March 16th pre-budget Rally and March: Fight Poverty, Demand a Living
Income, Housing, Public Services for All!
-Solidarity Against Austerity-
Friday, March 16, 2012
Rally and March
12noon
College and Bay St, Toronto (Outside the Ministry of Housing)
On Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/
Join the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) and allies for a
march and rally on Friday, March 16th, in the lead up to the 2012
Provincial Budget. The McGuinty government has hired former head of
the TD bank, Don Drummond, to propose and provide the basis for
massive social cutbacks in their 2012 budget. It is being drafted as
the Provincial component of the austerity agenda that is gathering
force across Canada and internationally. City Hall, Queen`s Park and
Ottawa are delivering austerity, but clearly it is being cooked-up on
Bay Street by bankers like Drummond to the benefit of their rich
friends.
We have to stop the cuts and fight for what poor and working people need!
The measures they intend to hit us with will fall on top of the losses
we have already faced:
-Social assistance rates have lost at least 55% of their spending
power since the days of the Harris Tories; the base amount for welfare
today is a despicable $599/month;
-The minimum wage has been reduced in real terms and more and more
workers are forced into low wage jobs with E.I, employment standards
and protection for workers being steadily eroded;
-The fastest growing numbers amongst the poor in Ontario are
racialized people without status; forced in to an economy that
benefits from their massively underpaid and exploited labour, but
fails to provide even basic services;
-Waiting lists for social housing across this province are decades
long while people are priced out of the private housing market and
homeless shelters are overcrowded;
-Access to affordable childcare is almost non-existent while thousands
wait for limited subsidy spaces.
For poor people and workers in this province, it has been a constant
state of crisis. McGuinty is now preparing to make this situation much
worse.
On March 16, we will be rallying at an Ontario Government location but
taking our march to Toronto`s financial centre where the real
decisions are being made by and for the ‘1%’.
We will be marching to oppose austerity measures but also to demand
the reversing of previous cutbacks, the right to a living income, the
right to affordable and accessible housing, and for good quality
public services for all! We will be marching against the kind of
society Drummond and the rich are creating, and for one that meets the
needs and improves the lives of all of us!
JOIN US!
HOW TO BE INVOLVED IN MARCH 16:
-Organize a contingent: bring a group of people from your
organization, neighbourhood, city or union local to this demonstration
– bring your demands
-Drum out Drummond: bring drums, noise makers, pots and pans
-Organize a group of students or a ‘kids block’ to be a part of the
day as part of March Break
-Banners, flags and signs: Organize a ‘banner making day’ in your
area, bring your banners to the march
-Help fund a bus, food, transit tokens, ASL, and materials for the
day: if you or your organization or union local can make donations of
money or in-kind, please help us make this day as participatory and
accessible as possible
-Build the movement: add your organization’s to the list of endorsers
for this day of action
-Get the word out: help us get the message out about this day of
action, download the poster and flyer at
www.ocap.ca
, forward this
announcement far and wide, contact us if you would like to help with
postering, flyering, etc.
GET IN TOUCH: Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
Email:
[email protected]
Phone:
416-925-6939
Web: OCAP.ca
Facebook: OCAP
Twitter: @OCAPtoronto
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