to that goal. And
the results of the audit and the final report will contribute to
legislative solutions to end poverty.
A Faith Community Assessment of the Status of Poverty in Ontario
by Alexandra Béasse [article
in ISARC e-newsletter, November 2009]
How do we measure the effects of poverty? Why is it important to hear from people living in poverty? How do we evaluate the impact of the current Ontario Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy? Why is the progress of our society’s response to poverty relevant for our faith communities?
These are just some of the questions that ISARC will be seeking to answer as it conducts its social audit across the province in the spring of 2010.
Just as a financial audit is an independent review of the financial statements to determine whether or not those financial statements are relevant, accurate, complete, and fairly presented, a social audit is a process of communicating the social effects of government policies and actions towards a particular group and society as a whole.
ISARC has a strong history of conducting social audits regarding government policies and practices towards people living in poverty in Ontario. These efforts have resulted in four reports: Neighbour to Neighbour (1991), Our Neighbours’ Voices: Will We Listen? (1998), Lives in the Balance (2004), and Lives Still in the Balance (2007). These books contained stories of people’s lived experiences of poverty, an analysis of the effects of government policy as it relates to poverty, and the need to advocate for the most vulnerable of our neighbours.
In their 2007 election platform, the Ontario Liberals promised a Social Assistance Review and an Ontario Child Poverty Reduction Strategy. While some progress has been made with the introduction of the Ontario Child Benefit, the Ontario Child Poverty Strategy, and the increase in minimum wage, without a social audit there is no way to measure the effectiveness of their impact for people living in poverty. A Social Audit will provide a tangible way of learning directly from those whose lives are affected by poverty: children, parents, persons with disabilities, working poor, people of colour, new Canadians, and single adults.
Through working together with members from the Social Planning Network of Ontario, ISARC and its faith leaders will have the opportunity to host hearings in their communities and hear first hand from people who are touched by poverty. ISARC will provide leadership, tools, training and other supports to ensure the integrity and consistency of the social audit process across the province.
Using the outcome from this audit, ISARC will further its efforts to advocate for real change that will improve the dignity of people living in poverty. And, in doing so, faith communities will be provided with practical information to assist them in fulfilling their mandates to reach out and empower the most vulnerable in our society. As we look ahead to a provincial election in 2011, the Social Audit will provide a way to increase pressure on MPPS and political candidates to make poverty elimination even more prominent in the current provincial government agenda and to have poverty elimination on the election platform for their parties.
Alexandra is a Master’s Social Work student from Yeshiva University completing her field placement with ISARC. She will be assisting with the social audit and ensuring the voices of people living in poverty in rural communities are heard. Alex has a passion for working in rural communities, promoting social justice, and increasing community capacity. Her history includes working in the areas of violence prevention, mental health, and advocacy for persons living on the margins of society. Alex resides with her family in Huron County.
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