The general public has no idea what the system is really like. They think fraud is ramped in Ontario Works and ODSP. Here is something to think about and it is just the tip of the iceberg according to our research. The provincial government says welfare fraud is around 2%. Who is really committing the fraud around here? The federal government says income tax fraud is 13%
Premier Dalton McGuity is handing over a 9.7 million dollar corporate welfare cheque to Kellogg. Kellogg’s profit was $1 billion. Also Ford got a $55 million cheque and is now cutting shifts, while GM got $29million and is also cutting shifts.
$150 million called corporate welfare for a profitable industry. Rob Ferguson January 10, 2008 Queens Park Bureau http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/292631 The Ontario Government has earmarked $150 million to encourage pharmaceutical companies to do more drug research and manufacturing in the province.
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An internal audit in Hamilton, Ontario showed that Ontario Works staff were taking the city’s credit card out and enjoying a nice lunch privately.
The same audit showed that the Ontario Works workers had uninterrupted access to the main computer that issues their clients checks.
Ontario Works should send someone out to play private detective and watch those collecting OW going to work everyday and collecting cash under the table.
It's easier for the boss to pay cash than to deal with issuing paychecks above the table and having employees properly registered. Too much paperwork!
Instead, OW calls the recipient in for an interview (if someone calls in to report fraud)where they can then lie and continue collecting!
And they wonder why more fraud isn't reported!
Taxi Cab Owner Income Tax fraud by: Anonymous
A taxi cab owner, operator, here in Woodstock, lies on his income tax forms. Where he actually makes $70K to $100K in cash income, he only claims $30K on his income tax and then writes off another $20k as expenses. Then he brags about getting a $2k refund back from the government. He brags about doing this for over 10 years. To top it off, he calls his disabled and poor female clients "welfare scum", meanwhile he does not pay any income tax, or child support etc. By far, income tax cheats rip off the honest tax paying citizens, more, then any Ontario Works clients.
ODSP fraud reporting by: Anonymous
is there a website or a email address that you can report abuse of the system to ODSP or welfare I know someone who is abusing the system collecting ODSP and is making up a story to be on it in the first place and is more then capable of working and getting his GF to pay rent while not telling ODSP so that he collects rent money from both them and GF and a rampant drug user on tax payers money... looking for a annoymous way to report as he is a violent guy
Sickening pathetic losers by: Randy Peters
These people collecting ODSP and working under the table make me sick! Then to top it all of, they complain about the government and how the government doesn't do enough to help out "the small guy". They pay no taxes, get free medication, and a HUGE income tax refund. How is this possible? I work for a living, struggle to make ends meet, so that my tax dollars can support some lazy person (with a huge sense of entitlement) who then goes out and works under the table paying no taxes, taking work away fron people trying to do things the right way. These lazy bums should be cut off from any level of government assistance. I pretty much mean the ones who are on a "mental" disability. If they're that mental they should be locked up. Also, take away their driver's licenses. Disabled people shouldn't drive. Make them choose between driving or collecting a government cheque. See how many of these lazy bums are suddenly cured of their depression, skitzoidism, OCD or whatever. Who can I complain to and will they do anything about it?
Public attitudes about ODSP recipients by: Editor
I'm embarrassed by the people like Randy Peters that make negative assumptions about people on ODSP.
Along with a couple of other commenters, he seems to think he has magical access to know what other people's conditions are, both medical and financial.
In reality, none of us can know what another person is going through - especially when it comes to disability, whether physical or not.
ODSP is hardly a generous program, and it is a difficult, and some would say humiliating process to be approved.
To negative know-it-all complainers: Disability is an equal opportunity condition. Just because you haven't been touched by it yet doesn't mean you won't have to deal with it in your future.
When that day comes, you'll be grateful for the small benefits that are available to you.
But be clear about this. It won't begin to make up for the difficulties you'll face at every turn in your life. It can affect everything in your life and in the life of those close to you.
If those around you have as negative an attitude as some of the ones expressed here, then you'll have an even harder time of it.
As the original author, Ron Payne, pointed out, only 2% of people receiving welfare are likely to be committing fraud (against bizarre rules I might add). I think it's safe to say that the rate for people on ODSP is lower still.
Before people make assumptions about disability and mental illness, they would be wise to educate themselves first. Until then, zip it.
As editor, I will no longer accept any put-downs of anyone receiving ODSP or any discussion about welfare fraud. Negative, hurtful comments will be deleted, and posters banned.
please remove Randy Peters post about ODSP by: Mike Hyde
It is ignorant, offensive and does not contribute to the issue at hand.
I am very glad I did not read such a disgusting post when I was unable to leave my house for several months, because it would have made me feel even worse about collecting ODSP. It is comments like yours that make us feel ashamed for collecting ODSP. You talk about working so hard to make a living, have you ever had to work so hard just get out of bed because you don't see a point in living?
Have you ever tried to walk to the grocery store because you need food, but after taking a step out your front door you have to run back inside?
Have you ever had an anxeity/panic attack? Your heart races, you have difficulty breathing, you feel completely detached from reality, your body goes numb, etc...
These are just results of my depression, anxeity and panic disorder with agorahpobia, all of which are of a fairly mild nature. Others have these and other mental illnesses to much more severe degrees.
We're not all screwing the tax payer with ODSP by: Anonymous
Yes, I'm on ontario disability, not because I'm lazy or because I'm looking for a free ride,but because I have degenerative disc disease and sleep apnea. I had no choice but to go on disability.
I had my dream job, driving transport trucks and my wife and I bought our first house where we had our first and only child.
When I found out that my back was shot I had to give up my job, the bills piled up and my wife's pays couldn't keep up, the house needed repair and we just couldn't do it, so we had no choice but to give it to the bank.
My sleep apnea affects the memory so that is a learning disability. So learning a new career would be very difficult.
Sure I could work at something, but who will hire me with a bad back and has a memory problems.
I would like to be able to work again but at my own pace,own a house again.
Some of us have no choice, so quit your damn complaining. Some of us only want what we had for our families and a little extra under the table money helps. Give it a rest already.
Attitudes towards people receiving ODSP by: Anonymous
It's been a long time since I have heard such an ignorant and uneducated comment about a person with a mental disability.
So Randy must think that if your autistic you "Should be locked up", because thats a mental disability.
I think Randy needs to go get his grade 10 education so he can better his own pathetic life to the point where someone making $1000.00 a month on a disability doesn't make him jealous and irritate him so much.
People wanting to report ODSP and Ontario Works and ODSPFraud by: Anonymous
I want to remind everyone that there are many poeple who just simply want to get back at someone they hate, or just want to cause them trouble. So they want to find a way to send anonymous emails to try and cause them grief. Mind you that you can be charged for sending anonymous emails to ODSP. That is fraud in itself, just for someone to get even with someone is not right. Poeple are on ODSP because professionals checked out that they were disabled. Now Welfare receipients who are in there 20's who are on drugs and partying, using the money to for that is commiting fraud to my oppinion. Those should be closely observed. Another thing that pisses me off is there are many women who just get knowingly hooked up with a poor guy just to have a kid and they know they will be doing this as it's there meal ticket and then cause them a nightmare. That is fraud! And the poor guy never knew it was coming as they feel responsible to take care of the kid. Then they go screw some other guy and find another victim, that is real sad. Women commit more fraud then men, because men live in silence and it always looks like they are the ones in the wrong, while in reality it's the women who are getting away with murder!!!!!
When it comes to fraud for ontario works and odsp, You need to look at every possible directions, because it's hard to actually know exactly what is going on on every case, there are some who are really disables and really need the income, but they have some mold in society trying to cause them trouble and they should be jailed for causing some poor man who is really disabled trouble.
Editors Comments: Although I've allowed this entry, it is borderline... It's great to remind people that ODSP is only granted after there has been an investigation and medical professionals have signed off on the disability, as well as ODSP staff.
I think the comments as a whole are borderline however because the poster than veers off to denigrate women on welfare.
Anyone on welfare has also gone through an assessment process, and made a decision based on the facts presented - the same facts that no casual observer would know, or should know.
So who is anyone to judge someone else?
And as for the comment on having children and being on welfare - my only question is: have you checked out the cost of child care lately? If you're lucky enough to find a spot even.
So... until we have a child care program like Quebec, I don't think we have the right to judge people who have kids and also receive public funding.
Tired of Welfare Bashing & Negativity by: Anti Negitive
Ontario Works Recipients are not only degraded, but also denied what?s needed to get a good job. All their websites state we?ll help you get the education or training needed to get a job then is ignored or denied once a person applies for it.
The mentality is that if you make the sum of your Ontario works check at a temp agency, they then tell you "You are making too much money" and cut you off.
Since a Temp agency is just that. ?For Temporary work? You?re once again out of a job, and now out of a form of income. If anyone?s guilty of fraud, it?s the politicians, the ruthlessly tax he living hell out of everyone.
Money is taken and put into their own funds for what they think is the best leaving people to starve and go without. Last time I looked on the web, even a snow shoveller required 1-3years experience and a grade 12. Not everyone was able to get a good education.
[some comments edited out as inappropriate ... Editor}
People?s facts are really misled by their own negative judgmental self-righteousness.
Most people, who have it good now, wouldn?t be able to survive at all in the real world if they had to live like people on Ontario Works.
Jobs just aren?t there. As they all seem to think they are. Obviously we all know who are the ones with the above average salaries from the sounds of some of these comments.
The Article written above about Fraud hits the nail right on the head?.This isn?t meant to offend anyone, but a hard fact since I know someone on it.. and it?s not as easy as some think.
Good wholesome jobs that will sustain a person are not out there as they were once. I think the HST coming up in july should say something in itself!
More on attitudes towards recipients of ODSP by: Anonymous
Hey Randy Peters:
I'm not for people abusing the system.
The rant you just went on though is a sick display of generalizations and BS.
You undermine your own arguement by declaring who is useless and who should be locked up.
Dont start talking like a eugenicist if you expect to be taken seriously.
You want the real problem?
What is it now 4? 5? temp employment (slavery) services?
A check cashing/payday loan centre on every corner?
Can you people not see the signs of what is really being done?
This reliance on the syatem is intentional, and has been collapsed by design.
Do you really think this is happening because most people are just lazy? Some advice: Turn off the TV. Nothing lies to you more than the TV, and the so called 'news' Wake up. Before it's too late.
...[Off topic comments removed.. Editor]
We are being bankrupted and demoralized. All the while little reports and the TV want to make you think it's poor people.
Some are Rotten by: John Nolan
I am an O.D.S.P recipient i work above the table because i hate sitting home and can do some work.
I report my income and do not get a huge tax refund Randy I have M.S. I use a walker and do not abuse the system i have paid into for almost 30 years and still do.i know a few people who scam the system and have reported them it does no good because they are still doing it.
Not all of us are losers it just takes a few to make us all look bad.The system is also to blame they take away so much that it makes it hard but when you are on assistance you must live within your means.
ODSP Fraud true case by: Experienced One
I agree that Randy's words are too harsh but I am someone who has suffered at the hands of a real ODSP frauder. My ex boyfriend is still on ODSP and completely abusing the system. We tried to have a normal relationship and I tried getting him 3 jobs but every single job he walked out of. He is on ODSP for anxiety and depression. What amazes me is that he plays violent videogames like W*rld of W*rcr*ft all day and night. He gets no panic attacks then. He is getting $1200 a month and after chipping in one third of the rent he was spending the money on expensive face creams, cosmetics, gym memberships and going out for sushi. I kept giving in for the longest time and realized that he was just abusing the system and me. As soon as we broke up, he found a sugar d*ddy within a month.
He would always blame everything on anxiety and panic attacks but he is perfectly capable of doing everything he wants to do.
He once told me to my face that he never wants to get off of ODSP. I, as a taxpayer, feel cheated. This system was made for people that suffer for no fault of their own. People that need help. But I know 3 other friends of my ex who are on ODSP for the same reason. All they have to do is go see their doctor and act really nervous. My ex even pops some pills to make his heart race when he goes to see a doctor. How do I let the government know what he is doing??
ODSP and mental illness by: Anonymous
So I am on ODSP because of mental illness,i have suffered from depression for yrs,i have try to committed suicide twice,i have my good days and my bad days,I can't control these feelings in my head they just come on like a rollercoaster..
before all this has happened to me,i owned a home I have worked since i was 16,I am now 38,i made good money.
now i have nothing,i lost my home,my kids are hurt because they can't be with there friends they grew up with,I can't even afford a car to get back and forth to my appointments,i haven't taken the bus since i was a kid,very humiliating for someone who has owned a car since i was 16..
i have lost all honor and pride i had,lost that long ago so i could feed my kids,yes i am a single father of 2,raising them by myself and at times when my depression is bad,cry and just want to be left alone,but i do it for them...
So please tell me where is the positive in all this? please Randy tell me your idea how to get me thru all of this and put food on the table for my kids and pay the bills?
I didn't ask for this,i don't want this... i grew up knowing that i was the man and worked for my family and supported them...but now i am a shadow of the man i thought i was because of this damn mental illness you so thoughtfully blow off as me just being lazy to collect benefits from the government...
the only thing keeping me from collapsing completely is knowing now i can feed my kids and keep a roof over there heads from the help of ODSP so maybe before you spew your ignorance off to ppl make sure you know what your talking about, maybe you should look at yourself if your having problems making ends meet,i did very well for myself for being a high school drop out...
Don't blame others for your own short Cummings in life
The vast majority of people in Ontario are IDIOTS!!! by: Peter
Try living on a cheque that is still the same amount as it was in 1995!!! People on ODSP are or should have a monthly cheque in the amount of about $1,500 / month for a single person if they want the same "buying-power" as they had in 1995 when Hitler/Harris froze them. Unless you are living in subsidized housing eg: 'RGI' you are now paying the vast majority of your ODSP cheque for rent!!! The Gov. allows you $450 / month for rent!! You can't even get a room in a God-forsaken city in Northern Ontario for that amount!! People take money out of their living expenses to make up for the shortfall than they have less money for food and other expenses. WAKE UP ALL YOU IDIOTS AND TRY LIVING ON THIS MONTHLY SHIT AMOUNT!!!! Oh; I forgot at least Mr. Hitler had the decency to kill all those people rather them make them do it themselves or starve them to death!!! This is how I see O.D.S.P. as: (O)ntario (D)eath (S)entencing (P)eople
Have a nice life all you idiots!!!
move along now by: Anonymous
All of you need to mind your own buesness and get a life. if this what you do all day?
To the ppl that bash or attack 20 yr olds by: Char
For the person that has an image on 20 years olds that "party and do drugs". I'm 21 have 2 children, I'm currently going to college in september. There is some ppl out there that yes do party and do drugs and have no reponsibilities what so ever. But that's not every 20 year old that you ppl are talking about. I'm currently on ow and hate the fact that I'm on it. But I am starting college in september and moving onto a career. Do you ppl think its ok to bash ppl that are on ow or odsp especially if they have a sickness! Or when they have no other option but to go on ow because they can't find a job or have children and responibilites. You are the ones that are just plain bored. But having your opinion on EVERYONE on ow or disability is not everyone that are frauding the system!..so I think if you your taking your anger out on a certain person but labelling it on everyone on ow or odsp you need to grow up a little bit and if that person tell it to the fraudulent line. But yet again a lot ppl think that ppl on ow or odsp are "lazy" no its the fact that they have no other resources to go to and with a sickness for those that can't work! So I suggest everyone labelling need to just mind their own and go on with your lives not everyone elses.
ODSP or death? by: Anonymous
Looks like Ontario government is following Hitler from late 30's to 45. Should we just all kill ourselves to save my tax paying dollars, as we still all paid them. I have been disabled for for over 18 years and struggled to work, and did. Just shoot yourself, don't forget to take a ODSP or OW employee or two first though.
