Results tagged “poverty”

Anyone who’s read a newspaper or magazine in the last few months can verify: recession chic is the new black. The only thing more irritating than regularly seeing a decline in the figures on your RRSP statement, though, is the spate of sanctimonious and insulting articles on frugal living being churned out in economy-sized quantities in almost every Canadian publication. Every journalist around seems eager to strike the pose of the poverty-stricken: Eye’s Kate Carraway bravely survived on $60 for a whole week. Macleans’ Chris Johns and his girlfriend cut their food budget from $300 a week (!) to a meagre $50 (with recipes courtesy of "some of the country’s best chefs" that spawned a collection of $5 recipes designed to feed families of four, flying directly in the face of Agriculture and Agrifood Canada’s "nutritious food basket" which costs at least $137 a week for a family of four).

This is the second in a three-part series exploring the effects of the global economic downturn on Toronto. Last week, economist Walid Hejazi gave an overview of what we're in for as the slowdown worsens. Next week, a view from the halls of power.

In step with the crisp winter air that swept into Toronto earlier this week, TAXI Canada has re-launched the 15 Below Project. In case you don't have time for the full background, TAXI's Creative Director Steve Mykolyn teamed up with Toronto-based designer Lida Baday last winter to develop a water-and-windproof jacket for the homeless. This unique coat was specially designed to have pockets that can be stuffed with old newspaper, which act as a make-shift lining in frigid temperatures. And to commemorate its 15th anniversary, TAXI paid for the costs of production and distribution of 3,000 jackets.

Nearing the tail end of a year marked by mounting homelessness, an alarming spike in related deaths, and the continuing closure of an unacceptably high number of emergency hostels and shelters, a report published Tuesday by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is a timely reminder that, yes, untold numbers of people in Toronto are being desperately, royally, systemically screwed.

Every Saturday morning, Historicist looks back at the events, places, and characters—good and bad—that have shaped Toronto into the city we know today.

Photo by Carnotzet from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

The latest census stats show conclusively that the poor are either getting poorer, or that they're not. The Star toes the OCAP line, rambling about free trade and crappy jobs, while the Post weighs in for the plutocrats by observing that family incomes have actually grown across the board, and that the income stats are misleading anyway. As Torontoist likes to say, you load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt.

A protest outside the Toronto office of Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Thursday drew attention to the housing crisis in Canada, demanding that resources spent on military action in Afghanistan be diverted to provide an additional 1% of the federal budget for social housing.