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The Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force and area MPPs issue feedback on provincial poverty reduction strategy

3 October 2013

Joint Media Release

The Bruce Grey Poverty Task Force is calling on the Ontario government to put more resources into rural communities in its updated Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy.

The Ontario government is reviewing its Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Poverty Task Force wants to ensure that they receive feedback and ideas from people in Bruce and Grey counties.  The Task Force’s recent submission to the government’s review is a summary of voices from low-income families across both counties.

“We heard similar messages from across the community,” said Francesca Dobbyn, United Way of Grey Bruce, “Issues such as transportation, jobs, health services; and safe, affordable housing along with service gaps as most of the poverty reduction has been focused on children.”

Families responded that they had benefited from the government’s investments in Child Benefit Taxes, Student Nutrition Program, Healthy Smiles dental program, and full-day kindergarten. However, those families with dependents over 18 and middle-aged people, seniors or those almost at retirement age are not eligible for these benefits.

See the full submission report: PTF Ontario Poverty Reduction Strategy Review_Submission_2 Oct 2013

The Poverty Task Force asked area MPPs for comments on the submission:

“This report is a testament to the years of neglect by this government. I and my colleagues will continue to push for rural Ontario’s fair share through our policy proposals that include fresh food for local food banks, lower energy bills, and a fair share of the gas tax for rural residents so we can invest in transportation and ensure our communities are sustainable over the long-term.”
– Lisa Thompson, MPP for Huron-Bruce

“The gas tax is the most persistent anti-rural policy of the last decade. We want immediate action from this government to allocate a fair portion of the gas tax to all rural communities so we can meet our transportation and infrastructure needs. Rural Ontario has an enormous opportunity for growth, and so the sooner this government starts supporting our policies, the sooner we will ignite a comeback for rural communities.”
– Bill Walker, MPP for Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound

The Poverty Task Force, a group of agencies and grassroots groups across Grey and Bruce Counties have joined together to address issues of poverty.

For more information on the Poverty Task Force please contact Francesca Dobbyn at 519 376 1560

For MPP Lisa Thompson please call 519-396-3007 or 416-325-3467

For MPP Bill Walker please call 519-371-2421 or 416-325-6242

 

 

 

 

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People rally to save transit terminal

By Denis Langlois, Sun Times, Owen Sound

Monday, September 30, 2013 4:38:24 EDT PM

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John McLoughlin said he’s been flying an Owen Sound flag outside of his home for 20 years.

He returned it to city hall Monday as a way, he said, of expressing his disappointment with council’s decision to shutter the city’s bus terminal.

The depot on 3rd Ave. E., which the city was to close for good at 6:30 p.m. Monday, is a symbol of the city’s “concern for the less fortunate,” he said, including the poor and people with disabilities who rely on public transit to get around and use the terminal for its washrooms or to seek shelter.

“The appearance, at least, is that no one cares,” he said Monday afternoon during a rally at the terminal. “That’s what annoys me.”

About 100 people attended the “Don’t Kill the Terminal” protest, organized by the United Way of Bruce Grey.

Executive director Francesca Dobbyn said she hopes the event will send a message to council that people are not happy with the decision to close the terminal.

“This place is a resource. It’s a washroom. This building is warm when it’s cold outside and is cool when it’s hot outside,” she told the crowd.

Janice Currie, chairwoman of the city’s accessibility advisory committee, said the terminal houses one of the only two accessible public washrooms in the downtown. The other is at the Owen Sound Farmer’s Market.

It is also a place where people, including those with mental or physical disabilities, can receive assistance with navigating the transit system, she said.

“It’s a safe place and a valued resource,” she said.

City council decided in June to close the terminal as a way to reduce the ballooning cost of the transit system. The move is expected to save the city about $90,000 a year. It was also seen as a way to move from a four-route system to one with three routes, which, according to city staff, will cut the system’s cost by another $130,000 to $150,000 a year.

Even though the building will be locked, the terminal property will continue to be used as a transfer point and bus stop until this spring when the new three-route model is implemented.

City council has been told that it would cost about $9,600 a month to keep the terminal open and staffed by one city employee from Oct. 1 to March 31. It would cost about $4,500 a month to keep it open without a staff person there, but neither city staff nor Owen Sound police are not recommending that option.

Coun. Peter Lemon said he will try to bring back up for discussion Oct. 7 a staff report that includes those cost estimates in hopes council will vote to reverse its decision to close the terminal. Council voted 5-4 Sept. 23 to only “note and file” the report.

Supporters of the terminal are also being encouraged to attend that council meeting.

Dobbyn has said she would like the depot to remain open at least over winter to provide time for a “community conversation” about what to do after it closes.

Kim Bolyea, who carried a sign at the rally that read “Honk to keep bus station open,” said she uses public transit almost everyday and the central terminal is vital.

“You don’t want to be stuck out in the cold waiting for another bus,” she said.

John Christie, a former city councillor who worked as a bus driver from 1985 to 2003, said the terminal is also important to drivers who must adhere to a tight schedule.

“Now it’s like they’re going to take away their chance to, in three or four minutes, use the facilities or have a coffee,” he said.

Don Campbell, a musician from Toronto, said he was shocked to learn the Owen Sound terminal is going to close. He arrived there Monday afternoon on a Greyhound bus so he could play a gig at The River Cafe.

He said he might change his mind about coming here if there is no terminal at the end of his bus route.

“If this isn’t here, what am I supposed to do? Stand outside in the rain with my guitar and luggage in the rain,” he said during the protest.

About 300,000 passengers each year use Owen Sound Transit, according to city hall. The cost of the system was expected to reach $1.2 million this year, about $500,000 more than was budgeted. A main chunk of the increase was attributed to the cost to repair the city’s current fleet of buses.

Changes approved by council, including contracting First Student Canada to both operate the system and use its buses and moving to a three-route system, are expected to reduce the annual cost of the system to $648,000. Council also voted to hike bus fares by 10% in 2013, 2014 and 2015 and end Saturday service 90 minutes earlier.

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Rally Monday in support of transit terminal

By Denis Langlois, Sun Times, Owen Sound

Friday, September 27, 2013 1:06:13 EDT PM

Just hours before Owen Sound’s bus terminal is to be closed for good, people plan to gather outside of the building to call on city council to keep it open.

The United Way of Bruce Grey decided to organize a “Don’t Kill the Terminal” rally, for Monday at 1 p.m., after being asked by many individuals and community organizations “to do something” about the impending closure, said executive director Francesca Dobbyn.

“We want to draw attention to this. We don’t want the quiet silence in the community to be misunderstood as acceptance or an endorsement of what city council has decided to do with the terminal,” she said in an interview.

The city is planning to permanently close the depot at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Council made the decision as a way to reduce the cost of the transit system.

Even though the building will be closed, the terminal property will still be used as a transfer point and bus stop until the city transitions from a four-route to a new three-route system, which is expected to happen this spring.

Coun. Peter Lemon served notice at a council meeting Sept. 23 that he will seek to bring back for discussion a staff report, which outlines the cost to keep the terminal building open for another six months, in hopes that council will reconsider its decision to simply “note and file” the document.

Dobbyn said the United Way, which does advocacy work in the community, has many concerns about terminal’s closure.

Riders, including “our most vulnerable consumers,” use the building for its washroom facilities, to seek shelter from the cold and rain and to receive assistance and information about the transit system, she said.

“The proposed concept of local small business owners providing tickets and information is well meaning, but few stores will be open early enough for those using the system in the morning, to provide shelter,” she said in a news release.

Bus drivers also rely on the terminal for its washrooms. It’s also a place for drivers to gather in the event of an emergency, she said.

Dobbyn said she would like the city to keep the terminal open at least over winter to provide time for a “community conversation” about what to do after it closes.

“We feel there is an out-of-the-box solution that can be realized through community engagement and consultation. The city will still have to heat, clean, plow and maintain the property, so the operating costs are not significant in savings,” she said.

A report by operations director Brad McRoberts said it would cost about $57,600 over the six-month “transition period” from a four-route to a three-route system to have the terminal open and a staff person stationed there during regular transit operating hours. Costs to clean the building and its washrooms each day as well as for utilities and a telephone line would also be covered.

The cost to keep the terminal open, without staffing the building, would be about $27,000 for six months. The Owen Sound Police Service strongly cautioned the city to not leave the building “unstaffed,” noting past “issues with illegal activity” there, McRoberts’ report said. City staff did not recommend that option.

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CMHA gardens look to the community

By Tracey Richardson, Sun Times, Owen Sound

Wednesday, July 10, 2013 4:35:13 EDT PM

OWEN SOUND – The Canadian Mental Health Association wants to share its bounty.

Vegetable gardens for its Union Place drop-in centre brunch program in Owen Sound have been prolific since their inception four or five years ago, and now members of the community can take over an additional garden bed for their own use.

This year, three members of the community have asked for and been given a bed to grow and tend their own vegetables at the St. George’s tennis courts alongside the Union Place gardens. The beds are enclosed in a wood structure and are about a metre wide and two metres in length. Lettuce, kale, tomatoes, beans, pumpkins, peas, strawberries, eggplant and rhubarb spill out from the containers.

Site coordinator Teresa Pearson said she and CMHA executive director Claude Anderson batted around the idea months ago about letting people from the general community take on some beds for their own use.

“One of the things we’ve talked about is that larger concept of a community garden, and how it becomes people from all walks of life, whether it’s seniors who have farmed or gardened their whole life and who are now in an apartment building and don’t have a garden plot, but would love to, or whether it’s people who would like to garden on our team but we’re full. What about giving them a garden bed?”

The CMHA hires 10 people to work a few hours a week in gardens located at St. George’s, United Way, and in the snack gardens along the east harbour wall. The produce goes to the drop-in centre’s brunch program, which is run every morning from Monday to Friday. Nothing is wasted. There are three freezers, and extra produce gets made into salsa and sauces, or kitchen and garden workers take home anything that’s left.

But there’s room to grow, Pearson says. There are 63 beds at St. George’s, 19 at United Way and four along the harbour. Community members who sign on for a garden bed at St. George’s can use the tools, water, and even expertise the CMHA brings in on a regular basis from the Master Gardeners of Grey County, who donate some of their time.

Union Place began its brunch program a few years ago, and it’s become a popular gathering place for people in need of help and a nutritious meal.

“If they have a serious mental health illness, often times they’ll go on to become members, but they needed to first come and check out the space and see what it’s all about, and get their life settled,” Pearson said. “Some people come every day because they love the social contact. It’s very nutritious meals that are provided. They love the meals, they love the contact, they’ll sit and read the paper and then be on their way for the day.”

If they want help, they can get referrals from Pearson, but it’s up to them.

“I think if you offer a program to the community, the people that need it and want to come will come, and I think it’s really important that there’s no stigmatization. Everyone is welcome.”

Help also comes in the form of employment, both in the gardens and the kitchen.

For some of them, Pearson said it’s the first job they’ve had in years. It gives them employable skills and encourages them “to remember what is great about them.”

Tending the gardens allows them also to see the full circle of food production, from planting to consuming, Pearson said.

Randy Sillars tends a garden bed for the program, after being referred by his addictions counsellor. He said he’s always enjoyed gardening, and his garden container bears proof of this. Only positive things come from gardening, he said. “It’s therapeutic, it’s not hurting anyone and the end result is great because other people benefit.”

He also likes being busy, he said, and “it gives me a purpose.”

Pearson said she has no idea how popular the community garden concept might become.

“I would love to eventually see that really grow into literally people from all walks of life, all ages, gardening together, sharing their stories, being a support to each other.”

The snack gardens along the harbour walkway are for anyone to scoop vegetables from. There are tomatoes in them, carrots, radishes as big around as golf balls, snow peas and beans. Signs will soon go up alerting people to the fact that they’re community snack gardens, and will also tell people to call Pearson if they’d like to tend their own garden.

The garden program receives help from the United Way, Community Foundation Grey Bruce, the city and workers from Union Gas and Barry’s Construction have built many of the wood containers. Seeds and other supplies are donated or provided at cost by Annan-Way Nursery.

Pearson can be contacted at 519-371-3642, ext 184.