These are tough times in Ontario.

Once an economic giant, Ontario now has one of the largest debt-loads of any sub-national government in the world. And on a day-to-day basis for many, Ontario is a province in crisis. Forty per cent of those who suffer food insecurity in Canada live in Ontario. A job in the province no longer protects against poverty — a full 10 per cent of those using food banks are gainfully employed. Immigrants, newcomers and other vulnerable groups are over-represented in precarious employment, often working multiple part-time jobs and still not earning enough to make ends meet. Social assistance recipients are living at least 40 per cent below any accepted poverty line, and thousands of people, including many youth, are homeless, living in shelters or on the streets.

These are not the living conditions we expect in one of the most advanced democracies and one of the richest countries in the world. So what is a premier to do?

In her throne speech and in this week’s budget, Premier Kathleen Wynne provided us with a road map for the future that refreshingly acknowledged these challenges. While a number of commentators have focused on the fact that she intends to spend money — and lots of it — I was struck by something else: three concise sentences expressing her unequivocal belief in the important role for government in improving living conditions for Ontarians.

“Government should be a force for good in people’s lives and it should be active where it is appropriate,” she said in this month’s throne speech. “The things that people can’t do themselves are where government has to be active and take a critical role.” And with that courageous stance she promised her government would take action to assist vulnerable groups, including youth, workers without pensions and people living in poverty.

These were encouraging words. At Canada Without Poverty we have worked to address poverty nationally for over 40 years, through difficult fiscal periods and with governments of different political stripes. Our long-standing experience tells us that poverty is created and solved, more than anything, by government.

When a country the size of Canada has approximately 4 million people living in poverty (by any measure), the problem is not that people are refusing to pull up their socks. It’s a structural issue, which cannot be solved by individuals alone, but also requires substantive government involvement, resources, vision and leadership.

Wynne calls her philosophy “the activist centre.” But her acknowledgement that government has an obligation not just to steward a strong economy, but also to address socio-economic disadvantage, transcends partisanship. In fact, Canada and the provinces committed to that very view in 1976 when they ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, a piece of international human rights law that commits national and sub-national governments to take reasonable steps to address socio-economic disadvantage.

That covenant states that those who are poor are entitled to a higher standard of living and it is government’s responsibility to deliver it. By acknowledging this responsibility, the premier has stuck her neck out in manner we rarely see in provincial or federal politics these days. But as bold as she has been, she still has a long way to go to satisfy the province’s human rights obligations.

In her throne speech, Wynne promised a poverty reduction strategy. If she is serious about this, she must look at the wise and concrete recommendations of the United Nations human rights system. Specifically, the UN calls on governments in Canada to strive to eliminate poverty by developing and implementing a plan in consultation with poor people, and including measurable goals and timelines, accountability mechanisms and a means by which poor people can claim their rights such as courts, tribunals, parliamentary proceedings, local councils or ombudsmen.

This may seem too bold, too radical or too new. But Wynne has a strong mandate from Ontarians and an extraordinary opportunity to change the political conversation and ultimately the lot of millions of Ontarians. She has already claimed a number of firsts. We’re only asking her to claim one more. Wynne once said she wanted to be remembered as the “social justice premier.” This is her chance.

Leilani Farha is the Executive Director of Canada Without Poverty, a national charity.

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