Ontario's "Clawback" of the NCTB

Earlier this year long-time Alliance member Sally Palmer (Ontario Association of Social Workers; McMaster University) brought our attention to the issue of the province of Ontario’s “clawback” of the National Child Benefit Supplement (NCTB) from families under Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Plan.

Having successfully garnered the support of the City
of Hamilton by passing a resolution against the clawback
at the municipal level, the Alliance was also approached to petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and demand that the Provincial Government stop the clawback of the supplement and ensure this federal money reaches all
low-income families in Ontario.

On behalf of the Alliance, the Steering Committee drafted
a letter in support of this resolution which was sent to
the Ontario Minister of Community, Family, and Children’s Services, Brenda Elliot, Premier Ernie Eves, and leaders of the opposition parties. Copies were also sent to the Federal Minister and Deputy Minister of Finance, as the Ministry responsible for Federal legislation of the NCTB.

Click » here to read a copy of the letter (MS Word 13KB)
Click » here to download a copy of the letter ( PDF 8KB)

The Youth Criminal Justice Act

The implications of the Federal Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA), Bill C-7, continue to be a key issue of concern to the Alliance, most notably in terms of the transfer of the Provincial responsibility for Phase 1 Young Offenders from the Ministry of Community, Family, and Children’s Services to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security (formerly the Ministry of Corrections) in Ontario.

The evolving Children, Youth and the Law Task Force will be developing a plan to address and advocate on this issue in the Fall of 2002.

Social Inclusion

A prominent issue at the past two Annual meetings, the philosophy and policy strategy of social inclusion (i.e. strengthening civic communities) is rapidly gaining credence for those who are concerned with ensuring better outcomes for all children, youth, families, and communities.

The Alliance plans to highlight this issue at the 2003 Annual Meeting, and to develop an online resource page on social inclusion for SLA members.

For an excellent series of working papers on the issue
of social inclusion please visit the Laidlaw Foundation’s
» social inclusion website.