Ontario Coalition for Social Justice

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Ontario Coalition for Social Justice

• Our mission and role
• Past campaigns
• Strategic goals
• A campaign for 2009
• How we can evaluate our campaign(s)

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Mission The OCSJ is a coalition of provincial
organizations, labour unions and community groups
committed to promoting, social, and economic
justice in Ontario.

• Role
• Help build local organizations and coalitions to
  work on social justice issues
• Help coordinate / publicize province-wide
  campaigns and support local organizing efforts
• Help lobby politicians in Ontario on social
  justice issues

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Strategic Goals - 2009

• 1) Long term to achieve economic and social
  justice in Ontario
• 2) Medium term to seize the opportunity offered
  by the current economic crisis to build a
  stronger movement for social justice
• 3) Short term to continue to pressure the
  Ontario Government to reduce poverty / adopt a
  poverty reduction strategy

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Jobs Justice Campaign Goals

• To build local coalitions for social justice --
  bringing together labour and community groups
  throughout Ontario
• To dialogue about the our concerns for economic
  security and social justice helping people
  understand and find hope in the current crisis
• To affirm our values of a just society with a
  good quality of life for all decent work,
  healthy communities, strong public services,
  equity and a sustainable economy
• To advocate and organize to realize these values
  -- overcoming poverty with good jobs for all,
  social inclusion, human rights and healthy
  communities

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Jobs Justice Campaign Components

• Bring together local activists concerned about
  social justice, workers rights, poverty, social
  inclusion and healthy communities for dialogues /
  discussions about how to improve living and
  working conditions in their community
• Draft a discussion document a Community
  Declaration -- to express the shared values and
  vision, the required steps, and a call for
  commitment
• Hold a Community Forum or Summit to develop an
  organizing and action plan
• Organize and mobilize around the key issues

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Ontario - A Province of
Opportunity For many
years, Ontario earned a reputation as
a province where most people could
enjoy a reasonable quality of life. It has been
the destination of choice for generations of
immigrants, who come with their skills and dreams
of making a better life for themselves and their
families. Many factors contributed to our
prosperity active government engagement a
strong industrial base with middle income union
jobs a well-funded education system cohesive
public services and social programs the
struggles of women, immigrants and racialized
communities for equality the dedication of
community activists for social justice and a
deep desire for environmental sustainability.
However,opportunity and prosperity were never
fully shared, and the growth of inequality
challenges us all.
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• A Shared Vision
• The
  market-oriented economic model of recent years is
  leaving many behind. Despite the pressures
  of globalization, we know
  from real experience that other ways are
  possible. Together we can build an economy
  with good jobs for all.
• In preparing this declaration, working people
  identified those factors that are critical in
  providing good jobs. They are
• Respect for the work done by everyone in our
  society
• The ability to have full-time, stable employment
• The right for everyone to have a living wage
• The enforcement of legal employment standards
• The need to have work that is safe and healthy
• The right to have a collective voice at work
  through unionization
• The recognition of diverse skills,
  qualifications, learning and creativity
• The provision of benefits for medical, dental,
  vision and disability needs
• The equitable access to work, training and
  advancement
• The opportunity to participate in a greener
  economy
• The ability to retire with dignity

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With this Declaration, We Call on People from
all Walks of Life

• To demand an economy with good jobs for all.
• To build social solidarity in our communities,
  our workplaces, our organizations and public
  institutions.
• To insist on public policies at all levels of
  government that support the goals of a just and
  inclusive society.
• To require all with power in our society to
  exercise that power for the common good.
• To ensure that economic activities are
  sustainable, enabling future generations to meet
  their needs while living in harmony with our
  planet and with each other.

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Implementing this campaign

• Are we agreed on the goals, vision and values?
• Are we agreed on the campaign components?
• Could we organize pre-summit discussions in our
  community?
• The film Poor No More will serve as an organizing
  tool can you organize local screenings?
• Can you suggest other tactics to support this
  campaign?

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Timetable

• DECEMBER
• JANUARY
• FEBRUARY
• MARCH
• APRIL
• MAY
• JUNE
• JULY
• AUGUST
• SEPTEMBER
• OCTOBER
• 17 International Day for the Eradication of
  Poverty
• NOVEMBER
• DECEMBER

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Short-term indicators of success

• 1. Media Coverage
• of articles, editorials or column inches in
  print media
• of interviews or minutes of airtime
• - frequency of key words in computerized
  media index
• 2. Public Involvement
• attending our public events, of meetings
  and other contacts
• of publications distributed to various
  audiences, purchased or given away
• of hits on our website
• Size of our network -- of groups affiliated,
  and the efforts these partners make to
  disseminate our materials
• Endorsements track and quality of those
  who endorse our efforts -- both organizations and
  individuals
• 3. Public opinion
• track using polls and focus groups
• 4. Financial Support
• - funds available to support the work

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Short-term indicators of success

• 5. Academic Impact / Critical Impact
• - track of citations in literature
• - track reaction or negative attention we get
  from other think tanks, research centres or
  academics that try to critique, challenge or
  refute ourwork
• 7. Band-Wagon Effect
• - are other organizations beginning to work on
  this issue
• 7. Political Impact
• - is the issue mentioned in federal and
  provincial Parliaments
• eg. Questions raised in Question Period
• - are political parties debating the issue /
  changing policies or platforms
• - is the issue attracting voter support ask
  parties and candidates
• 8. Policy Impact
• - monitor how the policy community reacts /
  track discussion papers
• - legislation introduced and regulations changed
  

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Criteria for evaluation long term

• 1. Statistics showing a reduction in poverty /
  inequality
• 2. Changes in public discourse poverty is
  unacceptable
• 3. A progressive political culture
• - a movement / a mass of people that demands
  action
• - a network linking organizations, researchers
  and activists
• 4. Government support
• - Parliament calls for changes in public policy
• - Governments make efforts to close the gap
• 5. Acceptance of alternatives
• - by individuals, community groups or the
  private sector
• - initiatives and experiments eg. employers
  who pay a living wage

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Final thought

• The most valuable actions are those that
  contribute to building a larger movement
• a critical mass capable of achieving
• structural or systemic change.