After killing cap and trade, delaying the final dollar raise in the province’s minimum wage for three years and stripping two paid sick days from Ontario workers, the Ford Government at Queen’s Park is set to tackle a major reform of the province’s social services system.
Children, Community and Social Services minister Lisa MacLeod says the goal is to give employable people the help they need to get a job and to provide adequate support to those who can’t work. She says the Ford Government is compassionate and understands the services provided are for the province’s most vulnerable.
N.D.P. Opposition Leader Andrea Horwath worries that funding cuts will be drastic and she likens what’s coming to the “Workfare” program instituted by the Mike Harris P.C. Government of the late 90’s.
MacLeod says nearly a million people in Ontario rely on social services at a cost of about $10 billion a year.