February 1st News: Will the updated Ontario Disability Assistance Program help?

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In The News is a collection of Canadian Press articles designed to kickstart your day. On the morning of Wednesday, February 1, 2023, here’s what our editors have their eyes on…

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What we see in Canada…

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One day, Terry Meehan eats just one meal a day for an extended period of time to extend his food supply.

That’s not the only $1,100 a month she receives from the Ontario Disability Assistance Program.

For Meehan, or the majority of Ontarians who receive assistance under the program, when the Ontario government today began allowing beneficiaries to earn more money by working before getting their benefits back, That doesn’t change.

New rules allow ODSP recipients to earn $1,000 by working, up from $200 previously. For every dollar he earns in excess of the $1000 exemption, people with disabilities he keeps 25 cents.

But like Meehan, 95% of ODSP recipients see no change in their monthly income as a result. Many of her friends are in the same boat as her, and she said she doesn’t know how she feels about the government making changes.

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In addition to her ODSP perks, she earns hundreds of dollars a month and does gig work when she can, like delivering Uber Eats while in a wheelchair.

After paying her monthly bills and her medication and food, she said she probably has $200 left over most months. Sometimes less.

Trevor Manson, co-chair of the ODSP Action Coalition and an ODSP recipient, said the exemption helps working people but is far from solving the problems facing many ODSP recipients. called the situation “enacted poverty”.

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This too…

Mike Parkhill remembers receiving a call about three years ago from an Indigenous community leader in northern Ontario asking if there were tools to help students learn the Ojibwe language.

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Parkhill, who runs a company that creates programs to help revitalize indigenous languages, didn’t have such a tool at the time, but the idea took hold.

A year and a half later, Parkhill and his team began developing a digital program to help teach Ojibwe, eventually launching in September 2022. Use of the tool is on the rise, with approximately 3,000 people taking it, including 1,800 of his students, mostly from northern Ontario. Lessons learned from there — and the program could soon expand to hundreds of students across Southern Ontario.

A web and app-based tool called Anishina Abemowin was devised by Parkhill and his company, SayItFirst. SayItFirst received development funding from Indigenous-run higher education institutions, the Seven Generation Education Institute and the Rainy River District Board of Education. The board uses the program and provides feedback.

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The purpose of this tool is to help revive the Ojibwe language, an indigenous language spoken in Canada and parts of the United States.

The York Area Schools Board of Education is currently experimenting with the platform as part of a pilot project, and it could be widely deployed soon, said Jodi Johnston, the board’s Ojibwe language coordinator.

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What we see in the US…

Tyre Nichols’ family planned to put him on rest today, three weeks after he was beaten to death by Memphis police after a traffic stop.

In the last three weeks, five police officers have been fired, charged with murder, and their specialized units disbanded. Two more officers were suspended. Also fired: 2 Memphis Fire Department emergency medical workers and 1 Lieutenant. And more discipline could come.

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But today, we’re talking about Nichols, a 29-year-old skateboarder and amateur photographer. He had a job making boxes for FedEx, made friends during his morning visits to Starbucks, and would always say hello to his mother and stepfather when he got home. , parents! “

Friends who attended last week’s memorial service described him as fun and kind, smiling and quick, and often silly.

Nichols’ funeral will be held at Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church at 10:30 am CST. Reverend Al Sharpton, Founder and Chairman of the National Action Network, pays tribute. Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Nichols family, is calling for action.

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What we are seeing in the rest of the world…

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Far from a return to democracy, Myanmar’s peace prospects look more bleak than ever two years after the military seized power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, experts say. says.

On Wednesday, militias opposing the military government heeded protest organizers’ calls to stay home in what they called a “silent strike” to show their strength and solidarity.

The opposition General Strike Coordination Body, formed shortly after the 2021 rule, urged people to stay at home and work from 10am to 3pm. There were only a few cars on the road, and there were reports of similar scenes elsewhere.

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Small, peaceful protests take place across the country on an almost daily basis, but two things stand out on the anniversary of the military seizure of power on February 1, 2021. levels of civil war; and grassroots movements against the junta have disappointed by alienating the ruling generals.

The violence has spread beyond the local battlefields, where troops are burning and bombing villages, displacing hundreds of thousands of people in a largely neglected humanitarian crisis. It also occurs in cities where activists are arrested and tortured and urban guerrillas retaliate with bombings and assassinations of military-related targets. The military also executed activists accused of “terrorism” by hanging after closed-door trials.

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On this day in 1920…

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police was formed by the merger of the Royal North West Mounted Police and the Dominion Police. In the 1870s, the Northwestern Army was formed to control the vast unexplored territory. The Dominion Police Department has been a federal force guarding government buildings and enforcing federal law since 1868.

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In entertainment…

Las Vegas police have arrested former actor Nathan Chasing Horse at his home after uncovering 20 years of sexual assault and human trafficking allegations.

Chasing Horse is known for his role in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film Dances with Wolves. Police say he developed a reputation as a so-called medicine man among tribesmen in the United States and Canada and used that position to abuse Native American girls.

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Chasing Horse has been accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl and abducting his wife of 15. Police say the assaults occurred in multiple states, including Nevada, and Canada.

No attorney was immediately listed for him in court records on Tuesday.

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did you see this?

Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge says ending abuse in sport will require a grievance process involving not only athletes at the national level, but also those at the state level.

St-Onge and the provincial sports ministers will meet during the Canada Games in mid-February, and their agenda will include ongoing efforts to address widespread allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse in sport. includes efforts.

She asked state ministers at an August meeting to consider whether to join the new federal sports integrity process or create their own.

The National Sports Integrity Commissioner can only investigate allegations of abuse from athletes at the national level.

However, the majority of athletes do not fall into that category, St-Onge said, and only Quebec has its own sports integrity office that can receive and investigate complaints.

The National Sports Integrity Agency officially launched last June and has since received 48 complaints from athletes.

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This report by the Canadian Press was first published on February 1, 2023.