Report From May 12 Raise The Rates Demonstration

To see photos from the demonstration click here.

‘WE DON’T NEED A DOCTOR’S NOTE TO TELL US WE’RE HUNGRY!’
OCAP MARCHES ON THE SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTRY

On May 12, a crowd of over four hundred poor people and supporters took the fight for decent income right to the doorstep of the Liberal most responsible for imposing hunger on our communities, Minister of Social Services Sandra Pupatello. OCAP, joined by Ontario Common Front organizations and supporters from Hamilton, Port Hope, Guelph, Kitchener, Belleville, Ottawa, Peterborough and Kingston, marched to the Ministry to demand that the $250 a month special diet supplement be given to all 760,000 welfare and disability recipients in Ontario without their having to jump through bureaucratic hoops. Right now people can access the previously little known supplement only by finding a medical practitioner ready to state the obvious – that the pittance provided by the McGuinty Government does not allow people to
pay the rent and eat properly at the same time.

The March to Pupatello’s Ministry began with a terrific meal in Allen Gardens that had taken long hours to prepare. OCAP long ago learned from our allies in the Mohawk Nation the great importance of ensuring that the people we mobilize are well fed and strong so that they can stand up and fight back in the face of poverty and injustice. A range of speakers from various Ontario communities, most of them with a direct and personal stake in winning the food supplement struggle, delivered a message that inspired the crowd and served notice to the Liberals that the challenge they face can only grow stronger.

Despite the fact that many of those who came out to march were people with families who had not taken part in demonstrations before, they joined us in taking over the streets. No one that day was in the slightest bit deterred or intimidated by the massive array of police power that was on hand.

Having headed along College Street to Bay Street, we turned north towards our destination – the Ministry Offices at 900 Bay. The Police, never the deepest thinkers, seemed to be taken unawares by this, having assumed we would go to the main Legislative Building. They scrambled to place a protective cordon in front of the Pupatello’s building. It was entirely fitting to have this happen. A Government that keeps 760,000 living in poverty should expect to have to call on the cops to
protect it from the poor. The whole building was locked down and no one was allowed in or out during the time we were in front of it.

Our march returned to Allan Gardens to disperse but then something took place that highlighted how the food supplement struggle is different and vitally important. The many poor people who had come in from out of town and who have huge trouble accessing medical practitioners in their own communities attended an OCAP special diet clinic in Regent Park. There a team of nurse-practitioners assessed 140 people (many of them young kids) for the supplement. They were given the forms and prescriptions necessary for them and their families to receive the extra income that will enable them to eat decently. We are receiving word that many people are already starting to get their special diet money, including a large family stuck on welfare in Belleville who got their first monthly increase of $2250.

For a long time, OCAP and others have challenged the obscene transfer of wealth from the poorest to richest that has taken place in Ontario under the Tories and, now, their Liberal replacements. With the drive to win the food supplement, however, we have found the means to take back some of the precious income that the poor have been robbed of. Very close to a thousand people have accessed the supplement through our clinics and we are only beginning to organize this struggle. We will continue to demand the extra $250 be given to all as an automatic entitlement, as a first step towards providing income that lifts people out of poverty. However, until this is won, we will continue organizing with communities everywhere to provide poor people and families with the means to attain the supplement and survive with dignity.

This campaign needs your support. There are many practical ways for anyone to get involved and help out. Get in touch.

OCAP: 416-925-6939, www.ocap.ca, ocap@tao.ca