Jewish groups in Ontario helped enact an anti poverty law in the province, according to the Canadian Jewish News:
Jewish groups and other social advocacy organizations are taking credit for helping to make the Ontario government’s Bill 152 — the Poverty Reduction Act — more responsive to community concerns.
Specifically, they say that for the first time, Bill 152 enshrines into law the province’s responsibility to set poverty-reduction targets and action plans every five years based partly on consultations with affected groups, individuals and communities most at risk.
The legislation received royal assent May 6, but last month, representatives from UJA Federation of Greater Toronto and Canadian Jewish Congress were given 10 minutes to give their input on the bill to the province’s standing committee on social policy.
In preparation, the two organizations convened a Social Policy Table to bring together “Jewish leaders from the social service sector to make recommendations to government” and discuss their thoughts on how to reduce poverty in the community and the province in general, federation said.
At the policy table were representatives from organizations such as Jewish Family & Child, Jewish Vocational Services, JIAS, March of Dimes, Kehilla and Chai Tikvah, among others.
