When asked today about the eliminated $100 emergency benefit, @fordnation responded alleging that disabled people are defrauding the system, through working, taking #CERB, and the Ontario Disability Support Program ( #ODSP)

Thread: #onpoli #cndpoli https://twitter.com/CBCToronto/status/1291420816240828418

1. The province has allowed & sustained a social assistance program that is well below the poverty line. Disabled people aren't making enough to live on and don't want to stay on this program as it is. The way we treat social assistance in this province is unethical. #ODSPoverty

2. The province has created a system that forces people on ODSP to be hyper-vigilant about reporting. Why are they worried about fraud? If you don't hand in paperwork every month re: employment or any life changes, you do not get a cheque and miss your rent payment.

3. Many people on ODSP can't work even if they *want* to. Some disabilities make it so that people cannot work. We still have the right to live and receive supports, because we are human beings and not chattel created for a workforce. Give us the same respect as retirees.

4. For those who can work, there are very few jobs open to hiring people with disabilities depending on what disability someone has. Some disabilities are more "palatable" than others. To put it simply, many employers are still afraid of the imagined risks and costs associated.

5. If you're disabled, in poverty, are on ODSP (which is still poverty), you're more likely to be homeless or criminalized or both. Having a record or living in a shelter makes finding a job impossible when you're already living in a world that is ableist and sees you as a burden

6. Many people *stay* on ODSP because of our failed health care system. The Assistive Devices Program is not part of regular healthcare. The Ministry of Health & Long Term Care specifies that disabled people are expected to pay costs for equipment which costs thousands.

7. So if you're poor and disabled and need a hearing aid or a wheelchair or certain medication, you're going to stay on ODSP even if you can work because it's impossible to afford what is needed to live on without ODSP (even if you'd make more when working).

8. We are in a pandemic. Fear-mongering and treating people with disabilities as though we are to blame for a system that refuses to adhere to our requests for humane treatment in a crisis is modern day eugenics. @fordnation is saying he does not care if we live or die.

9. The federal government has left people with disabilities out of the #CERB response. Our provincial government is accusing people with disabilities of committing fraud. On every policy level, we are being reminded that we are subhuman because we cannot produce.

10. Companies & charities like @amazon & WE can make millions in profit from our government or commit fraud with no questions asked. Meanwhile, disabled people are the hardest hit by this pandemic (i.e. long-term care home deaths) & are the most scrutinized population in Canada.