Hamilton Centre NDP candidate Andrea Horwath is demanding that the McGuinty government redesign the form used to calculate the special diet allowance for people in need.
Horwath is saying “enough is enough” to the cutbacks the Liberals made to the Ontario Works allowance for helping people with disabilities or illnesses afford the foods and supplements their doctors have prescribed as a special diet.
“The suffering caused by the McGuinty cutback of the special diet allowance is a cause for real concern,” Horwath said. “When the government redesigned the application form, it was like taking nutritious food out of people’s mouths. It’s more than disgusting. To me, it’s unfathomable that the McGuinty government is treating people this way.”
In a letter to Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur, Horwath says the McGuinty government can easily change special diet regulations with the stroke of a pen. Last September, she forced Premier Dalton McGuinty to change the form to include ALS and “it happened overnight,” she said.
“It is clear to me that the new guidelines and Special Diet forms are creating some serious problems for our constituents. If the doctor is not able to clearly outline the medical history of the patient on it, there is something wrong with the form. The limited amount of information that the form requests is limiting the amount of special diet allotment that those on fixed income are receiving,” Horwath said in her letter.
“I am well aware that it is within the McGuinty government’s ability to amend and upgrade the Special Diet form,” Horwath writes. “I am asking you, Minister, to quickly amend this form and make it adequate and responsive to the true needs of people requiring a Special Diet Allowance for health reasons. Vulnerable Ontario residents are being hurt by the McGuinty government’s cuts to the allowance.”
To illustrate the severity of the impact on Hamilton’s most vulnerable citizens, Horwath raised the case of Brenda Bell, who receives just $42 a month to maintain her medically prescribed diet, far short of what her doctor has recommended.
