/
1x
Advertisement
Proudly Canadian, obsessively Toronto. Subscribe to Toronto Life!
City News

Grocery gift cards for storm victims have gone from feel-good story to political liability

By Steve Kupferman
Copy link
(Image: The York-Simcoe Liberals Facebook page.)
Premier Kathleen Wynne. (Image: The York-Simcoe Liberals Facebook page.)

The provincial government’s grocery gift cards for ice-storm victims should have been a feel-good story. Government and private industry coming together to help needy residents? Everyone can get behind that.

And yet now, on the last day of the handouts, the campaign has turned into a burdensome embarrassment for Liberal premier Kathleen Wynne, who launched the program personally less than a week ago. The issue is that the cards have been in short supply since day one, leading to lots of awkward news stories about Ontario Works offices turning people away empty-handed. On top of that, there seems to have been no system for assessing whether people collecting the cards were actually in need. All anyone had to do was prove that they lived in an affected area. CTV News noticed someone rolling up to one of the distribution points in a BMW hatchback.

The fact that the province was able to get more than $500,000 worth of aid directly to Torontonians is definitely a good thing, but these types of logistical errors are what happens when the money comes first and the plan comes after. The screw-up may not stick to Wynne at election time, but it sure won’t improve the Liberal party’s already-tenuous hold on power.

NEVER MISS A TORONTO LIFE STORY

Sign up for This City, our free newsletter about everything that matters right now in Toronto politics, sports, business, culture, society and more.

By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy.
You may unsubscribe at any time.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Big Stories

Trump's Loss, Toronto's Gain: Meet the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries ditching the US and moving north
Deep Dives

Trump’s Loss, Toronto’s Gain: Meet the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries ditching the US and moving north

Inside the Latest Issue

The May issue of Toronto Life features the artists, professors, scientists and other luminaries moving north to avoid the carnage of Trump. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.