They came to Queen’s Park looking for answers, but all they got was more uncertainty.

After more than a year of waiting for the Ford government to reveal its plans to overhaul Ontario’s welfare program for the disabled, people who rely on the program and their supporters went to Queen’s Park Tuesday seeking clarity.

Instead, Ontario’s minister for children, community and social services says the government still has not decided if it will restrict access to the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).

“We are still continuing to review our social assistance programs,” Todd Smith told the Star, adding he could not commit to any time frame. “There’s a lot going on in the ministry, and we are reviewing how we deliver ODSP and how we deliver Ontario Works.”

Smith said his ministry is also reviewing last week’s auditor general’s report, which raised questions about a 50-per-cent increase in the number of ODSP recipients over the past decade and a corresponding 75-per-cent jump in costs.

“I think the auditor general’s report shows we need to do something when it comes to ODSP in particular, and we made a commitment to do that,” Smith added. “We just want to make sure that we do the right thing that’s going to have the best benefit for those who are receiving it.”

In November 2018, Smith’s predecessor Lisa MacLeod announced plans to change the definition of disability for ODSP to more closely align with definitions used in federal benefit programs.

But, as a coalition of health care providers, social service organizations and people on social assistance told a Queen’s Park news conference Tuesday, federal benefit programs are much more restrictive. They require disabilities to be “severe” and “prolonged” while under ODSP, disabilities have to be “substantial” and expected to last for at least one year.

“While this may seem like mere semantics, from a legal perspective these changes can have profound implications on whether a person will qualify for ODSP,” said Karin Baqi, a staff lawyer with the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a legal aid centre that advocates on behalf of people living in poverty and on social assistance.

A change would exclude people living with temporary or episodic disabilities such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, some cancers and mental illnesses, she said.

As a result, Baqi and others worry thousands of ill and disabled people in the province would be forced to rely on Ontario Works (OW), a welfare program geared to employment with maximum benefits of just $733 a month for a single person.

The maximum basic needs and shelter benefit under ODSP for a single person is $1,169, or just over $14,000 a year. (Benefits under both programs fall significantly below Ontario’s poverty line of about $23,000 for a single person in 2017.)

Andrea Hatala, 52, who is legally blind and has been on ODSP for about 15 years, said adopting a narrower definition of disability would be financially unsound.

“It won’t result in saving money. It will just put more pressure on services such as food banks and homeless shelters,” she said. “I’m afraid of people being forced to live on $733 a month. When you are sick or depressed and you have no money, it just adds to your condition.”

Hatala, co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition, was also critical of the auditor’s report for suggesting the rise in caseloads is a result of lax oversight or fraud.

“The auditor general wants more surveillance. But we have enough surveillance already on ODSP. We have to report our income every month and go through reviews and interviews,” she told reporters.

“It’s not like we are trying to pull one over on you,” she added. “If you went to food banks, as I do, you would see nobody is driving Lamborghinis.”

Baqi said the auditor’s report fails to consider whether ODSP is effectively serving Ontarians with disabilities who need help or providing adequate support.

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“The fact that more people rely on ODSP today than 10 years ago has a very simple explanation. It’s because more people need it,” she said.

“The report ignores factors such as an aging population, the rise in precarious, low-wage work and cuts to other social programs that force more people on ODSP today than 10 years ago,” she said.

The report also neglects to acknowledge improvements in the application and medical review process as well as better training and oversight of decision-makers, Baqi added.

“This makes for higher quality and fairer decisions,” she said. “And yes, more approvals, for good reason.”