The job of helping people on welfare in Ontario’s Peel Region to find a job has fallen to the Canadian subsidiary of an Australian multinational.

The idea of a welfare system in Ontario run by multinational, for-profit corporations strikes Dr. Gary Bloch as a bit odd.

Welfare reforms that leave a big gap between the poverty line and being poor enough to receive benefits could end up forcing Church charities to make up the difference for thousands of disabled and marginally employable Ontarians.

As Ontario Minister of Children, Community and Social Services Lisa MacLeod gets set to reveal her welfare reform package on Nov. 8, the people who run Ontario’s food banks, shelters and volunteer supports for poor families are urging the provincial government to restore the basic income pilot project.

A balanced budget with investments sprinkled across education, health care and welfare — including the surprise pharmacare program for anyone 24 and younger — has given faith communities in Ontario plenty to chew on.

Children are our future. While this truism emphasizes that children grow up to either perpetuate or change the legacies left behind by their forebears, it is questionable whether these implications are considered in the system that cares for Canada’s most vulnerable youth.

MONTREAL - In response to a controversial decision to drop the word “Catholic” from the name of a prominent Montreal social agency, the archdiocese has announced the launch of a new welfare agency called Catholic Action.

VATICAN CITY - The Catholic Church calls for the creation of job opportunities and the recognition of the dignity of the poor, not simply for more handouts or expanded government welfare programs, Pope Francis said.