EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a Village Media website devoted exclusively to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.
Independent MPP Sarah Jama and advocates for people on disability benefits proposed reforms to the province's social assistance system.
Jama, who is currently censured and unable to be recognized in the house, will nonetheless put forward two motions on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and Ontario Works (OW) when the legislature resumes next week.
"ODSP has been legislating people into poverty," Jama said at a press conference at Queen's Park on Thursday. "The amount of money that the province gives disabled people is not enough to pay for rent, food and basic necessities."
The first motion calls for the ODSP and OW housing allowances to be based on average market rents in different regions of the province.
ODSP recipients can get a maximum of $565 per month for shelter. For OW recipients, it's $390.
Coalition spokesperson Ron Anicich, who said he is also an ODSP recipient, pointed to Toronto's average rent of $2,500 for an unoccupied one-bedroom unit.
"This is a massive, massive inadequacy which urgently needs to be addressed," Anicinch said.
"MPP Jama's motion, if passed, will make an enormous difference for social recipients in Ontario, who currently have little or no money left each month after their rents and bills are paid," he said. "Social assistance recipients are constantly forced to choose between housing costs, food, bills and medical expenses — all costs that have increased dramatically in recent years."
The Ford government increased ODSP payments by five percent in 2022 and tied it to inflation. A single person with no dependents can receive a maximum of $1,308 per month.
Jama's other motion would define two ODSP recipients who live together as spouses or common-law partners as separate "benefit units" instead of bundling them together as one. The current system takes into account one's partner's income and assets when determining how much support they receive.
"This is a way that the program nickel-and-dimes you," Andrea Hatala, also with the coalition, said. "This might allow these people to get a fighting chance and to get out of poverty."
It's also a barrier for anyone on ODSP hoping to leave an abusive relationship, Jama said. She noted that studies have found women with disabilities are three times more likely to experience violence.
Ninety per cent of ODSP recipients are single, "because when they get married, they get their benefits clawed back," she said.
The current system "doesn't give you enough money to live on but also doesn't fully see people's worth, or allow them to build intimate personal lives, or allow them to build a life in this province," she said.
Jama and the ODSP Action Coalition wrote both motions together.
Social Services Minister Michael Parsa's office did not respond to a question about whether they would support Jama's motions.
The NDP wouldn't commit to supporting the motions but said in a statement that the party has been in touch with Jama about them, "and they are in line with proposals the NDP has made in the past."
"We are open to working with MPP Jama or any member to make a meaningful difference in the lives of the 900,000 Ontarians who live on social assistance (OW and ODSP)," Legislative Affairs Director Jasmine Attfield said in a statement.
Jama was booted from the NDP late last year after she made controversial statements about the war in Gaza and, according to the NDP, refused to cooperate with the party. In November, the provincial NDP council voted down a motion to invite her back to caucus.
Green spokesperson Cecilia Stuart said her party's two MPPs will support Jama's motions.
"Greens are fully supportive of any motion that seeks to end legislated poverty caused by woefully low social assistance rates," she said in an email.
Liberal spokesperson Carter Brownlee said caucus will talk it over when they meet next week.
All three opposition leaders have called for the ODSP rates to be doubled.
