Ontario opposition leaders say it is “heartless” and “shameful” for the Ford government to be killing a program that helps refugee families and other parents on welfare feed and clothe their children while they wait to become eligible for Ontario and Canada child benefits.

“To suggest that the government should not be responsible for making sure that every child can at least have a meal and a roof over their head is disgraceful,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath told the legislature Monday. “It is absolutely shameful.”

Green Party Leader Mike Schreiner called it a “heartless act that sends the wrong message that Ontario is not a welcoming place for vulnerable newcomers.”

Premier Doug Ford’s PCs have cancelled free prescription drug coverage for children, fired the child advocate, axed the basic income pilot project, halved a planned rate increase to families on social assistance and frozen funding wait lists for kids with autism and other disabilities, Liberal Leader John Fraser told the legislature.

“Have they declared war on children and families in this province?” he asked.

But Lisa MacLeod, minister for children, community and social services, defended the cut.

“Is it fair to give a taxpayer subsidy to those who are crossing the border illegally and will likely be deported? Is it fair to provide a taxpayer subsidy to those who do not file” their taxes? she asked.

As the Star reported Monday, the government plans to eliminate the Transition Child Benefit on Nov. 1 as part of its overhaul of social assistance. About 16,000 children a month received the benefit last year, including almost 4,400 in Toronto. It is worth up to $230 per child, per month.

The benefit was introduced in 2008 when the province launched the Ontario Child Benefit and began shifting support for low-income children out of the welfare system.

But without the Transition Child Benefit, families on social assistance who are not eligible for the Ontario Child Benefit or who are waiting for their application to be processed, receive no money for food, clothing or other basic necessities for their children, anti-poverty activists and others note.

In Toronto, it mainly supports children in families waiting for their refugee claims to be heard by the Immigration and Refugee Board, a process that can take two years or more. (Refugees are not eligible for Ontario and Canada child benefits until their status has been confirmed.)

The transition benefit also supports families on welfare who have not filed their income taxes or who are waiting to have their applications processed due to the birth of a child or a sudden drop in income after a job loss.

Toronto welfare offices distributed about $22 million in transition benefits last year, according to city manager Chris Murray. The program’s demise was listed as an additional financial pressure facing the city in Murray’s report on an estimated $177 million in retroactive cuts flowing from April’s provincial budget.

“Toronto’s family shelter system may experience increased demand from families who lose the (benefit) and become unable to secure or maintain their housing,” he warned in the memo.

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On Monday — after weeks of escalating pushback from Toronto Mayor John Tory and other municipal leaders — Premier Doug Ford reversed provincial cuts to public health, child care and paramedic services.

But the province is standing firm on social service cuts, MacLeod told the legislature.

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