Hello friends:

We represent a group of about seventy health care providers, mostly in
Toronto but including people in Hamilton, Guelph, Kingston, Barrie and
other Southern Ontario cities, who specialize in caring for low income
people and who are concerned about the impact of poverty on the health of
our clients.

We have been participating in a broad-based campaign to "raise the rates"
which refers to work being done across the province to have social
assistance rates increased by the approximately 40% they have been reduced
as a result of cuts made during the Harris years (21%) and the further
reductions this amounts to when cost of living is factored in, ten years
later.  Specifically, we have been allied with the Ontario Coalition
Against Poverty (OCAP) in the so-called "special diet" campaign in which
health providers recognize that poverty is the single most important
determinant of developing health problems, and that prescribing an
additional $250 per person per month to social assistance recipients
constitutes a "high impact" health intervention.  We have been assessing
low income clients since February 2005 in a number of community based
"clinics" and prescribing the maximum allowable benefit ($250 per person
per month) to the people we see there.  The purpose has been to provide
immediate, material relief to desperate people, while at the same time
drawing attention to the inadequacy of assistance rates.

Our essential position is that poverty is such a significant health risk
that the government must either increase assistance rates by 40% OR we feel
compelled to provide the full dietary supplement to every person on social
assistance in the province.  One of the large public actions we took was to
hold a massive clinic on the front lawn of Queen's Park on October 3rd,
during which almost 40 health providers assessed 1100 poor people,
including busloads of folks from out of town.

Some of you have stood with us and spoken out with us as the City of
Toronto attempted to impede this campaign by creating arbitrary
bureaucratic barriers over the summer.  The strong opposition we all
mounted was successful and the city was forced to back down entirely.  Your
support was critical in that victory.

Now, however, we face what promises to be a much more challenging struggle.
The Ontario government is poised to announce changes to the special diet
policy which will undoubtedly limit eligibility and make it much more
difficult for poor people to qualify for it.  Thousands of people who have
been receiving the supplement will likely be cut off and it will be
difficult for them to reapply.

The time is fast approaching where we will need to stand together, speak
out strongly, and oppose these changes.  We will have to articulate clearly
our message, as health providers and as people who understand the health
impacts of poverty, that social assistance rates must be raised by a
meaningful 40% OR the dietary allowance must be provided to everyone on
assistance.

We wanted you to be aware of the latest update on this very exciting
campaign, and we are hoping very much that we can call on you in coming
days to stand with us, speak out publicly, and help us to rally support and
solidarity within our various constituencies.  Please do not hesitate to
contact either of us should you wish further details.

Sincerely,

Kathy Hardill, RNEC, Regent Park Community Health Centre
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Gary Bloch, MD, St. Michael's Hospital Family Practice Unit/Seaton House
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for "Health Providers Against Poverty"

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