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Within months of taking office in 2018, the Ford government announced it would reform Ontario Works (OW) and the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSB) to make the programs “sustainable” into the future. Only 1% of people on OW leave the program for work in any given month and one in five stay on OW for five years or longer.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said Ford needs a better understanding of the barriers faced by those on social assistance attempting to get into the workplace.

The Basic Income Program pilot was cancelled by the government even as it began to highlight what some of those barriers are, she said.

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For example, a person who has lived in poverty for a long time may be in need of significant dental work before facing a job interview, she said.

“I think the premier needs to acknowledge that folks do want to work but they need to have not only pathways to employment in terms of job leads but they need to have their dental work done, they need to have appropriate clothing for the workplace, sometimes that means expensive work boots, all kinds of pieces of equipment and in some cases training,” Horwath said.

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“Somebody that’s been unemployed for a number of years is not going to have the skills to simply get off the couch and get a job so Mr. Ford has a very, I think, narrow and uninformed view of what some of the barriers are to employment in this province.”

Ford said the government is prepared to put its resources into helping people find gainful employment.

“I think people feel really good about themselves when they have a job and they bring home a paycheque,” Ford said.

aartuso@postmedia.com