It gives me really great pleasure to welcome the Ontario Disability Coalition to the front lawn today. They’re here once again to rally the government to increase ODSP rates.

As we know, people living with disabilities in this province are living far below the poverty line. Rents have increased. The cost of living has increased. The monthly allowance for people who are disabled in this province has not increased nearly enough. A mere 5% increase to people who were already living below the poverty line continues to leave people in legislated poverty, which is not the province—we should be working hard to ensure that people have a healthy life and that they are able to live comfortably in the province of Ontario.

Once again, they’re here to encourage the government to increase the ODSP rates, to double those rates, to allow people the ability to live comfortably in homes. Once someone is evicted from a home in this province, the chances of them being able to find rent within their monthly allowance is very slim.

I’m happy to have the opportunity to speak with them today. I hope the government members will also come out to the front lawn and speak to members who are living in legislated poverty in the province of Ontario.

I’d like to welcome some of the attendees who will be visiting us on the front lawn today: Dr. Sally Palmer from the Ontario Association of Social Workers, Social Action Committee; Sherry Caldwell, president of the Ontario Disability Coalition; Anthony Frisina from the Ontario Disability Coalition; and, of course, our friend Michau Van Speyk from the Ontario Autism Coalition.

I want to thank Dr. Sally Palmer from McMaster University for circulating these petitions across the province. It’s a petition to raise social assistance rates.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Ontario’s social assistance rates are well below Canada’s official Market Basket Measure poverty line and far from adequate to cover the rising costs of food and rent: only $733 for individuals on OW and (soon) $1,227 for ODSP;

“Whereas an open letter to the Premier and two cabinet ministers, signed by over 230 organizations, recommends that social assistance rates be doubled for both Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP);

“Whereas the recent small budget increase of 5% for ODSP still leaves these citizens below the poverty line, both they and those receiving the frozen OW rates continue struggling to live during a period of alarming inflation”—I can only imagine;

“Whereas the government of Canada recognized in its CERB program that a ‘basic income’ of $2,000 per month was the standard support required by individuals who lost their employment during the pandemic;

“We, the undersigned citizens of Ontario, petition the Legislative Assembly to double social assistance rates for OW and ODSP.”

I wholeheartedly agree with this. I hope we can end legislated poverty. I’ll affix my signature and provide it to page Leonard to bring to the table.

“Petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the Wolfe Island ferry and Glenora ferry have had serious service disruptions due to a staffing crisis created by the Ontario government; and

“Whereas residents and visitors to Wolfe Island have been trapped on the island for up to 12 hours with no way to leave, even for emergencies or work; and

“Whereas Glenora ferry has had a reduced schedule during this year’s busy tourism season, creating hours of lineups and delays for passengers; and

“Whereas the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) ferry workers are drastically underpaid in comparison to the rest of the marine industry, causing recruitment and retention issues; and

“Whereas instead of paying competitive wages and hiring more permanent staff, MTO has contracted out the work to Reliance Offshore, an out-of-province, private temporary staffing agency, which charges up to twice as much hourly as ministry staff earn; and

“Whereas contracting out the work is a waste of our public funds on a stopgap solution that doesn’t provide long-term stability to our ferry system;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“(1) Fix our ferries—stop the service disruptions and reductions caused by ministry understaffing.

“(2) Repeal Bill 124, which has imposed a three-year wage cut on already underpaid ferry workers during high inflation, and pay them fair, competitive wages”; and finally,

“(3) End the outrageously expensive contracts with private temporary staffing agencies and hire permanent Ministry of Transportation ferry workers to work and live in our communities instead.”

I support this petition, as do many people. I’ll affix my signature and provide it to page Maya for the table.