L and I attended part of it. It was a small event. A few local labour leaders spoke, as well as Sara herself. It was my first opportunity to meet Sara -- I didn't do much more than introduce myself, because I get the sense she has been harassed by strangers wanting to talk to her over the last week. Despite being a fairly low-key event, I did find myself fairly effected by it, emotionally speaking. I may write more about that later.
Here are a few items just circulated by one of the members of the Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee, which is doing what it can to support Sara in her choice of action.
A brief action report by GK:
We had a media conference and support rally for Sara Anderson today outside Science North where McGuinty and Bartolucci were appearing. We had a number of union and community supporters and a number of media outlets were present. We handed out 250 copies of the leaflet below. While Bartolucci and McGuinty refused to meet with Sara we do know this issue was raised by Rick Grylls the President of CAW/Mine Mill Local 598 with Rick Bartolucci and he delivered a letter from Sara to Bartolucci. We also know that a number of reporters asked McGuinty about this at the media conference after his announcement. He apparently said that rather than raise the social assistance rates they were trying to find other ways to support people on social assistance. We hope that Sara will feel up to going to Toronto tomorrow and will be able to deliver her message at the OCAP rally herself. Meanwhile we hope that all OCF groups can raise Sara's struggle in your communities.
The text of the flyer that was being handed out to the local luminaries going into the event:
Support Sara Anderson on Hunger Strike to Get Social Assistance Rates Raised
Sara Anderson, a 45 year old First Nations mother on Ontario Works (OW), is currently on a hunger strike to help people recognize the desperate conditions in which tens of thousands of people on social assistance are forced to live across Ontario. She is demanding:
* the raising of the social assistance rates by 40%. This would bring the social assistance rates back to where they were in 1995 before the Tory cuts. As Sara puts it with the recent tiny increase by the Liberal government "Welfare rates went up by two percent, but our rent went up by more than that."
* the re-instatement of the previous Special Diet policy which allowed people on social assistance to receive funding for nutrition for themselves and their families. Sara recently had her Special Diet plummet from $75 a month under the old policy to only $20 with the new policy, a $55 cut in her and her daughter's monthly income;
* making it easier for people living with disabilities to be able to get on the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) which provides people with more financial support. As it stands many are routinely rejected when they apply. Sara's application for ODSP was rejected and this rejection was upheld by an internal review. She has an appeal scheduled in early May.
* that all people on social assistance who move be offered community-start up funds to allow them to establish their new home. Sara was only given $90 for her move last fall when she should have been offered hundreds of dollars in start-up funds.
Today Premier Dalton McGuinty and Cabinet Minister and Sudbury MPP Rick Bartolucci are at Science North to make an announcement regarding funding for the Northern Ontario Medical School. They both have been directly involved in and are responsible for the government decisions that have led Sara to go on a hunger strike. While we welcome more funding for the Medical School we ask the following question: what is the point of having more doctors when the level of social assistance in Ontario is so low that it means that tens of thousands of people are being underfed and are suffering from health complications arising from lack of nutrition?
What you can do to support Sara Anderson:
* Sign the on-line petition at http://ocap.ca/rtr/diet/petition (at the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty website) to Premier McGuinty calling for a major raise in social assistance rates and for re-instatement of the previous Special Diet policy. This petition has already been signed by more than 1,400 people.
* Write letters to, or call, Premier McGuinty (fax 416-325-3745 or write Dalton McGuinty, Premier, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 1A1) and Sudbury MPP and Cabinet Minister Rick Bartolucci (at 705-675-1914) supporting Sara's demands.
HUNGER CLINIC ORGANIZING COMMITTEE
I would add that on the issue of people being rejected when they apply to get on ODSP, I remember hearing from legal clinic staff a number of years ago when I lived in Hamilton that they had received unofficial word from official sources that, at that time, ODSP intake staff had been instructed to reject everything they received and make everyone go to appeal. Don't know if that's still happening, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear it.
And here is a recent article from a local newspaper called Northern Life:
Thursday, April 06, 2006
One week without food, protester's resolve strong
BY KEITH LACEY
A few words of encouragement from a friend is keeping a Sudbury woman who is on a hunger strike in good spirits.
Sara Anderson plans to take her crusade to the premier when he visits city today. She hasn't eaten since Monday.
Sara R. Anderson, 45, has stopped eating to protest what she says is an inhumane social assistance system.
She hasn't had anything to eat and has stopped taking medication for severe arthritis since early Monday morning.
She plans to continue her hunger strike, "until I get in writing" the Liberal government is willing to make significant changes to the province's welfare rates.
While feeling serious hunger pangs for the first time since starting her protest, Anderson was in an extremely good mood Thursday, mainly because a friend phoned earlier in the day.
"I'm in very happy spirits because my friend Muriel just called and she's a dear, dear friend of mine," said Anderson. "I didn't want to worry her and told her I was doing OK, and she offered me many words of encouragement and that really makes me feel good."
Anderson plans on participating in a rally this morning organized by the Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee outside of Science North, where Premier Dalton McGuinty is visiting to make an announcement supporting the Northern Ontario School of Medicine's Bursary Program.
Anderson says she endured significant physical pain after stopping taking medication for arthritis, but she's developed a pain tolerance and hunger is now becoming more prevalent.
"The hardest part right now is continually smelling a bannock burger, which is a burger made using traditional native bread with a hamburger patty in the middle," she said. "Most natives love these burgers as it mixes today with the past and they taste so good."
Anderson says her protest is about forcing the government to increase welfare rates significantly, but she would also like to see more people with legitimate claims be accepted into the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).
She was denied a disability pension more than once, even though she has a bullet hole in her hip. She was shot and hit while working as a truant officer about 25 years ago on the Grassy Narrows First Nations near Kenora.
She also has numerous pins in her left ankle after being pushed off a second-floor balcony during a domestic dispute in Winnipeg 15 years ago and hasn't been able to work since, she said.
"When I have applied for disability, I've been told repeatedly I don't have any substantial disability...I guess a bullet hole and ankle that has caused me severe pain for many years isn't enough."
Her teenage daughter Sheryl has shown remarkable support during the first few days of this hunger strike.
"She's my rock and always has been," Anderson said.
If she feels strong enough, Anderson plans on boarding a minivan with her daughter and members of the local Hunger Clinic Organizing Committee to participate in another rally through Toronto's Rosedale's swanky community Saturday evening.
When informed some people have voiced opposition to her hunger strike and insist they have managed to get by while collecting social assistance, Anderson said negativity from people she doesn't know will not discourage her.
"I'm determined to keep up my hunger strike," she said. "Until I'm given assurances from the government that things are going to change, then I will continue.
"I don't care if some people out there criticize me. This is something I have thought about for a long time and I do believe one person can force changes and I'm not about to give up."
"I haven't changed my daily routine too much," she said. "I'm trying to drink as much water as possible and I'm sleeping a little bit more, but I'm still spending time with friends and my daughter and I'm trying to get outside to get some fresh air when I feel good."
Anderson says she's excited about her brother, a retired band chief from a Northern Ontario First Nations reserve, coming to visit her some time next week.
"It will be great to see him," she said.
Please get involved in struggles to raise social assistance rates wherever you live, and spread word about Sara's action!
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