Justice for Laura Bardeau & Other HSF Applicants

The Fight Continues at City Hall | Bay and Queen | Wednesday, June 15 | 11.00 am #HSFJustice | Meet by giant Toronto sign in the square

On the 16th anniversary of OCAP’s powerful protests against austerity at Queen’s Park, help us deliver a clear and strong message to the City that we want justice for Laura Bardeau and everyone trying to get the Housing Stabilization Fund (HSF). There is money to pay Pan Am Games executives lavish bonuses but poor families are denied basic furniture.

On Wednesday, come help us force City officials to:

- Grant Laura Bardeau the maximum HSF amount

- Make the HSF policy public

- End discrimination against parents and disabled people

This fight is not just for one family but for many others like Laura’s who are being denied their most basic needs by those running the HSF. Not everyone will be able to take up a long fight like Laura in order to force the City to pay up. The present HSF system is based on undisclosed policies, arbitrary decisions, and a total lack of accountability.

This scandalous situation exists because the Ontario Liberals eliminated the Provincial Community Start Up and Maintenance Benefit (CSUMB) and replaced it with a patchwork of local funds. The HSF must be administered in an open and fair way so that the kinds of abuses Laura’s family has faced come to an end.

On June 15, we will go to city hall to get Laura’s money and a copy of the policy in addition to demanding that its discriminatory sections be revoked. We will pay a visit to Councillor James Pasternak, who is the Chair of the committee in charge of Ontario Works. He has said he was working to resolve the issue but has failed to do so. Pasternak said that this family should accept the unfair decision and seek charity for their furniture instead. If he is so fond of charity and unable to ensure that City social assistance staff implement a fair policy, we will expect a personal cheque from him for the amount Laura is owed.

Join us!

You can also call, email or tweet Mayor John Tory, Councillor James Pasternak and Patricia Walcott. You can find their contact information here.

Background on Laura Bardeau’s Situation:

Laura Bardeau and her two disabled sons live on the meagre income provided by ODSP and the Child Tax Credits. They lost their beds and furniture in March to bed bug infestations and applied to Toronto Social Services for the Housing Stabilization Fund (HSF). Astoundingly, they were denied on the grounds of their income being “in excess.”

An OCAP delegation to Social Services followed by sustained public pressure, including a mass email and call-in to politicians, has had an effect. First they informed Laura that $209 would be issued and then a couriered letter arrived announcing this would be increased to $1,100, which is $400 short of the maximum. The letter states that the City is only releasing money for 3 beds: no table, no chairs, no dressers (all things they need).

How many City officials and their kids think it's acceptable to eat every meal in bed – like the Bardeaus’ have been forced to do since this ordeal began?

We suspected all along based on cases we were fighting and that the HSF policy was discriminatory, specifically towards disabled people and parents. We were unable to demonstrate this because the City keeps its shameful HSF policy secret. Upon receipt of their latest letter about Laura Bardeau’s case, however, we now have clear evidence that the City is counting people’s child benefits and health conditions against them in a discriminatory and unjust manner. This cannot go on.

Fight to Win!