An initiative by the Ontario government to privatize some social services is causing worry among members of the opposition.
The government is introducing pilot programs in three Ontario regions that are designed to connect job-seekers with employment, as well as provide more effective results for employers and people on social assistance. But, the opposition NDP believes the government needs to take a closer look at how it plans to implement the programs.
Windsor West MPP Lisa Gretzky, the NDP critic on community and social services, rose in the legislature Tuesday to express concern that the private companies running these pilot programs are from outside of Canada. Gretzky told BlackburnNewsWindsor.com that the plan goes against the government's "Ontario first" pledge.
"The concern for us is the fact that the government is taking money from people in Ontario, our tax dollars, and rather than investing it in Ontario, they're giving that money to multinational corporations," said Gretzky.
Employment services are being amalgamated and contracted out in the Hamilton-Niagara region, the Peel region, and the Muskoka-Kawarthas area. Fedcap, an American firm, is handling the program in Hamilton-Niagara, and Australian-based APM will oversee the Peel region's programs through its subsidiary, WCG.
Under the current model, job services are provided through Employment Ontario branches across the province, as well as through Ontario Works, which offers financial need and employment help to those in need. The Ontario Disability Support Program (OSDP) is also affected, as these three entities will be amalgamated.
Gretzky is worried that the government's new model will do more harm than good when it comes to matching specific jobs with people who are not qualified to handle them.
"It's strictly based on how many people they place into various workplaces," said Gretzky. "So, we have a lot of concern that what that's doing is incentivizing companies to push people into jobs that they are not suited to do."
Gretzky and other opposition MPPs believe this plan will continue to lessen services. However, Labour Minister Monte McNaughton said last week that the policy would help empower agencies on a local level.
"This change to the process will go largely unnoticed by job seekers and employers," said McNaughton. "At the ground level, things will work better, move faster. But from a system perspective, the shift is a big one. Government is getting out of the way, and allowing local communities to tailor the program to their specific needs."
At the moment, there are no plans to bring a similar project to Windsor-Essex, but Gretzky said it's a real possibility if the pilot programs are successful.
"If the government decides to expand these pilot programs in the future, into our region, they are not going to do so without one heck of a fight," said Gretzky.