In November, 2006, OAITH responded to Bill 107: Human Rights Code Amendment Act (2006) to focus how to make sure that reforms in the Ontario Human Rights Commission would provide a system that supports and benefits women who experience violence and oppression. Particular areas of concern include: direct access to hearings; legal supports for complainants; independence and integrity of the human rights protection system; powers of the Commission; adequate powers given to new Racism and Disabilities Secretariats; and options for groups and advocates to make complaints or intervene.
This report provides ratings of each strategic framework that was established by the three previous Summits to End Violence Against Aboriginal Women. The strategic goals being evaluated include data collection on VAW in Aboriginal communities, legal reform and legislative change regarding VAW, creation of a comprehensive policy in Ontario, programs designed to address VAW, public education campaign to create awareness, and community leadership.
On April 21, 2009, OAITH submitted a brief to the Standing Committee on Social Policy regarding Bill 152, the Poverty Reduction Act 2009. The issues raised related to the challenge that women were often faced with unfair choices of poverty or violence, food or rent, and their health and well-being of their children. Women who use shelter services often report experiences of poverty as a major challenge in re-building their lives. OAITH applauded the principles of the poverty reduction initiative, and offered the following recommendations for strengthening its positive impact for women who experience violence. Recommentations included:
- Including recognition of the gendered nature of poverty in the preamble and specific clauses of the Act.
- Setting targets to include a minimum poverty reduction target and timeline.
- Identifying effective strategies that include affordable, publicly funded child care, pay and employment equity, match social assistance to the cost of basic needs, education and training, housing supports, among others.
- Incorporating a transparent, independent review into the strategy.
- That a minimum percentage of the provincial budget be allocated to poverty reduction on an ongoing basis.
- That 'poverty reduction' be re-worded to say 'poverty elimination'.
On April 2, 2012, OAITH responded to the Ontario budget which was tabled on March 27, 2012. OAITH raised its concerns with the fiscal plans of the Government of Ontario as outlined in the budget. The letter covered the following topics:
- Social Assistance and the Ontario Child Benefit (OCB)
- Structural changes to social assistance and employment supports
- Affordable and low-income housing supports and child care
- Women's services
- Efficiencies and consolidation harming services for women who have experienced violence where often underfunded and overburdened services, women's shelters, second-stage housing, rape crisis centres and women's centres often face disproportionate administrative reporting per public dollar than many much larger public services.
This toolkit provides a practical tool that allows organizations to apply an integrated anti-oppression framework to their practice. It will be useful for Executive Directors, Program Managers, Boards or Directors, and others who review and create policy in service organizations. This toolkit is designed to help community service organizations become better able to reflect the values, belief, and experiences of everyone in their community, and to ensure there are no barriers or inqualities within the organization's working practices and in how services are provided and to whom.
In this toolkit, the term "inclusion lens" refers to ways of looking at social and economic exclusion and inclusion. It is a tool for analyzing legislation, policy, programs, and practices to determine whether they promote the social and economic inclusion of individuals, families, and communities. It is designed to encourage transformations in how services, policies, and legislation are modified, developed, and re-conceptualized to ensure inclusivity for all people. The Inclusion Lens provides a way to being dialogue with excluded groups, raise awareness about how exclusion works, and identify steps to move toward policies, programs, and practices that will be inclusive.
This study explored some vital issues faced by on-reserve women's shelter directors and staff. Specifically, this study deals with the problems that many of these shelters face in their communications and transactions with Band Chiefs and Councils because of the way INAC (Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada) funding flows. This study uncovers advantages and disadvantages of incorporating on-reserve shelters as non-profit entities with a governing Board of Directors, determines the advantages of an incorporated non-profit shelter entering into a Comprehensive Funding Arrangement (CFA) directly with INAC to receive funding, and explored the advantages and disadvantages of the NACAFV (National Aboriginal Circle Against Family Violence) becoming the administration vehicle for flow-through funding for First Nations on-reserve shelters.
The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board (CICB) scheme may be impressive on paper, but in practice, the Board fails to deliver needed support to victims of crimes. Unable to deliver on its mandate due in a timely way, or at all. Low budget and a consequent loss of independence from Ministry direction and government interference. Delivery of compensation is up by overly-bureaucratic processes, unnecessary delays such as waiting for a criminal justice process to be finished before processing applications, and inflexibility. Using a number of specific cases to illustrate the different ways in which the system is broken, the report concludes with a number of recommendations for remedying the system so that it may deliver on its promises.
On April 19, 2006, OAITH made a submission to the Federal Government in its Pre-Budget Consultation process. The submission highlights OAITH's position and recommendations for ensuring the government budget considered its role in supporting services for women who have experienced violence and for taking steps to end violence against women. The areas of concern covered are:
- Social Assistance Program
- Employment and Economic Security for Women
- Affordable Housing
- Childcare
- Legal Aid
- Aboriginal Women's Services and Supports
- Newcomer Services and Supports
- Non-governmental Women's Services and Advocacy Networks
This report submitted to Ministry of Indian Affairs and Northern Development on March 9, 2007, describes the results of a three-phase consultation process held to develop a recommendation to the Minister regarding a viable legislative option to address matrimonial real property issues on reserves. The parties involved were Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC), the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), and the Native Woman's Association of Canada (NWAC).