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TO THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO:
WHEREAS Doug Ford eliminated the Basic Income Pilot Project and slashed the new social assistance rates by 1.5 per cent, and did so without warning,
WHEREAScuts to already-meagre social assistance rates will disproportionately impact children, those with mental health challenges, persons with disabilities, and people struggling in poverty,
WHEREASthe decision to cancel the Basic Income Pilot Project was made without any evidence, and leaves thousands of Ontarians without details about whether they will be able to access other forms of income assistance,
WHEREASthe independently-authored Income Security Roadmap for Change Report, presented to government last fall, recommends both increases to rates and the continuation of the Basic Income Pilot Project, as key steps towards income adequacy and poverty reduction,
WHEREASthe failure to address poverty – and the homelessness, hunger, health crises, and desperation that can result from poverty – hurts people, families, and Ontario’s communities,
THEREFORE we the undersigned petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately reverse Doug Ford’s callous decisions to slash increases to social assistance rates by 50 per cent, and reverse his decision to cancel the Basic Income Pilot Project, decisions that will undoubtedly hurt thousands of vulnerable people, and drag Ontario backwards when it comes to homelessness reduction and anti-poverty efforts.