Anglican Communion News Service

[Crosstalk] The Community Ministries of the Diocese of Ottawa, Canada, has refused to take part in schemes where those in receipt of government benefit are forced to work. The so-called "workfare" programme has been criticised for being unethical.

"The people we serve are often living in crisis," the Communities Ministries Board says in a statement endorsed by the Diocesan Executive Committee. "Whether they are fleeing violence, being released from hospital with no accommodation, or living with serious mental illness, they are welcomed and treated with dignity in all the services we provide."

The Ministries are planning to let other agencies know about their opposition to the Ontario Works Act, which implements the workfare schemes, and to inform various levels of government of their disquiet.

The Board could face the loss of important funding if it doesn't meet the quotas imposed by the province for getting welfare recipients working. With in the next two and a half years the target for placements on workfare in the Province of Ontario is expected to double.

The Board represents two diocesan day care centres, a women's housing project and the Ottawa Pastoral Centre. The housing project alone was due to receive CA$514,000 in regional and CA$227,000 in provincial funding last year.

"Workfare stereotypes poor people as lazy and unwilling to work," according to the Community Ministries Board. "We know this to be untrue in the people we see and serve daily."

The claim is also made that workfare violates the UN Charter on economic, social and cultural rights. It says welfare must be designed as a compassionate response to people who are facing extreme levels of stress in their lives.

"Most clients we deal with are vulnerable and not fit to work, " said the Revd Garth Bulmer, former chairman of the Community Ministries Board, "so they would probably be excluded [from workfare] in any case." It seems unlikely that the regional government would exert pressure by cutting funds, as it has been very supportive of the Community Ministries work.