“The Inspiring story of Dr. Anne Innis Dagg, and a boost to our Scholarship Fund: it doesn’t get any better than that!

An excerpt from the Winter Edition of the CFUW Hamilton “Happenings” Report by T MacDonald and J Armstrong

“Our virtual event, which ran from October 28 to November 3, 2021, was very successful. We sold 122 tickets and raised over $3900 for our Scholarship Fund. We received many positive comments from participants who were moved by the film and the amazing life of Dr. Anne. The Q&A was also well received. Co-chairs, Theresa MacDonald and Jan Armstrong led a lively and enlightening conversation with Dr Anne, her daughter Mary Dagg, their friend Lesley Zimic and the film’s director Alison Reid. The session concluded with the announcement that CFUW-Hamilton has proudly nominated Dr Anne Innis Dagg for Honorary Membership in CFUW National.

Sincere thanks to all our club members, their families, friends and associates for supporting our 2021 fundraiser.

Graduate Women International Projects and Programs

An excerpt from the Winter Edition of the CFUW Hamilton Happenings – Report by D. Welland

Recently GWI (our international affiliate) published its 2020 Annual Report. Due to the COVID Pandemic the report was delayed and slightly more brief than usual. However in spite of the disruption caused by the virus, much was accomplished.

Part of our annual dues are paid to GWI and help to fund the following projects and programs:

1. The head office of GWI is located in Geneva and as a result they received three-year funding to continue the Teachers for Rural Futures program. This program offers monetary support and advice to young African women who wish to pursue a career in teaching. In turn these young women mentor other women and encourage them to pur- sue their dreams.
2. The 2020 Bina Roy Partners in Development project aided over 1200 women and girls in six countries around the world to promote leadership and lifelong learning.
3. The GWI Girls Education for Brighter Futures fundraising program was opened and will be developing and managing advocacy projects on the rights of women and girls.
4. The first five participants in Teachers for Rural Futures graduated. Four new young women will soon be joining the program.
5. The Hegg Hoffet Fund for Displaced Women is currently reviewing twenty-six applications from Sudan, Afghanistan, and Eritrea to select the next participants.

Could You Live on $733 a Month?

An excerpt from the Winter Edition of the CFUW Hamilton “Happenings” report by L. Hall

CFUW – Hamilton has a long tradition of advocating for women and children, and for social justice issues. We can give a voice to those whom the Government sadly and often ignores.

In 2021, the maximum benefit that Ontario Works (OW) pays to cover basic needs and shelter for a single individual on social assistance is $733 per month. The maximum benefit paid for a single individual accessing the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) is $1169 monthly. Both of these benefits are woefully inadequate and about $500/month below Canada’s Official Poverty Line.

A single parent with two children under 17 years of age does not do much better. The maximum OW benefit for basic needs and shelter for that family is just $1057/month. Can you imagine trying to feed and house your family of three with that paltry sum? It boggles the mind.

In the early days of the pandemic—the worst public health crisis in genera- tions – 7,000,000 Canadians benefitted from the $2000/month Canadian Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB). Individuals who were receiving the Ontario Works benefit had to make do with just $733/month.

Adding insult to injury, Ontario’s Provincial PC government has not announced any increases to these social benefit programs for the coming year. Social assistance rates have been frozen since 2018. This government’s lack of concern for Ontario’s most vulnerable is shocking.

Video of Town Hall Meeting

I hope you will get a chance to check out the video below. I am sure that you will find it both interesting and informative. It is a taping of a Virtual Town Hall – “Still Frozen in Time “– held in Hamilton on October 18th of this year, with the purposes of discussing the current state of Ontario’s broken social assistance system, and exploring ways that it can be fixed. The hosts for the event were Sandy Shaw, MPP for Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas, and Tom Cooper, director of the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction.

You will hear from a doctor, local MPPs, an economist, poverty advocates, researchers, and people who have experienced poverty first hand. I was particularly moved by two speakers, Ingrid Palmer and Tamera Smith. Ingrid was put into community care at a young age. She tells a powerful story about how a cut to social assistance rates in the mid-1990s impacted her and others across Ontario, and she makes the obvious connection that even today, poverty is often mistaken for family neglect. Tamera, who had previously thought, “It will never happen to me,” lost her job and her middle class life as a result of a car accident. Her story reminds all of us that, “There, but for Fortune go you or I.”

This information comes to us from Sally Palmer, Professor Emeritus of the School of Social Work, McMaster University.

CFUW Hamilton Letter Writing Campaign about social assistance rates in Ontario

This campaign focuses on Progressive Conservatives in the Ontario Legislature because they are currently the party in power.

We have included a form letter you can copy and send by email or by post to one or more of our local PC MPPs along with a list of local PC MPPs and their contact information.