A/HRC/22/50/Add.1 31. While the great majority of the Canadian population enjoys the right to adequate food and is afforded the right to social security, a significant segment of society does not. Recognizing that the right to food is indivisible with other human rights, the provincial, territorial, and municipal governments developed a solid social protection system to protect people living in poverty, comprised of measures such as income security, education benefits, employment support, and affordable housing. Yet the evidence of those suffering from hunger and poverty has been growing in recent years. 32. While the provinces and territories have jurisdiction over social policy, including social assistance, they have in the past agreed to the establishment by the federal government of national programs for employment insurance (1940), old age pensions (1951) and supplemental pension benefits (1964). 33. The social protection system in Canada was strengthened with the 1966 Canada Assistance Plan (CAP), which provided a cost-sharing arrangement between the federal and provincial and territorial governments. CAP recognized food, shelter and clothing as basic human needs and sought to ensure that the provinces and territories provided sufficient benefits to enable people to meet these needs. It was repealed in 1996 and replaced by the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer, which provide block-funding arrangements that permit provinces and territories to allocate health, education and social programme funding according to their own priorities. While the intent of the Canada Health Transfer and Canada Social Transfer are similar to the Canada Assistance Plan, they reduce federal conditions on how provinces and territories spend federal funds, allowing them to make significant cuts to social assistance rates at their own discretion. 26 34. The Special Rapporteur regrets the absence of accountability provisions in the Canada Social Transfer to ensure the protection of the right to food and other human rights. Indeed, despite the existence of social assistance schemes throughout the provinces and territories, many people living in poverty are still unable to enjoy an adequate standard of living. Fifty-nine per cent of those living on social assistance are food insecure, demonstrating that social assistance benefits are insufficient. 27 In Nova Scotia, the monthly deficit faced by households on social assistance in 2010 was Can$523 for a single man and Can$473 for a family of five (with three children under the age of 15).28 In Ontario, Ontario Works rates for a single person are $599 per month for basic needs and shelter, yet the average rent for a single apartment is $715, leaving a deficit and no money for food, let alone a nutritious diet.29 35. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that social assistance levels are insufficient to access the basic goods and services required for an adequate standard of living, including the right to food. The cost of housing is a key reason people suffer from hunger and are compelled to food bank use. Unlike expenses for food, paying the rent or mortgage is nonnegotiable. Even people in subsidized housing regularly go hungry due to lack of money for food.30 For example, within the Greater Toronto Area, among those in subsidized housing, 26 27 28 29 30 Rideout, K. et al, “Bringing home the right to food in Canada: Challenges and possibilities for achieving food security,” Public Health Nutrition, p. 4. Goldberg, M. and D.A. Green, “Understanding the Link Between Welfare Policy and the Use of Food Banks,” Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, April 2009, p. 11. Williams, P.L. et al., Affordability of a Nutritious Diet for Income Assistance Recipients in Nova Scotia (2002-2010), Canadian Journal of Public Health; For Ontario, see James Milway et al., The Poor Still Pay More: Challenges Low Income Families Face in Consuming a Nutritious Diet, Institute for Competitiveness & Prosperity, December 2010. Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates for a single person are Can$1,064 per month for basic needs and shelter. Daily Bread Food Bank, “Fighting Hunger, Who’s Hungry: 2011 Profile of Hunger in the GTA,” p. 5, 11