Welfare offices are now all open.

In the past two days we have seen several problems with people being able to access the Special Diet. If you are having any of these problems, call us immediately.

1.Workers will only issue the Special Diet for August even if your forms were filled out in June or July: This is illegal. The regulations state that you have to be issued the Special Diet for the entire month that the forms are filled out. This means that if your form was filled out on June 30th they have to give you money for all of June and July. If your forms were filled out anytime in July, they have to give you the money for all of July. It doesn't matter that there was a strike and they didn’t process it, they have to give you your money.

2.They have lost your forms that you submitted during the strike:

• a) If you have a copy – Call us. We will fight to get welfare to give you your money.
• b) If you don’t have a copy – call your doctor and hopefully your doctor will have a copy of it. Without a copy, it will be really hard to get your money but we will see what we can do. It is possible that they will find them as people have just gone back to work. In the meantime, make another doctor’s appointment and get new forms so you can at least get the money again.

3.The office is "out of Special Diet forms": They have to give you the forms if you ask for them. Do not go to another office to get them because you have to get them from your own office (some people have been given the run around and told to go all over the city to get forms and it has just been a waste of time). If they say they don’t have them – they have to get them. Give them 1 day and if they still don’t have them call us.

About 75 people on welfare and members of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty went to Mayor David Miller's office in City Hall today to demand that people be issued their benefits that they city is illegally withholding because of the strike.

We waited outside the Mayor's office for over an hour but the city refused to even send someone out to speak to us. Eventually we delivered about 35 forms for the special diet by sliding them through a crack in Miller's glass doors.

The City says that it will only deal with "emergency" situations for people on welfare. This means that the City is refusing to process most new benefits for people on assistance and has frozen people's cheques. Not having enough to eat because you can't get your special diet is an emergency but Miller doesn't think so. Right any now, people cannot access the special diet - money people desperately need to be able to buy groceries.

(Right) Brian DuBourdieu speaking about the beating he received at Seaton House.

Seaton House refused to release Brian DuBourdieu's incident report.

Join us:
11am
Monday, July 20th
Seaton House
339 George Street
(east of Jarvis Street, south of Gerrard Street)

The City has closed all but 3 welfare offices that are open for "emergencies only" during the CUPE strike.

The offices that are open are:

• Etobicoke North – 220 Attwell Dr – 416 392-6400
• Downtown – 111 Wellesley St E – 416 392-5300
• Scarborough West – 1225 Kennedy Rd – 416 392-2800

The City says that they are for emergencies only. To them, this means that cheques are frozen and people cannot get any new benefits, the basic things that people need.

Man severely beaten and dumped on sidewalk over dispute about a sandwich.

Press Conference
Dare: Thursday, July 9
Time: 11:00 am
Location: Seaton House, 339 George Street
(east of Jarvis Street, south of Gerrard Street)

OCAP to hold press conference lease come and support OCAP and condemn the assault of homeless man by City management at Seaton House.

Man severely beaten and dumped on sidewalk over dispute about a sandwich.