About 250 protesters occupied various parts of Metro Hall on Tuesday in a rally for the Special Diet Benefit, a program that provides additional funding to some people supported by Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program.
Diabetics and others with special needs are supposed to qualify for up to $250 extra on top of their monthly benefits, although many at Tuesday’s protest said they had been unfairly denied by city officials.
The Ontario Coalition Against Poverty says those denied the benefit are unable to pay rent and feed their families properly.
Many at the protest, which began at about 11 a.m. on Tuesday, had letters from their doctors saying they should be entitled to the additional funding.
About 50 people occupied the 12th floor of Metro Hall until they were ushered out by police shortly before 3 p.m. Another 200 OCAP members had been in the building’s lobby at the time, before leaving the building at the request of police.
