With the provincial election looming on February 27th, and three municipalities across Ontario having declared a food insecurity emergency, it is critical that our elected officials gear their attention toward developing community-oriented solutions that address the widespread issue of hunger. To put it simply, communities and residents across Toronto are struggling to make ends meet and this election provides voters with the opportunity to advocate for a hunger-free future. Here’s a guide to understand how you can engage in the electoral process with a focus on food insecurity.
What can the provincial government do to address food insecurity in Toronto?
The current situation around food insecurity is unfortunately bleak. For greater insight into the current landscape in Toronto, please take a look at our previous blog post. What is critical to note is that food insecurity isn’t just about food, it’s about income as well. Food insecurity and income are inextricably linked–and whether it’s rising rent and mortgage payments, employment loss, inflationary grocery prices, or inadequate social assistance–Torontonians can’t afford to buy groceries. Emergency food programs such as Daily Food Bread Bank and The Stop are significant actors as they provide immediate relief and help to those that need it the most. However, they can’t address the root cause of food insecurity: poverty. All levels of government, including the provincial government, must coordinate an aligned approach to implement policies that mitigate factors that lead to poverty and improve outcomes for food-insecure households.
Feed Ontario, The Food Bank’s provincial partner, has put forward several policy recommendations for the provincial government to consider:
- Align Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program rates with the cost of living
- Reduce social assistance clawbacks on employment income and benefits
- Create a standard flat rate that is consistent regardless of living situation
- Align the definition of a spouse with the Family Law Act
- Implement automatic tax filing for social assistance recipients so they can access money they are entitled to receive
- Classify gig workers as employees so they receive basic labour protections
- Reduce barriers to unionization
- Protect victims of wage theft
- Build more social housing
- Implement real rent control by instituting vacancy control
Take a look at what each party’s intended approach to directly* address the issues of food insecurity in the province, and remember to VOTE (source: Feed Toronto):
Liberal:
- Quadruple funding for school food programs.
Progressive Conservative:
- Accept federal funding of $108.5 million over three years for the Ontario Student Nutrition Program
New Democratic Party:
- Create a Universal School Food Program and increase funding to First Nations school food program
- Create a Monthly Grocery Rebate indexed to inflation for family households who earn less than $100,000 a year and $65,000 a year for individuals
Green Party:
- Immediately double the number of students that can access the Student Nutrition Programs and expand it to be province-wide by 2030
- Introduce strict anti-gouging and collusion laws on grocery corporation
* These are policies directly related to food access and the cost of food, however other poverty reduction strategies also help to address issues related to food insecurity. See the rest of the platforms at the Feed Toronto Ontario Election Platform Tracker.
Who’s running for election in Toronto?
Beaches–East York
Dragan Cimesa, Independent
Kate Dupuis, Ontario NDP/NPD
Thomas Gregory, New Blue Party
Mary-Margaret McMahon, Ontario Liberal Party
Anna Michaelidis, PC Party of Ontario
Jack Pennings, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Paul Stark, Ontario Party
Bahman Yazdanfar, CCP
Davenport
Dave McKee, Communist
Nick Pavlov, PC Party of Ontario
Paulo Pereira, Ontario Liberal Party
Randi Ramdeen, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Marit Stiles, Ontario NDP/NPD
Don Valley East
Frank Chu, Ontario NDP/NPD
Roger Gingerich, PC Party of Ontario
Joshua Miersch, Green Party of ONtario GPO
Krasimir Penkov, Ontario Moderate Party
Adil Shamji, Ontario Liberal Party
Don Valley North
Andrew Armstrong, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Ebrhaim Astaraki, Ontario NDP/NPD
Vincent Ke, Independent
Sue Liu, PC Party of Ontario
Annie Nolan, New Blue Party
Jonathan Tsao, Ontario Liberal Party
Don Valley West
Bahira Abdulsalam, Independent
Stephanie Bowman, Ontario Liberal Party
Laurel Hobbs, New Blue Party
Linnea Löfström-Abary, Ontario NDP/NPD
Sam Moini, PC Party of Ontario
Sheena Sharp, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Eglinton-Lawrence
Michelle Cooper, PC Party of Ontario
Vince Gasparro, Ontario Liberal Party
Leah Tysoe, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Etobicoke Centre
Mario Bilusic, New Blue Party
John Campbell, Ontario Liberal Party
Paul Fromm, CCP
Richard M. Kiernicki, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party
Signe Miranda, Party for People with Special Needs
Brian Morris, Green Party of Ontario, GPO
Kinga Surma, PC Party of Ontario
Giulia Volpe, Ontario NDP/NPD
Etobicoke-Lakeshore
Rozhen Asrani, Ontario NDP/NPD
Larisa Berson, Ontario Moderate Party
Lee Fairclough, Ontario Liberal Party
Christine Hogarth, PC Party of Ontario
Sean McClocklin, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Vitas Naudziunas, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party
Tony Siskos, New Blue Party
Etobicoke North
Bryan Blair, Ontario NDP/NPD
Andy D’Andrea, Ontario Party
Chelsey Edwards, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Doug Ford, PC Party of Ontario
John Gardner, New Blue Party
Julie Lutete, Ontario Liberal Party
Humber River–Black Creek
Liban Hassan, Ontario Liberal Party
Jeanne McGuire, Communist
Paul Nguyen, PC Party of Ontario
Alexander Qanbery, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Tom Rakocevic, Ontario NDP/NPD
Parkdale–High Park
Geoffrey Corfield, New Blue Party
Alexa Gilmour, Ontario NDP/NPD
Anna Gorka, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Nadia Guerrera, Ontario Liberal Party
Rimmy Riarh, Communist
Justine Teplycky, PC Party of Ontario
Scarborough-Agincourt
Aris Babikian, PC Party of Ontario
Stephanie Leblanc, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Donahue Morgan, Ontario Party
Francesca Policarpio, Ontario NDP/NPD
Johan Yogaretnam, New Blue Party
Peter Yuen, Ontario Liberal Party
Scarborough Centre
Dean Boulding, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Sonali Chakraborti, Ontario NDP/NPD
Gus Prokos, New Blue Party
Haseeb Qureshi, CPO
Mazhar Shafiq, Ontario Liberal Party
David Smith, PC Party of Ontario
Scarborough-Guildwood
Jude Aloysius, PC Party of Ontario
Kingsley Cato, Independent
Kevin Clarke, Independent
Andrea Hazell, Ontario Liberal Party
Anthony Internicola, New Blue Party
Christian Keay, Ontario NDP/NPD
Tara McMahon, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Scarborough North
Anita Anandarajan, Ontario Liberal Party
Raymond Cho, PC Party of Ontario
Zdravko Gunjevic, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Thadsha Navaneethan, Ontario NDP/NPD
Scarborough-Rouge Park
Morris Beckford, Ontario Liberal Party
Timothy James, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party
Victoria Jewt, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Hibah Sidat, Ontario NDP/NPD
Wai Kiat Tang, Communist
Vijay Thanigasalam, PC Party of Ontario
Scarborough Southwest
Doly Begum, Ontario NDP/NPD
Mark Bekkering, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Addie Daramola, PC Party of Ontario
Qadira Jackson, Ontario Liberal Party
Spadina–Fort York
April Engelberg, Ontario Liberal Party
Omar Farhat, PC Party of Ontario
Chris Glover, Ontario NDP/NPD
Patrick Macklem, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Ron Shaw, None of the Above Direct Democracy Party
Toronto Centre
Sana Ahmad, Progress Party Ontario
Cory Deville, Independent
Ruth Farkas, PC Party of Ontario
Steve Hoehlmann, New Blue Party
Andrew Massey, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Holly Rasky, Ontario Liberal Party
Kristyn Wong-Tam, Ontario NDP/NPD
Toronto–Danforth
Stephen Graham, New Blue Party
Adam Ratkowski, PC Party of Ontario
Peter Tabuns, Ontario NDP/NPD
Connor Taras, Ontario Liberal Party
Orlando Wright, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Toronto–St. Paul’s
Jill Andrew, Ontario NDP/NPD
Riley Braunstein, PC Party of Ontario
Stephanie Smyth, Ontario Liberal Party
Chloe Tangpongprush, Green Party of Ontario
University-Rosedale
Jessica Bell, Ontario NDP/NPD
Dylan Harris, New Blue Party
Pam Jeffery, Ontario Liberal Party
Ignacio Mongrell, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Sydney Pothakos, PC Party of Ontario
Willowdale
Stan Cho, PC Party of Ontario
Lilya Eklishaeva, Independent
Pit Goyal, Progress Party Ontario
Boris Ivanov, Ontario NDP/NPD
Paul Saguil, Ontario Liberal Party
Sharolyn Vettese, Green Party of Ontario
York Centre
Jeffrey Anisman, Populist Ontario
Johnny Blythe, New Blue Party
Parviz Isgandarov, Ontario Moderate Party
Michael Kerzner, PC Party of Ontario
Courtney Martin, Green Party of Ontario
Sam Nestico, Ontario Liberal Party
Lionel Poizner, Party for People with Special Needs
Natalie Van Halteren, Ontario NDP/NPD
York South-Weston
Lilian Barrera, Green Party of Ontario GPO
Daniel Di Giorgio, Ontario Liberal Party
Victor Ehikwe, New Blue Party
Mohamed Firin, PC Party of Ontario
Faisal Hassan, Ontario NDP/NPD
- Ann Thomas, Independent
Source: Elections Ontario