>
>I'd be interested in commentsto this list on an idea that some of us feel
>would be far better than the coercive and punitive Ontario Works Program.
>It's very simple: find people on assistance who *want* to work and/or
>train. Then help them find volunteer work positions (and provide 'work
>readiness mentoring' if needed) and help them find funding for the training
>they need/want (not surprisingly, most people on assistance don't have
>money for training courses.)
Sally,
As you know, the Government of Ontario has put Bill 22 (An Act to Prevent
Unionization with respect to Community Participation under the Ontario Works
Act, 1997) before the legislature in order to block any attempt to unionize
people who are on workfare. This strikes me as being a step toward keeping
the poor isolated from each other so that they cannot take organized
collective action when in reality organized, collective action is what would
probably be most helpful to them. Of course, Mrs. Ecker, who sponsored the
Bill, says it is not directed at the poor, but rather at unions who are
trying to subvert workfare and thereby deny the poor access to it.
What the Bill suggests is a fear of the potential power of the poor. As
long as solutions are imposed from above - like workfare - there is little
to worry about. But if the poor were an organized political force proposing
solutions of their own, there is no telling what might happen. Better to
cut that possibility off.
Ed Weick
