Human Resources Committee on March 12th, 2009

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Is it automatically triggered just based on your tax return, or does the actual person have to apply for it to be eligible?

[Deb Matthews]

They go and get qualified I think through the public health department, and then they can go to a dentist of their choice.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Okay.

Also, on page 11 you referenced $80 million for mental health and addiction.

[Deb Matthews]

Yes.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Obviously, as income grows, if they haven't been able to have a mental illness cured or to shake their addiction or cure their addiction, what strategies do you have in mind, or in place, for those areas?

[Deb Matthews]

This is actually I think a very, very important initiative that we're taking. I met with the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care who is leading it, along with all of the ministers who have some aspect of mental health in their ministry. As Minister of Children and Youth Services, I have children's mental health services. So we are determined to develop a provincial addictions and mental health strategy.

We know that half the people on ODSP have a mental health challenge and we know that many on Ontario Works, especially those who have been a long time on Ontario Works, have a mental health challenge. We know that dealing with mental health and addiction issues is something we simply must address.

I want to tell you that we have just established a select committee on mental health, an all-party select committee, in the Ontario legislature. It's being chaired by Kevin Flynn. So I think this is an area that is very much under development right now. I think there's broad acknowledgement that there's much opportunity to do better here.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Okay.

One last question, Mr. Chair.

I know the strategy would be overarching for the entire province, but do you have any particular strategies focused on rural Ontario? As you know, I'm from rural Ontario. It's tough to provide centres in each individual town or community, so could you tell us a little more about your rural provincial strategies?

[Deb Matthews]

Yes, I sure can.

I have to tell you that several members of the committee were from rural Ontario. In fact, Carol Mitchell, from your Huron riding, is on the results table.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

That's great to hear.

[Deb Matthews]

It's very important to us that we respond to the extraordinary diversity of the province. That's why we are encouraging each community--we are actually seeding it a bit--to develop local strategies that address the reality in their community.

There are some great examples in Northumberland County. They have a poverty reduction round table. They are working with other higher-level government programs, tailoring them to their own community, but they're also bringing in service clubs and retired people. All sorts of people are coming in at a community level.

We talked briefly about transportation. People living in poverty in rural communities face real barriers when it comes to transportation. There is a ride-share program in North Bay. They developed it at the local level. It's a volunteer organization. People pay $2 for a ride, and volunteers pick them up and take them to the grocery store, take them to the doctor's office. It is a community solution.

So we really are encouraging local communities to get together, to bring together their strengths and their needs. I just know that when they do work together, they'll be able to really provide a better quality of life and better opportunities for people in their communities.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Thank you, Minister.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lobb.

We're now going to move back to the Bloc, to Mr. Lessard.

Sir, you have five minutes.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Ms. Matthews, you are obviously very attuned to poverty issues. You also seem to be quite close to the people whose work is aimed at resolving these problems. Furthermore, you really seem to be quite on top of things.

I would like to come back to the issue raised by our colleague, Mr. Martin, relating to the federal responsibility. As a government minister in Ontario, you are probably quite aware of the way the federal government tried to deal with this issue and of the commitment made in 1990 to reduce child poverty by 50%, with the result that we know today.

Earlier, you referred to the need to develop a national strategy. We know that the Canadian Council on Social Development has recommended to the federal government to develop a national strategy to eradicate poverty.

Do you believe that the federal government should have such a strategy? If so, what should be its main components?

[Deb Matthews]

Of course I think there should be a national strategy. We weren't prepared to wait for a national strategy, but we believe we have to do this together. Canada is a different country in that we have strong provincial governments. That doesn't mean the federal government can abdicate its responsibility when it comes to issues like this. We are looking for engaging partners at every level of government. As we developed our strategy....

You know, I think it's not particularly clear who's responsible for what. We could get into that fight, but really, we will all benefit--we will all benefit--if kids have more opportunity, if people with disabilities have more opportunity. And if newcomers as well have better opportunity to put their enormous potential to work, we will all be better off.

We really have to do this together. We're approaching the 20th anniversary of the House of Commons resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000. I think it might be time to renew a commitment to ending child poverty. But we need more than a resolution. We need a plan to get there.

I'm pretty proud of what we have done in Ontario. We have set out a road map: here's what we're doing over the next five years. We know there's much more to do. That's why we're legislating an ongoing mandate of future governments to continue the fight against poverty. We know what we can do as first steps over the next five years, but we need to do more. With a willing federal partner, we could do more, and we could do it faster.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

You certainly understand our dilemma. Of course, the information you have provided us throws some light on the issue but, considering your present responsibilities, you probably have some expectations from the Canadian government.

What would those expectations be in terms of priorities and in terms of Canadian responsibilities? I am referring to initiatives that should be taken without delay.

[Deb Matthews]

We lay out very, very transparently what we're asking the federal government to do. In order to meet our target of reducing poverty--and we're talking about income only--we need the federal government to increase the NCBS, not the CCTB but the NCBS, and we need an increase in WITB.

Child care is an enormous priority for us and for me as Minister of Children and Youth Services, but I have to tell you that in the initiatives we lay out, it's very difficult for me to say aboriginal is more important than.... It's all together. We've been very clear about what we need the federal government to do to achieve our target. We also have been very clear about what we need the federal government to do to improve opportunities for everyone.

It's a fairly short list. For me, I guess, the message I want to leave is that I don't think this is a partisan issue. I think that all of us have the same goal. All of us want our kids to do well.

All of us want people to achieve their potential and live in communities that empower kids and others, so let's work together to create the kind of Canada we all want.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Okay, Mr. Lessard.

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

I have a very short question, Mr. Chairman. It will only need a yes or no and we will deal with the details later on.

[Deb Matthews]

I might not answer with a yes or a no. We'll see.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Yves Lessard, Bloc, Chambly—Borduas, QC]

Considering the strategy that you are implementing in Ontario and the fact that we are now being faced with a significant economic crisis, are you going to have to review your objectives in the short term? You may just tell me yes or no and we would continue the discussion later on if you say yes.

[Deb Matthews]

That's more than a yes or no question.

We're very transparent. Our success at meeting our targets depends on federal engagement and economic growth. The economic growth numbers we used when we released the strategy were based on the consensus of the economists of the day. Things have changed. I don't for a minute underestimate the difficult economic challenges that we are going to be facing.

But this is a five-year strategy and I'm not sure that anyone is prepared to predict what will happen over the next five years. What we know for sure is that kids in Ontario are going to be significantly better off as a result of this strategy. Achieving the target depends on factors, some within our control and some beyond our control. Our target remains and I'm optimistic that we'll achieve it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much.

We're now going to move over to Souris.

Five minutes, Mr. Komarnicki.

[Ed Komarnicki, Conservative, Souris—Moose Mountain, SK]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Ms. Matthews.

I'm just trying to take in your answer. Are you saying, then, that the economy may well have an impact on how well you meet your targets? Is that what you're saying?

[Deb Matthews]

Yes, absolutely. When we were modelling, we didn't want to put a target out there that we couldn't achieve, so we spent some time doing our homework to determine exactly what we would need to do to achieve that target. It's never perfect, but we have confidence that we can achieve that target. But one of the assumptions in our modelling was economic growth over the next five years, so--