>Date: Tue, 16 Jan 2001 02:00:10 -0500 (EST) >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (ow-watch-digest) >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: ow-watch-digest V2 #493 >Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Precedence: bulk >Status: > > >ow-watch-digest Tuesday, January 16 2001 Volume 02 : Number 493 > > > >OW-WATCH-L 'Missing In Poverty' >OW-WATCH-L `Surveillance society' feared under provincial plan > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 11:52:22 -0500 >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: OW-WATCH-L 'Missing In Poverty' > >MONDAY, January 15th, 2001 >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE > >'Missing in Poverty' Numbers Continue to Grow > > Critic asks: Where have those off welfare gone? > >Queen's Park --- The Harris government's weekend announcement that welfare >rates have dropped failed to provide, yet again, any clear indication as to >where those who have left the system have ended up. Liberal Community and >Social Services Critic Michael Gravelle today proposed that, unless the >government is willing to provide a detailed and verifiable breakdown of >where former welfare recipients have ended up, those leaving the system >should be referred to simply as 'Missing in Poverty'. > >"The Mike Harris government has no real clue where former welfare recipients >have ended up. Yet, month after month, year after year, they trumpet their >policies as the crediting force," said Gravelle (M.P.P. Thunder Bay-Superior >North.) "There is no doubt - many of these people are Missing In Poverty, >or M.I.P." > >The government reports that 573,856 people have gone M.I.P. since 1995. Of >that, approximately 250,000 are children. Their whereabouts are unconfirmed >and unaccounted, says Gravelle. > >"The Harris government propaganda machine continues to misrepresent their >fate by misrepresenting the actual facts," says Gravelle. "They have >reduced a serious social issue to a monthly public smear campaign. If those >leaving the system have, indeed, found the dignity of a job, the government >should prove it." > >Gravelle suspects that, despite government claims, many former welfare >recipients have fallen into deeper poverty, have been forced to return to >potentially abusive situations or have simply disappeared through the >cracks. However, without any commitment to track and verify where they've >gone, they might as well be considered Missing in Poverty, concluded >Gravelle. > >- -30- > >For More Information: >Michael Gravelle, M.P.P. >Liberal Community and Social Services Critic >(416) 325-1559 > > > >Information about Ow-Watch-L at: >http://www.welfarewatch.toronto.on.ca/wrkfrw/welcome.html >Visit the Workfare Watch Project Website at: >http://www.welfarewatch.toronto.on.ca/ > >------------------------------ > >Date: Mon, 15 Jan 2001 12:21:29 -0500 >From: Graeme Bacque <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: OW-WATCH-L `Surveillance society' feared under provincial plan > >- --=======357B6040======= >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed; >x-avg-checked=avg-ok-47F36B0 > >http://www.thestar.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=thestar >/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=979533303982&call_page=TS_Canada&call_pageid >=968332188774&call_pagepath=News/Canada > >January 15, 2001. 12:27 AM The Toronto Star > >Smart card chills privacy experts >`Surveillance society' feared under provincial plan > >Theresa Boyle >QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU > >The Ontario government's plan to create smart cards to access a wide range >of government services should be a red flag for anyone concerned about >privacy, warn computer and privacy experts. > >David Jones, president of Electronic Frontier Canada, a group committed to >protecting privacy and freedom of expression in cyberspace, says his worst >fear is the creation of a ``surveillance society.'' > >In a Big Brother world of electronic surveillance, ``a government watches >every aspect of your life constantly and cross-references all of the >different interactions you've had with the government,'' says Jones, a >professor of computer science at McMaster University. >- ----------- >`I'm terrified of any smart-card technology in the hands of a government >that has a track record of going after personal information.' >- - Lyn McLeod >- ----------- > >And there's precedence in Canada to support his concern. Jones cites the >1997 uproar over the federal government's use of travel declaration cards >to track down employment insurance cheats. > >``As a defence mechanism, we need to be able to compartmentalize our >interactions with government,'' he says. > >Management Board Chair Chris Hodgson insists that protection of privacy is >a paramount concern in the development of smart cards. Ontario is committed >to protecting individual privacy and ensuring that smart cards, once >implemented, provide secure access to public services, he says. > >And Hodgson says he's working closely with the province's privacy >commissioner on the development of the technology. > >The province plans to table legislation paving the way for smart cards this >spring. The high-tech cards would replace OHIP cards, drivers' licences, >birth certificates, hunting and fishing licences, and any other cards that >access government services. > >The province plans to test the waters with smart-card pilot projects in >2002. And the following year, it plans to roll smart cards out to the >public in a larger scale. > >According to a recently issued government news release, the majority of >Ontarians support the idea of introducing smart cards to the province. > >The release cites a poll, conducted last May, which found that 58 per cent >of those surveyed would support the use of smart cards to access government >services. > >It boasts that more than half of respondents felt that reducing fraud would >be the best reason to introduce smart cards. > >But what the news release neglects to mention is that the poll also showed >that 68 per cent of respondents would not be more likely to support a smart >card even if the privacy and security of personal information was protected. > >(The poll was a telephone survey of 800 Ontarians conducted by Angus Reid. >It's accurate to within plus or minus 3.5 percentage points 19 times out of >20.) > >Privacy concerns were heightened this past week with media reports that the >government is looking at integrating biometrics into smart cards, a >proposal that could require fingerprinting or retinal scanning of >Ontarians. While the province is working with a New York biometrics >consulting company on the idea, Hodgson's office says the likelihood of >proceeding with it is low. > >Liberal Health Critic Lyn McLeod (Thunder Bay-Atikokan) says she doesn't >trust the Conservative government with something so potentially explosive. >She acknowledges that smart cards could be useful for the expansion of >primary health care networks, which would see patients cared for by groups >of health-care professionals, not just doctors. >- ----------- >`Why do I have to hand a piece of plastic with links to my health >information to the fishing guy?' >- - David Jones >- ----------- > >But McLeod charges that the Tories have a history of violating the privacy >of Ontarians. > >``I'm terrified of any smart-card technology in the hands of a government >that has a track record of going after personal information,'' she says. > >She cites the recent resignation from cabinet of Rob Sampson as corrections >minister. He was forced to step down after backbench Tory MPP Doug Galt >(Northumberland) read out a list of names of young offenders in the >Legislature - contrary to the Young Offenders Act, which bans publication >of the names of young criminals. > >The government made the same mistake in 1998 when the Throne Speech >revealed a young offender's name, forcing the resignation of then >corrections minister Bob Runciman. > >The year before, an aide to the health minister was forced to resign after >revealing confidential information to a newspaper reporter about the OHIP >billings of a doctor critical of the government. > >Despite government assurances that privacy will be protected, there's >always room for bureaucratic screw-ups, Jones warns. > >Jones says many questions about smart cards remain unanswered: > >How much fraud would they root out? Would the savings really offset the >cost of developing the technology? > >Would customer service improve considerably? Would the convenience of >having all government cards consolidated into one be worth it? > >And why does a hunting and fishing licence have to be on the same card as >OHIP information? > >``Why do I have to hand a piece of plastic with links to my health >information to the fishing guy? We have to put in all kinds of mechanisms >to prevent the fishing guy from finding out that I have diabetes,'' Jones >says. >- --=======357B6040======= >Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; x-avg-checked=avg-ok-47F36B0 > > >- --- >Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). >Version: 6.0.226 / Virus Database: 108 - Release Date: 1/5/01 > >- --=======357B6040=======-- > > >Information about Ow-Watch-L at: >http://www.welfarewatch.toronto.on.ca/wrkfrw/welcome.html >Visit the Workfare Watch Project Website at: >http://www.welfarewatch.toronto.on.ca/ > >------------------------------ > >End of ow-watch-digest V2 #493 >****************************** >
