On the rise: two Ontario women take a close look at the often well-hidden face of rural poverty

In rural Ontario, where geography makes it impossible for people to have equal access to services, poverty exhibits itself in different ways. There is no public transportation, no homeless shelters, no soup kitchens. Small food banks can't keep up with demand in rural towns and can't reach those who need food in the country. The labour market is often composed of low waged, unskilled jobs pushing people to commute for better paid work. There are few thrift stores. Although everyone knows everyone, rural poverty is often invisible.

The rural stereotype of the "good life" lives on, characterized by close-knit communities, strong churches, healthy families, and the abundance of good, home-grown food. For the past eight years, however, we have lived under Conservative rule and, during this time, decades of welfare state building was eroded away, if not decimated. This has painted a very different picture of pastoral life for many. To make matters worse, this former provincial government pointed the finger at individuals contending that those who lived in poverty had only to look in the mirror to see the source of their misfortune. Structural unemployment, a labour market that favours business over workers, and a government for corporate Ontario were driven from people's minds as sources of poverty during an aggressive and ongoing public relations campaign. The Ontario government flooded the media with sound bytes denouncing welfare bums and neglectful mothers.

Many people focused on their own hard work and the promised tax cuts, and resigned themselves to the actions of government as we lost more and more of our welfare state. Meanwhile, there have been no new public housing units in almost a decade. Government devolution has shifted fiscal responsibility for social housing to the municipality, forcing many areas to convert low-income units to market rent. Rent controls were eliminated in 1998. Minimum wage has remained at $6.85/hr for the last ten years. In 1995, welfare was reduced by 21.6 percent and has not been increased irrespective of the rising cost of living. Ontario became the province with the fastest growing gap between rich and poor. And in rural Ontario, those at the low end of the socioeconomic spectrum suffered greatly.

At the beginning of 2003, a group of women abuse survivors from rural southern Ontario came together to form the Rural Initiative for Social Equality (RISE), a grassroots social justice group whose purpose is to inform, as well as to support and advocate for those dealing with what has become a mean-spirited, victim-blaming social assistance system, and to draw public attention to social justice issues. These women, who had the courage and fortitude to leave abusive relationships, uproot their families, leave their friends, acquaintances, jobs, and belongings behind in order to seek violence-free lives for themselves and their children, have encountered what many have identified as the most demoralizing abuse of all: that of the Ontario government's Ontario Works (OW) program. It's a government program of social assistance married to a workfare program.

When people access the system they are often met with hostility by overworked state workers. In our short tenure, we have documented dozens of outright abuses. For example, one woman had her cheque docked for not starting a work placement on time because she was unable to complete the required medical and TB test prior to her placement, due to a severe doctor shortage. A woman whose fridge broke was denied discretionary funds and told to put her food in the snow to keep it cold. Benefit eligibility hinges on being able to produce copious amounts of documentation and information whenever they are demanded. People who drop off or mail requested documents to OW are often suspended from benefits and told that the documents were never received. Cheques are often a different amount every month, followed by notification of an unexplained "overpayment"--an administrative error that results in a reduction in benefits leaving people unable to budget, and living in a perpetual state of crisis. Women are sometimes told to show up for appointments and not to bring their children, that they must arrange childcare ahead of time with their own money. This money is food off the plates of those children.

Everyone we talk to receives regular letters in the mail informing them that their benefits are suspended. Workers rarely answer their phones or return calls. As a result, it often takes weeks to clear up the misunderstanding or to find out what hoop the recipient is required to jump through in order to retain their benefits. Ontario Works requires recipients to attend frequent meetings and they must arrange their own transportation. Missing a meeting results in suspended benefits. Without public transportation, these meetings cause undue hardship and stress. In short, the Ontario government has transformed help for the unfortunate into a kind of living hell.

For many, social assistance is unattainable due to increasingly stringent eligibility requirements, such as an address, which is impossible to come by without first and last month's rent. With a severe shortage of affordable housing, homelessness is equally as rampant in rural Ontario as it is in the cities. Rural homelessness is characterized by "couch-surfing" and inadequate housing. Some people live in their cars, but most are sleeping in somebody's basement or on their couch.

There are families with children who share one and two bedroom houses with one or two other families. We've met families who move from the basement and couch of one family member to those of another family member every few weeks because they have no place of their own. People live in unheated cottages, old tobacco kilns, bunkhouses and even chicken coops and melt snow for water.

Despite all these hardships and the invisibility of the issues there is a growing resistance against this form of state violence. In the following letter to the editor printed by one of our local newspapers, the women who went on to form RISE decry a social safety net that has left them fearing for their survival. This letter, and a trip to the Ontario Legislature, were the catalyst for RISE:

We are women in transition. We have escaped abusive marriages and relationships--some with just the clothes on our backs. We have begun the difficult task of rebuilding our lives and laying the foundation for our children's futures.

What happens to people like us?

Many of us have had to relocate in order to be safe. Most of us are on social assistance while we re-establish ourselves in the community. Yes, we need to find jobs and childcare but right now most of us are preoccupied with just surviving.

* "I live on a bowl of bran cereal every day so that I can feed my kids."

* "I had to give up my kids so that I knew they would be fed."

What happens to people like us?

Did you know that OW deducts, dollar for dollar, child support from our cheques? When our children's fathers pay support, our children do not benefit. When they do not pay support, the amount he should have paid is deducted anyway, and we can't buy food or pay our bills that month.

* "We're used to budgeting, but how do I support my 3 children on $630 a month?"

What happens to people like us?

There is no money for "extras" like a telephone.

* "My 4-year-old daughter was violently ill in the night. I had to walk her to the hospital at 2AM with my 2-year-old son."

* "My son has chronic asthma. I fear not being able to get help quick enough if he has an attack."

Winter is coming. Our hydro bills are not paid. We worry about extra billing on our gas bills. We suffer from the effects of stress and sometimes get depressed because every day is a struggle. We are being driven back to our abusers or to the shelter.

What happens to people like us?

Our challenge is to bring the issues of poverty, homelessness and inadequate housing into the spotlight and make them a priority for our municipal council. We engage in activities such as leafleting on various issues such as minimum wage and welfare abuses, and picketing local government offices. In May, a community forum was held in Port Dover, our base town, in which the issues of rural poverty were discussed among activists and community members.

Our biggest coup was securing copies of the municipal policies and procedures manual for Ontario Works. Members of RISE now photocopy pertinent policies in order to be well-versed on their rights. Women have successfully obtained benefits they were once denied because they were able to demand what they were entitled to according to OW's own policies. RISE provides tools to welfare recipients to advocate for themselves. When these methods fail, RISE will write advocacy letters to case managers and supervisors. The letters have been very effective. If an issue cannot be resolved, further action may include picketing and media action as well as support to appeal the decision.

We are not yet sure of the course of action that will be taken by our new Liberal majority government, but we do know that the relationship between the state and its citizens is a constant process of tension and struggle no matter who is sitting in the seat of power.

Our major obstacles in organizing are geographic isolation, transportation, the invisibility of social issues, and rural culture. We are trying to find a model that works to mobilize people in an environment where it's difficult to take a stand because everybody is connected through family ties and history. The same person whose office you picket today may share the pew next to your family in church. Everybody knows everybody and sometimes it's hard to separate personal ties from political points of contention.

Furthermore, most people who are not affected by poverty not only doubt it exists but are quick to proffer an explanation in keeping with their pastoral beliefs. One homeless woman told us that when she has no floor to crash on at night, she hides in the woods and under bridges rather than face the scorn of locals who she feels blame her for her circumstances.

We have found that demonstrations or rallies have limited impact because the population is sprawled across a huge area. One way to reach lots of people is through newspaper coverage of the issues. We have learned that this is a huge challenge since our daily newspaper regularly choses not to print our letters to the editor.

Currently we are trying to devise new ways of organizing, while continuing to engage in tried and true methods, such as picketing and letter writing. We would like to hear from others who are concerned with the same issues and are active in community organizing. Please contact us via land or electronic mail at:

RISE 314 Main St, Port Dover Ontario, N0A 1N0 or riseover@hotmail.com

Carrie Sinkowski works at a rape crisis centre as an outreach worker and public educator, and at a women's shelter, as a researcher.

Sally Landon is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Sociology at McMaster University where the focus of her research is rural women and poverty.

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