By Peter Tabuns

Town Crier

January 18, 2011

Over the holidays, Toronto learned the gap between its haves and have-nots is widening.

This is nothing new or surprising; it’s the result of decades of policy choices.

We hear a lot about how to reduce the poverty we see growing in our city. But we don’t hear much about how to do it, or how cuts like one threatening literacy programs can actually make poverty worse.

PTP on the Danforth has been helping adults improve basic literacy skills since the early 1990s. During the last major recession, it started to teach unemployed workers the skills needed to read, write and do simple math. Demand for the services has only grown since.