KERNAGHAN: Hunger Report reveals staggering rise in food bank use under Ford

QUEEN’S PARK – Ontario NDP MPP Terence Kernaghan (London North Centre) pressed Premier Doug Ford in Question Period today after Feed Ontario released its latest Hunger Report showing alarming increases in food bank use and worsening poverty across the province.

“This morning Feed Ontario released their report and every MPP has a copy on their desk,” Kernaghan said in the Legislature. “It tallies 8.7 million food bank visits, an increase of 13 percent since last year, and a staggering 165 percent since Premier Ford cruelly scrapped rent control. Is Premier Ford ‘for the people’ or is he ‘for the poverty’?”

Kernaghan added that the crisis has sharply escalated during Ford’s time in office.

“When I was first elected in 2018, it was jarring to learn one in four kids were impoverished. Now it’s almost one in three. That’s beyond unacceptable.”

He pressed the Premier again, pointing to what the report shows about the danger ahead.

“Food bank usage is an early predictor of homelessness and Ontario's jobs disaster and affordability disaster,” Kernaghan said. “Premier, you are putting organizations at risk as well. Two-thirds of food banks are concerned about operating for the next six months. One in two are worried they won't have enough food. One in three will have to pause, reduce, or end services.”

Kernaghan demanded to know when the Premier plans to stop prioritizing insiders and donors over people struggling to survive.

“The Premier clearly has a grift strategy and a donor strategy,” Kernaghan said. “But where is his strategy to help people who are at risk of homelessness?”

Kernaghan said the Hunger Report makes it clear that government choices are fuelling the crisis.

“New Democrats believe no one should be pushed this close to the edge,” said Kernaghan. “The Premier must restore real rent control, raise income supports, and take responsibility for the crisis his government has fuelled.”