Colour of Poverty Colour of Change launches new fact sheets on racial inequality in Ontario. For more details about the launch: Press Release COP-COC Launch of Fact Sheets 2019.03.21
Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change welcomes National Poverty Reduction Strategy
Toronto / August 23, 2018 – Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC) applauds the National Poverty Reduction Strategy (NPRS) launched on August 21, 2018 for its recognition of the unique and disproportionate impact of poverty on Indigenous peoples, and peoples of colour.
We commend the government on taking the bold and historic step of establishing an official Poverty Line for Canada, as well as poverty reduction targets. The government has promised to enshrine these measures, as well as a National Advisory Council on Poverty, in a Poverty Reduction Act to be introduced next year.
We are encouraged by government’s promise to expand the collection of disaggregated data to track progress on poverty reduction, including gender, race and other intersecting identities. This is critically important when considering that racialized poverty is 32% in Canada while, racialized people are only 22.3% of the population. The disparities facing racialized groups are amplified if we take into account such other factors as gender, immigration status, ability, and more.
People of diverse immigration status are presently excluded from many of the poverty reduction measures that are available to all other Canadian residents. While the NPRS mentions poverty reduction efforts must acknowledge the different realities and lived experiences of diverse residents such as refugees and recent immigrants, and mentions the Visible Minority Newcomer Women pilot as an example, it does not commit to removing the systemic legal and policy barriers that exclude them from poverty reduction measures.
In fact the adoption of the Market Basket Measure as the official poverty line could make family reunification through immigration sponsorship even more inaccessible for low-income Canadians.
It is important that these systemic gaps are identified and remedied before they become further entrenched through the promised Poverty Reduction Act.
We urge the government of Canada to adopt the following measures in order to ensure real equity and inclusion in its poverty reduction strategy:
- Allow parents with precarious immigration status to qualify for the Canada Child Benefit (CCB) by removing immigration status as an eligibility requirement under the Income Tax Act. At present, even Canadian-born children of parents with precarious immigration status are denied access to the CCB.
- Change Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and Old Age Security (OAS) rules so that immigrant seniors are not forced to wait ten years before they can access these benefits.
- Open up eligibility criteria for Canada Learning Bond, Pathways to Education, Canada student grants and loans and other student-centered poverty reduction programs so that refugee claimants and other low-income students with precarious immigration status are included.
- Ensure that all new poverty reduction initiatives, such as the National Housing strategy and plans for National Pharmacare, do not exclude Canadian residents on the basis of immigration status.
- Ensure the expansion of disaggregated data collection and data sources does not inadvertently endanger people with precarious immigration status and put them at risk of deportation.
- Attach Mandatory Employment Equity requirements for all jobs created as a result of Federal funding and investments for all public and private projects.
COP – COC welcomes the government’s re-stated commitment to address systemic barriers of racism, starting with a cross-country consultation on a national anti-racism approach. We note with concern however that the consultations were first promised in the February 2018 budget but have yet to take place. We note that the commitment appears to be downgraded from an anti-racism ‘strategy’ to an ‘approach’ and are concerned that change may indicate a reduced commitment to tackling systemic racism and racial discrimination. This is deeply worrying given the clear link between systemic racism, racial exclusion and poverty, including as recognized in the NPRS.
Native Women’s Association of Canada has put forward several recommendations following a country-wide engagement on poverty reduction, and has called for an end to the political disenfranchisement and economic marginalization of Indigenous women. We urge the government to adopt these recommendations going forward, as a way to fulfil the NPRS commitment to address the unique and different realities faced by Indigenous women in Canada.
COP-COC is a province-wide initiative made up of individuals, groups and organizations working to build community-based capacity to address the growing racialization of poverty – for both First Peoples and peoples of colour – and the resulting increased levels of social exclusion and marginalization of racialized communities across Ontario.
Contact:
Avvy Go – Chinese & South East Asian Legal Clinic Tel: 416-971-9674
Amy Casipullai – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants Tel: 416-322-4950 x 239
Mohamed Boudjenane – Canadian Arab Federation, Tel: 416-889-6764
Refugee advocates urge Ontario to stay at the table
Toronto/July 6, 2018/ – Ontario civil society groups and refugee advocates urge the Government of Ontario to stay engaged in intergovernmental collaboration to resettle the large numbers of refugee claimants arriving irregularly in Canada from the United States.
The Ontario government has said it will step back from cooperating with the federal government on resettling refugee claimants. The Ontario response was reported by media following a recent meeting of the Ad Hoc Intergovernmental Task Force on Irregular Migration attended by Lisa McLeod, Minister Responsible for Women’s Issues and Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.
“We believe Ontario must be at the table to speak to the interests and priorities of municipalities that are trying to resettle refugee claimants in their communities” said Debbie Douglas, Executive Director of OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants. “The right of refugee claimants to seek protection is safeguarded in Canadian law, which builds on Canada’s international obligations” she added.
“Ontario has called on the federal government to cover the costs of refugee resettlement. If they really want the province and municipalities to be compensated they must be at the table” said Francisco Rico-Martinez of the Ontario Coalition of Service Providers for Refugee Claimants. “It is inhumane to risk making refugee claimants homeless to make a political statement. It is in violation of our international obligations and tradition, and Canadian values of social justice and human rights” he added.
“We are deeply disturbed by politicians and media inaccurately describing refugee claimants as illegal entrants into Canada. Asylum seekers have the legal right to cross the border to make a refugee claim” said Lobat Sadrehashemi, President of Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers.
The Safe Third Country Agreement between Canada and the United States prevents asylum seekers from making a refugee claim at a regular border crossing. As a result they are entering Canada irregularly in order to ask for asylum, which is not illegal.
“Refugee claimants are among the most vulnerable in our society. We all have a responsibility to treat them with respect and dignity and ensure their rights are protected” said Shalini Konanur, Executive Director of South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario. “Most importantly our own laws and the international treaties signed by Canada require us to do so” she added.
“Toronto and many of the surrounding municipalities had housing challenges long before the current increase of refugee claimant arrivals. Blaming Ontario’s housing crisis on vulnerable refugee claimants who cannot fight back is reprehensible and does great harm to claimants” said Avvy Go of Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change. “Refugee claimants should never be used as pawns by anyone, let alone our political leaders” she added.
Ontario leads the country in the resettlement of refugees, playing a prominent role in fulfilling Canada’s international humanitarian commitments. We have a strong tradition of welcoming refugees and refugee claimants, and they require coordinated assistance from all three levels of government in order to succeed.
As civil society groups and refugee advocates that support this statement, we call for leadership from all three orders of government in the resettlement of refugee claimants. We also call on political leaders and media organizations to respect the rights of refugee claimants. This includes using responsible language and factual reporting in order not to inflame anti-refugee sentiment.
Released by OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers, Coalition of Service Providers for Refugee Claimants in Ontario, Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change, OHIP For All, Refugee Lawyers Association and South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario.
Contact:
Debbie Douglas, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants ddouglas@ocasi.org or Amy Casipullai, OCASI – Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants acasipullai@ocasi.org
Francisco Rico-Martinez – Ontario Coalition of Service Providers for Refugee Claimants franciscorico@fcjrefugeecentre.org
Avvy Go – Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change goa@lao.on.ca
Ritika Goel – OHIP For All ritikagoelto@gmail.com
Raoul Boulakia – Refugee Lawyers Association raoul@boulakia.ca
Shalini Konanur – South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario konanurs2@lao.on.ca
Community groups call on new provincial government to tackle racial inequities in Ontario
June 8, 2018/Toronto – Colour of Poverty – Colour of Change (COP-COC) calls on the new Provincial Government to make racial justice and racial equity a focal point of its mandate.
COP-COC, a provincial network of individuals and organizations working to build community-based capacity to address racialized poverty and racial inequality, invites the new Ontario Government to work with communities of colour and Indigenous communities to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination and related intolerance.
Over 1/3 of the Ontario population is made up of peoples of colour and Indigenous peoples. They are also among the most marginalized, as demonstrated by various social, health and economic measures and indicators.
As a group, racialized communities (including both peoples of colour and Indigenous Peoples) experience higher rates of poverty, earn less income, and are more likely to be in precarious employment. As a result of their economic marginalization, they are also more likely to be in core housing need and have poorer health outcomes. Racialized group members – in particular Indigenous Peoples and African Canadians – are disproportionately represented in the criminal justice and child welfare systems.
Just prior to the election, the COP-COC hosted a provincial forum bringing together racialized communities members from across Ontario to develop strategies on the promotion of racial equity. Forum participants want the new Ontario Government to strengthen existing anti-racism measures and introduce new policies and practices to combat systemic racism in all of its forms.
COP-COC calls on the new Ontario Government to:
- Confirm its commitment to Ontario’s Poverty Reduction strategy, and specifically address the growing racialization of poverty in Ontario. Among other things, the new Government should confirm its commitment to raising social assistance rates and to advancing income security reform to end poverty for all people in Ontario;
- Continue to fully implement the Ontario Anti-Racism Strategy, including the mandatory collection of disaggregated ethno-racially-based data by all provincial ministries, offices, divisions and by the broader public sector;
- Introduce mandatory employment equity legislation to level the playing field for all equity seeking groups in the labour market – in particular Indigenous Peoples, peoples of colour, women, persons with (dis)abilities and LGBTQ community members;
- Continue to attach community benefits agreements (CBA’s) – that include employment equity objectives – to all provincially funded investments, initiatives and projects;
- Continue with the reforms to the criminal justice system and to matters of policing to eliminate all forms of racial profiling and racial discrimination;
- Continue to invest in legal aid and increase funding for community based legal clinics; and
- Eliminate the three month OHIP waiting period for newcomers to the province.
Over the next five years, COP-COC will be fully engaged with racialized communities and other allies and partners across Ontario to make sure their issues will be meaningfully and effectively addressed by the new provincial government.
COP-COC will also be working with affected communities on a campaign to push the Federal Government to relaunch Canada’s Action Plan Against Racism (CAPAR), and to ensure that the new CAPAR will mandate and encourage provinces and territories to tackle racism in education, health, criminal justice, and all other areas that fall within their jurisdiction.
For further information, please contact:
Amy Casipullai, OCASI- Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants – 416-524-4950
Avvy Go, Chinese & South East Asian Legal Clinic – 416-971-9674
Shalini Konanur, South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario – 416-487-6371
Toronto Star releases Op-Ed on Colour of Poverty Provincial Report Card
Toronto Star Columnist Shree Paradkar released an opinion editorial covering the Colour of Poverty provincial racial justice report card, which gave the NDP an A grade, the Liberals a B and the Progressive Conservatives a C. The A, B, C, grades are issued relative to other parties’ positions on racial justice and racial equity issues and are not absolute grades.
Read the Toronto Star Editorial here