OFL's People's Budget Comes to Sudbury

The Ontario Federation of  Labour's People's Budget held a hearing in Sudbury on Wednesday March 6th, the first of two Northern Ontario hearings.  The event attended by just over a dozen people allowed groups an individuals to make presentations to panel in a format similar to the province's budget consultations.  Presenters included senior's rights adovate, John Lindsay, representatives from the Sudbury Coaltion Against Poverty, Laurentian University economist, David Robinson, a representative of the Social Planning Council, a student representative and local artistic community leader Paul Loewenberg.

One general theme that emerged through the presentations was a need, particularly in Sudbury, for more housing.  The low vacancy rate, coupled with limited development of affordable and accessible apartment-style dwellings is making it difficult for those on fixed incomes (seniors and those on social assistance) to find, acquire and live in suitable units.

As many a budget hearings go, presenters were calling for new or greater expenditures for programs and services that are important to them and those they represent.  The most common means of paying for these were eliminating corporate tax cuts which were blamed for the current Ontario deficit.

Annette Reszczynski from the Social Planning Council discussed what a People's Budget should look like and talked about the perils of consultations.  She talked about how consulting without listening or giving people real power in the process can actually lead to greater disenchantment and apathy.  Sadly, there were no easy solutions to deal with this on a provincial scale, however, her concerns certainly resonated with me.

Following the end of the hearings a People's Budget white paper incorporating the recommendations given across the province will be published and shared with our legislators at Queen's Park as they work to set the priorities for the next fiscal year and beyond.  The OFL also sees this work as a tool to influence the inevitable impending election.