Could you feed and house yourself in Ontario today on less than $1,000 per month? Think about it. When Doug Ford took over as premier, he not only blocked an increase in minimum wage to $15 per hour, he cut the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) back to levels considered disastrous back when premier Mike Harris cut them last in the 1990s.
The best description I have heard for this idiocy is that Ford has created close to a million hunter gatherers in Ontario. They are always in search of their next meal. They are in line-ups at the few charities that will give them some food. They haunt the streets, panhandling, checking the garbage, mugging, and finally, stealing.
Have you ever wondered why shoplifting, stealing from cars, veranda thefts and other petty thefts increase after the middle of the month? That is when these people can be out of money and likely out of food.
And the worst of it is that they attack and rob each other for small change.
And don’t complain to the police about it. If they ever arrest these people, it is out of compassion. They give them a warm bed for the night and something to eat before they hit the streets again the next day.
And don’t get huffy and ask why these people can’t get a job. They have been driven down to this level and there are very few chauffeurs to drive them back to holding a job. People do try to help. There are even some good results—not enough to make a dent in the problems.
Any honest social worker will tell you that their caseload of people in need is impossible. There are few and overcrowded hostels. And nobody feels safe in them. There are no sheltered workshops.
These people do not want to live off the dole. They have no choice. Many are physically incapable of earning a living. Others are mentally incapable. Society has turned its back on them.
And our provincial government does not care.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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