Twenty-two Toronto community builders have signed their names to an
open letter urging " Toronto City Council to develop and implement a Poverty Reduction Strategy for the City of Toronto…."
The letter, published on
Social Planning Toronto's (SPT) website late Monday afternoon, has since been shared by many of the organizations involved--and many others--over Facebook, Twitter, and other social media mediums.
The letter was first submitted to the City's
Community Development and Recreation Committee in light of the committee's scheduled Monday morning vote on the development of a Toronto Poverty Reduction Strategy. The creation of the strategy, proposed by Councillor Joe Mihevc (Ward 21, St. Paul’s West), was adopted at Monday's meeting without amendment; city staff have been instructed to draft a report on possible Poverty Reduction Strategy in time for the 2015 Budget process.
While there's a ways to go before we see what the plan entails, there's already been a lot of momentum behind the idea.
Monday's letter isn't the first time community leaders have
actively endorsed Mihevc’s plan, but it does represent a strong formal endorsement by some of the city's largest community building groups and most active civic leaders. The letter is signed by, among many others, John Cartwright, the executive director of policy research group
Social Planning Toronto; Susan McIsaac the President and CEO of
United Way Toronto; and University of Toronto professor
David Hulchanski, author of numerous influential reports on the state of poverty in the city.
Among other evidence of the strategy's necessity, the letter points to recent research indicating that more than one in five Toronto residents live in poverty, that poverty is highly radicalized (the number of those living in poverty rises to one in three for racialized groups) and that poverty is becoming increasingly geographically concentrated in Toronto's inner suburbs.
The letter warns that the societal impacts of income disparity can not be alleviated solely with piecemeal solutions targeted at poverty's negative effects (e.g. insecure housing or inaccessible child care services) but must be combined with "comprehensive strategy to reduce and eliminate poverty amongst children, youth, working-age adults, immigrants, racialized groups and seniors."
Currently Toronto has no such strategy.
Urging council to eventually adopt a strategy that is "comprehensive, targeted, grounded in community, adequately resourced and accountable" the letter signatories have pledged their support to its the development and implementation.
"As partners of the City in research, economic development, community engagement and service delivery, we are also committing to supporting this strategy in our respective roles and to collaborate towards its success."
The letter signatories:
Jehad Aliweiwi, Executive Director, Laidlaw Foundation
Sheila Block, Director, Economic Analysis, Wellesley Institute
Alan Broadbent, Chairman of Maytree Foundation and Chairman and CEO of Avana Capital Corporation
John Brodhead, Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Cabinet Affairs, Office of the Premier of Ontario
Andrea Calver, Coordinator, Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care
John Campey, Executive Director, Social Planning Toronto
John Cartwright, President, Toronto and York Region Labour Council
Debbie Douglas, Exe cutive Director, OCASI (Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants)
Diane Dyson, Alliance for a Poverty-Free Toronto
Debbie Field, Executive Director, FoodShare
Rachel Grey, Executive Director, The Stop Community Food Centre
Margaret Hancock, Executive Director, Family Service Toronto
Sandy Houston, President and CEO, Metcalf Foundation
J David Hulchanski, Professor, University of Toronto
The Most Reverend Colin R. Johnson, Anglican Archbishop of Toronto and Metropolitan of Ontario
Mary Marrone, Director of Advocacy and Legal Services, Income Security Advocacy Centre
Susan McIsaac, President and CEO, United Way Toronto
Dr. Rosemary Moodie, Board President, YWCA Toronto
Colette Murphy, Executive Director, Atkinson Foundation
Gail Nyberg, Executive Director, Daily Bread Food Bank
Patricia O’Campo, Director, Centre for Research on Inner City Health ?Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
David Rivard, Chief Executive Officer, Children’s Aid Society of Toronto
John Stapleton, Open Policy
Writer: Katia Snukal