NDP Slams Government Over Social Assistance Computer Problem

QUEENS PARK – POLITICS – Today in Question Period, NDP Leader Andrea Horwath condemned the government for going ahead with a new social assistance computer program, despite warnings that it will cause havoc for people on ODSP and OW. “Nearly a million people rely on social assistance to put food on their table and pay their rent. However, despite warnings from OPSEU that the software wasn’t ready to go online and would be flawed, the Liberals went ahead with it and it’s now causing havoc for people on social assistance and staff,” charged Andre Horwath.

“It’s unacceptable that people are not getting their cheques, payments are being delayed, or they’re in the wrong amount. People depend on those cheques to be delivered on time and in the right amount,” said Horwath.

Horwath said the Liberals rolled out a computer program full of bugs, causing a $20 million malfunction. Horwath stated that “The Liberals’ response to this situation was disgraceful, casting it off as a ‘glitch’ or trying ‘to make a mountain out of a very small molehill’.”

“It’s reprehensible that the Premier and her Minister are so flippant about this situation that they’re forcing the most vulnerable Ontarians to pay for the Liberals’ mistakes. This just shows how out-of-touch and arrogant this Liberal government is.”

Over the weekend, OPSEU President Smokey Robinson express how his members had repeatedly explained to government officials that the software program was not working as it should have.