In these bleak times of austerity, pleasurable duties are rare, but the sending of birthday congratulations to our friends and allies in Ontario Coalition Against Poverty is one to enjoy and savour.

Saturday, Nov. 28
7pm
Steelworkers' Hall - 25 Cecil (South of College, East of Spadina)
Pay what you can
Wheelchair accessible
Free Snacks
On November 28,the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty will mark 25 years of challenging those who impose poverty on our communities. Twenty five years is a long time but we're not putting on a party to mark the end of OCAP. Just the opposite, the need for community based resistance in the face of mounting austerity is greater than ever. We'll be having a major celebration to look back on the actions we've taken, the victories we've won, the lives we've impacted and the enemies we've made.

OCAP members and supporters,

Over the years there have been times when OCAP has faced serious financial shortages, and we've squeaked through with the help of our supporters. At present we are faced with another such crisis. The situation is such that we have not been able to pay our organizers as of yet this month and on top of this, the rent is coming due soon.

This ongoing problem is the result of not having a regular monthly revenue coming in. What we really, really need is to have our monthly sustainer base increased. We would urge you, if you are able, to become a monthly sustainer of any denomination, $5, $ 10, $25, $50, anything you can afford- and please ask others as well! To do this, we just need a void cheque indicating the amount you would like deducted each month. In this way, we hope to avoid this kind of emergency situation in the future. Far better that we should be able to focus on fighting (along with all of you) the brutal austerity measures that we're all facing from every level of government, as we hope you'll agree.

In the meantime - our needs are extremely urgent. If you are able, please send us a donation now, and if you have any contacts that might be able to help out please ask them to do so also! Thank you in advance for your support!

1) There’s a Grinch in Town, and His Name is Rob Ford

Rob Ford doesn’t have a red nose like Rudolph. He has the long nose of a liar! During his campaign, he promised Torontonians that there would be no service cuts during his reign as mayor, but that soon proved to be a bold faced lie. On the chopping block already are libraries, childcare, unionized jobs for city workers, parks, community start-up grants and museums.

In October, Toronto Community Housing Board approved the selling off of over 700 homes. In a city where the wait time to get into affordable housing is nearly a decade long, this is just not acceptable.

If his political allegiance was not clear enough, his city council has even cut the Christmas Fund, a program that brought holiday gifts to needy children (we couldn’t make this stuff up!).

Our plan is not to wait for his heart to grow three sizes bigger. It is to ramp up the fight back now and kick those greedy grinches out of office.