Letter to Chatham Daily News

Why are the disabled citizens of Ontario being driven into deeper poverty by the McGuinty Government? Most disabled people in the Province of Ontario receive their only source of income to live on, from the Provincially funded Ontario Disability Support Program. A disabled single adult recipient on ODSP only receives a meager $959.00 a month to pay ALL monthly expenses which usually includes rent, heat, hydro, food, clothing, telephone, bus fare, hair cuts, essential grooming products, and all other necessities of life. With the average rent being around $750 a month, plus utilities, the pittance the Ontario Government currently provides, DOES NOT allow a person enough money left over to even think about eating healthy, nutritious food. Disabled people are often forced to resort to food banks to obtain ANY food to eat, since they certainly cannot afford adequate groceries, let alone healthy food. However, so many people require food bank assistance, that often the food banks are overwhelmed by the demand, and often, quantities of food available from food banks is inadequate to meet the need. Disabled people in Ontario went without a disability pension increase for over ten years! When the Provincial Government, led by Dalton McGuinty FINALLY did grudgingly decide to provide an increase for disabled people, it was a miniscule three per cent increase! This paltry increase barely covers the cost of living increase for a one year period, let alone ten years!

Many people who are receiving a Disability pension have very severe medical problems and often require additional Provincial funds to obtain a doctor ordered, and medically necessary diet to meet their health needs. The Ontario Disability Support Program until recently, had an adequate special diet allowance in place, by which an individual could receive up to an additional $250.00 per month. On November 4, 2005, the special diet policies were drastically and negatively changed. These changes essentially impoverish the disabled even more, due to the deep cuts the Ontario Government has made in the special diet allowance. There are many disabled individuals who are no longer going to be able to receive their medically required special diets, due to the de listing of many diets that were previously covered by the Government of Ontario.

People DO NOT choose to be disabled, and if they could work, they would welcome that opportunity. The large majority of people on a disability pension CANNOT work, and therefore rely ENTIRELY on the Provincial Government to supply their essentials of life! When a person is medically unable to work, they should at least be provided with an adequate amount of funds to meet their essential, everyday needs. With the grossly inhumane, and inadequate funds currently being administered to the disabled people of Ontario, and the ever escalating costs of EVERYTHING, it is clear that many disabled people are going to end up in the hospital because of diet related medical problems, or end up on the streets, with nowhere to live. This is because it is now often a choice between buying food, or starving and having some place to live.