By NICOLE RIVA, Examiner Staff Writer

The public was locked out of a meeting between public officials, including the mayor, a councillor, an MPP, a public task force and a provincial minister, on an issue of public concern — poverty.

The meeting between Ontario’s Minister of Children and Youth Services and the Mayor’s Action Committee on Poverty yesterday at the Evinrude Centre — a public building — was by invitation only, excluding angry anti-poverty activists, the media and the NDP’s poverty critic.
The meeting lasted three hours and was designed to give the minister, Deb Matthews, some insight into Peterborough’s poverty strategies.
The meeting was attended by Mayor Paul Ayotte, Coun. Doug Peacock, Peterborough MPP Jeff Leal and the deputy reeve of Cavan-Monaghan Brian Fallis.

The lack of public access resulted in shouts of anger by members of the public, some of whom say they were pushed from the building by security, including former MPP Jenny Carter.

Protesters greeted Matthews with shouts of “shame” and “we want 40 per cent” upon her arrival.

The group of anti-poverty activists, many from the Peterborough Coalition Against Poverty (PCAP), demanded Matthews allow them into the session. “Are you afraid to hear from the rest of us, because then you might have to do something about the demands we’re making?” said Mary-Jo Nadeau.

Matthews defended the invite-only policy of the meetings. “In these sessions we wanted to get a bit deeper," she said. "We don’t need to be convinced that poverty is an issue. We know it’s an issue and that’s why we’re prepared to tackle it."

Thirteen meetings will be held throughout the province, she said. Concerned citizens can send feedback and suggestions by mail, e-mail, phone, through the website or through their local MPP, Matthews said.

Ayotte also defended the size of the meeting, acknowledging public outcry about representation when the task force was established.

“You have to keep a workable group or you’re not going to accomplish the goals,” he said. “At some point, you’ve got to have some thinkers, some doers, and some funders and you have to have those people together to move forward.
"And I think you have to have a reasonable group to do that.”

Leal pointed out that two members of PCAP, Eric Rodgers and Dori Charters, are on the mayor’s task force and were present at the meeting.
Peacock emphasized the committee is not a council project, but made up of volunteers.
Fallis wasn’t available for comment.

The criticism of the meetings as “secret” by NDP leader Howard Hampton frustrated Matthews.
“Members of our committee are going to be out talking to people across the province. This is an important initiative and I hate to see it becoming a political football,” she said.

However, protesters criticized the lack of action by the committee and its members.
“The mayor’s task force has some low-income representation but it’s still dominated by politicians and business interest,” said PCAP member Sarah Kardash.

Many protesters were tired of all the talk surrounding poverty. “We don’t need any more consultation. Poor people know what the issues are, poverty activists know what the issues are and have solutions,” Kardash said. She said the 40 per cent increase they are demanding would bring social assistance levels back to where they were in 1995, prior to cutbacks by then-premier Mike Harris’s government.
They are also asking for a $10 per hour minimum wage, increases in affordable housing, child care and post-secondary education.
Ontario’s child tax benefit was also slammed by Kardash.

“By 2011, when it reaches its maximum, a single parent on welfare will only be $50 better off,” she said.

Also standing outside the Evinrude Centre was MPP Michael Prue, the NDP’s poverty critic. “They can’t get in and neither can I,” Prue said. “I called the minister’s office and they said I’m not invited.” He said Matthews response is interested citizens can respond using the website.
“Eighty per cent of people who live in poverty have no access to a website, so this is ridiculous,” Prue said.

The presence of protesters didn’t surprise Matthews, she said, because poverty elicits strong emotions. Matthews made several attempts to explain her position to the crowd of 15 protesters, but was either cut off or drowned out by chants. “There is finally a government in the province of Ontario that’s prepared to say the current levels of poverty are unacceptable,” she said. “I hear you’re asking for 40 per cent social assistance. If that’s your contribution to the strategy, to the conversation I hear you.”

One protester received an invitation into the meeting by Matthews. “She was thoughtful and wanted to make a positive contribution so I asked her if she would join in,” Matthews said. Kardash told Matthews and Leal that poverty is a public relations exercise for the government.

“If it was something else you would have given us more than two per cent. You would have given yourselves less than 25 per cent,” said Nadeau. “You would have actually been asking us to come into these meetings and hear what we have to say.”

PCAP members could make strong contributions to the community, Ayotte said, "by helping other organizations besides standing out there yelling at people. "I don’t think that accomplishes anything,” he said. “Most things I’ve received from those people they are demands. I think you get a lot more if you offer to work with people than make demands of them.”

The mayor said he told Matthews of projects in the community that could be spread around the province, notably a training and retraining program with Kawartha Food Share that combined food distribution with youth engagement. “If we can get people talking together and co-operation between the different groups, I think there’s a lot of resources there that are available. We just have to make better use of them,” Ayotte said.

Materials released to the media state the task force discussed its endeavours with the community garden, Peterborough’s school for young moms, food security community partnership project, the youth warehouse training program with Kawartha Food Share, affordable housing and a nurse practitioner model through the Local Health Integration Network and the Victoria Order of Nurses.
Prior to the meeting, Peacock said some of these programs, such as the young moms program, require more sustainable funding while the community garden would require a smaller amount.

Once feedback is collected, Matthews said they will prepare a plan for the premier. The goal is for that document to be ready by the end of the year, she said.