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From an ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) Action Coalition announcement:

The Special Diet Allowance program is a long-standing part of Ontario's social assistance system. It is intended to relieve the disadvantage faced by people who have extra dietary costs related to their disability.

Yet for many years, the Special Diet Allowance program has stood on shaky ground. In 2005, the Ontario government made changes to the program that left hundreds of people unable to afford the diets they had relied on to manage the complications of their medical conditions.

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal recently heard the case of three such individuals, and found that the Special Diet Allowance program did violate the Human Rights Code in the way it provided benefits to them.

This is a huge victory for all those on ODSP, and it is something we want to celebrate. However, the ODSP Action Coalition is concerned that the program may be viewed as too expensive, and is at risk of being shut down.

We are currently waiting to hear how the government will react to the recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal, which ordered the government to provide more money to people with four conditions. Will they obey the order to pay more? Will they try to get a higher court to overturn the decision? Or will they remove the payment of extra money for special diets from the ODSP and OW legislation entirely?