Some people in Ontario, Canada don't earn enough to be able to afford to pay their rent and are forced to choose between rent and food.
Toronto's City Council has endorsed the NDP's push to raise the minimum wage to $10.00 an hour, but the budget on March 22nd from the Liberals only committed to raising the now $8.00 an hour to 75 cents more a year. It would take until 2010 to get to $10.25.
To be able to afford rent somewhere like Toronto, $10.00 an hour is really not enough, leave alone $8.00 which is 1280 for the month before taxes. The average rent in Toronto is at least a thousand dollars, so the whole month's earnings wouldn't even pay for an apartment.
People still act surprised and ask why people are homeless and why they don't get off the streets. It's recommended to spend a third of your income on rent. If a homeless person is working and their whole monthly income amounts to less than what rent would be for an apartment, it makes it challenging to find an affordable home.
People are being left to choose between paying for rent or food and often food will win out. Social assistance rates have not been updated to deal with the present reality of the cost of housing either. A parent with one child on assistance is only eligible for $511.00 towards the cost of housing, so they're also forced to make the choice between food and rent. Families with children are becoming homeless on a more frequent basis. Raising social assistance rates and minimum wage would help prevent more people from going hungry or homeless.
There are many organizations that support the campaign to raise the minimum wage to ten dollars.
In Parkdale-High Park, MPP Cheri DiNovo has introduced a bill calling for an immediate increase in Ontario's minimum wage to $10.00 an hour.
It's called Bill 150, The Living Wage Bill and would help provide a living wage for some of Ontario's poorest people.
