ONTARIO'S MINISTER OF COMMUNTY AND SOCIAL SERVICES, HELENA
JACZEK.
IT IS TIME FOR THIS MINSTER TO GO!
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| Helena Jaczek Minister of Community and Social Services |
In Ontario,
the lives of the poor on government assistance, has not improved, while
she has been in office. On the contrary, it has gotten worse. This
Minister has done nothing, to ensure that poor people on government assistance,
are treated equally and fairly. And that they also have access to better
services. She has a 'hands of' approach', when dealing with the local offices.
They operate completely autonomously and this means that the management at
those welfare offices, are also not held accountable by her, for their
actions. No one gets fired, but if you publicly shame them, they
may resign.
It would
even appear, that the Deputy Minister and his staff, has more of a direct
approach, when dealing with complaints coming from the public, than the Minister
directly. And as for the promise of a welfare reform?. What reform? It is
actually worse now for people on government assistance, than ever before. The
majority of whom also relies on food banks every month, because their benefits
do not allow them to even have some of the basic necessities, such as food and
shelter. Sadly, their welfare checks do not cover for both. Once the rent is
paid there is hardly any money left for food, let alone other necessities, such
as transportation and medical expenses, that are not covered under the Drug
Card. Food banks are used to supplement their meager food allowance. The
Ontario government and this Minister, actually expects the poor on social
assistance, to use the food banks, to supplement their welfare benefits. The
Minister knows that a single person on government assistance, with a monthly
benefit of $650.00 cannot pay for food, housing and other necessities. And
families with children on welfare, can also hardly survive on welfare each
month.
So again, what welfare reform?. The Minister,
has this unrealistic goal set for 2018, in which she "hopes to begin
implementing" those welfare reforms, she has been talking about. But
in the meantime, the poor on government assistance are left to manage on
their own. Almost one million people are on government assistance, in
Ontario. With 453,000 people living on Ontario Works benefits and another
543,000, relying on the Ontario Disability Support Program, or ODSP. According
to the Public Sector Salary Disclosure, Helena Jaczek as the Minister of
community and Social Services salary was $165, 851, in 2015 and not too far
below that is the salary of Peter Jagt, Manager at the Lawrence Square Social
Services Office, who makes nearly $130,000.00 annually. Who himself, as
the Manager at that office, was also not bothered in the least bit, to
deny a poor welfare recipient, access to a Metropass to attend to her medical
appointment, by allowing his staff to refuse to grant her the Transportation
Allowance, to attend to those appointments. And after she also provided them
with the documented proofs, from her doctor, which was also required under the
guidelines, for getting such benefit. Empathy for the poor is not in their
vocabulary. When you have a six figure salary, like the Minister Helena
Jaczek and all of the other management, at those welfare offices, it is
hard to imagine what a few extra dollars, in getting the transportation
allowance, to attend to your medical appointments, or in relying on food
banks every month, because your welfare checks will not stretch far enough, to
allow you to live otherwise. Those are issues those in the upper income
bracket cannot understand, or relate to. What they do understand is the power
that comes with their position and how to abuse it. And do they get fired when
they act inappropriate? No. It is left up to shaming them publicly, for them to
realized that it is not all about them. That Managers like Peter Jagt, need to
be fired. And that the Minister herself, Helena Jaczek, since she cannot
deliver on her promises for welfare reforms sooner, than her unrealistic goal
for 2018, should also follow right behind, those in that Ministry, who also
could not deliver, or who performed their duties, with such an incompetence
that they should not be allowed to continue in their positions.
PETER JAGT,
IS THE MANAGER, AT THE LAWRENCE SQUARE, WELFARE OFFICE.
JAGT HAS
RECENTLY SIDED, WITH TWO OF HIS STAFF, MARISSA DA SILVA, AND MARCELLA
FALCONI, A SUPERVISOR AT THE LAWRENCE SQUARE, EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL SERVICES,
OFFICE IN TORONTO, IN DENYING, A SERIOUSLY ILL WELFARE RECIPIENT, ACCESS TO THE
TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCE BENEFIT, THAT SHE WAS ENTITLED TO GET, IN ORDER TO
HAVE TESTS DONE, FOR HER HEART AILMENT.
PETER JAGT's salary is about $130.000. per year. And this may also be the case, where the actions of these corrupt Toronto city employees, could also result in legal actions taken against them for tort. Do city employees has the right, to refuse to provide financial assistance, for medical treatment to the poor?
And why does
the Minister of Social Services, Helen Jaczek, also allow this kind of abuse,
of the rights of welfare recipients to be allowed to continue?
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How the poor fare under the current
welfare system.
Why there needs to be an overhaul, as
far as the workers and management, who care very little about the welfare of
the clients.
Uncaring staff and overpaid
management, abuse clients rights to access to benefits that they are supposed
to be entitled to. At last count, Peter Jagt salary was about $130, 000. per
year. And the average single welfare recipient, gets less that a tenth of
that per year. About $10,000.00 per year.
How one welfare recipient in Toronto
was denied access to medical treatment for a heart condition, after the Peter
Jagt and two of his staff at the Lawrence square social services office,
refuses to issue the transportation allowance, so that she could attend
treatments. The woman also saw her benefit for a Metropass, cut in half, from
the $142.00 that she is entitled to have, to about $ 78.00, (which she was
also told, was to extend from August to September, or for six weeks in total.
That is, she was given only $78.00 for the two months, she was to attend
the physiotherapy), while she also attends physiotherapy three times a week,
for another set of medical issues. When she appealed the decision by the
worker, Marissa Dasilva, not to issue the full transportation benefit, she
was told that if she brought in further documentation from a doctor,
regarding her current medical condition, she would also get the balance
owing. When the woman dropped off the document from her doctor, detailing the
number of tests to be done, regarding her health condition, she was promptly denied the rest of the transportation
nenefit, for the Metropass. She was flatly denied both the money and
also any tokens, to attend to the medical treatment for her current
medical issues. When she had dropped the document off at the office, she was
then given six tokens, by another worker and was also told that it was to cover for
her previous visit to the E.R. and for her doctor's appointment the next day,
in order to obtain the documents, in order to give to the welfare workers, Marissa
Dasilva and Marcella Falconi). And she was also told, that the two remaining tokens, were also sufficient, for any other medical appointments, that she may need to have,
relating to her heart condition. She was left without any assistance
whatsoever, to take care of her chronic medical condition. And the two
welfare workers and also Peter Jagt, who is the Manager at that office, did
not give a damn, how she goes about it. They were not going to help her, with
obtaining the funds needed, to address her medical issues.
The client was in need of the benefit,
which would pay for a Metropass, so that she could attend to more than one
medical treatments, including physiotherapy treatment and a more
recently diagnosed treatment for a heart condition. The woman who was in the
hospital for the same condition, was later discharged and was told to follow
up with her doctor and to have the necessary tests done, such as an ecg and
blood test, to see if there were any further damages to her already pre existing
heart condition, was then denied the money to attend for treatments, a
manager at that office, by Peter Jagt, and two of his staff, Merissa Desilva and
Marcella Fortinini, who job is as a Supervisior at the Lawrence square
office.
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