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Poverty is a complex issue, but don't tell that to the Harris government. According to them the elimination of poverty should be quite simple -- all you have to do is give the poor less money. This financial kick in the face ought to wake the poor up. They'll realize that being poor isn't any fun, and they'll take measures to become proper middle-class citizens. Although enthusiastically followed by the Tories, this strategy has yet to show positive results. The poor just aren't responding to these little kicks and punches. At a time when the economy is supposed to be good, poverty in Ontario is growing.

When it comes to poverty, the Tories' main preoccupation is with "welfare reform." The Tories have implemented lots of changes to the welfare system. One of their first acts was to reduce welfare payments by 22% to be more in line with the national average. I suppose it never occurred to them that living costs in Ontario are very much above the average. Eligibility criteria have been tightened for teenagers (because they should be in school), common-law couples (because they should be married) and, oddly, people who quit their jobs (because nobody should ever quit a job).

The Tories are suspicious of how poor people spend their money. The government can now pay welfare recipients' bills directly. And pregnant women on welfare have had their special food allowance eliminated to prevent them from spending it "on beer," in the words of Mike Harris. Again this shows the lack of respect the Tories have for the poor: they think the poor are stupid and irresponsible.

We now have two social assistance streams: the Ontario Disability Support Program, which provides an allowance for disabled people, and Ontario Works for everyone else. Ontario Works, also known as workfare, dictates that welfare recipients must work in order to receive benefits. Workfare, says the government, helps welfare recipients gain skills and also lets them "give something back." The Tories aren't sure how this program should operate, so they gave responsibility for administering workfare programs to municipalities.

People who oppose workfare say

So far I haven't heard any numbers which indicate that workfare has been a success. In fact, I've heard that although hundreds of thousands are now in the Ontario Works program, very few people (less than a thousand) are actually working for their benefits. A study released in this past July says that excessive red tape and lack of resources for the Ontario Works program are making it more difficult for people to get off welfare than before.

But it doesn't end there. Since 1995 Mike Harris has stuck it to the poor by

Punishing the poor is a convenient way for the Tories to pay for a tax cut and fulfill some ideological obligations. Poor people don't make a lot of noise. But poor people do make more demands on the health care system and the judicial system. Poor children grow up with huge disadvantages and end up costing society a lot. As with all of Mike Harris's short-sighted social policies, we'll be paying, in human and financial terms, long after the Tories are gone.

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