The Interfaith Social Assistance Reform Coalition (ISARC) was formed in 1986 to "…contribute to the creation of new public policies that would bring about greater justice and dignity for Ontarians marginalized by poverty" but has since enlarged its mandate "…beyond welfare to include broader issues of poverty, hunger and homelessness".

Lives Still in the Balance is the second edition of this book of insights into the lives of the most vulnerable residents of Ontario . The first edition Lives in the Balance was published in 2004, following the 2003 provincial election, with the optimistic expectation that much would be done by the new government to redress the imbalance between the lives of the more prosperous and the poorest inhabitants of Ontario. A copy was sent to every MPP.

This second edition was published just prior to the provincial election of 2007. At that time a "… massive public opinion poll by the Environics Research Group revealed that two out of three Canadians felt that the benefit of recent years of solid economic growth had gone to the richest Canadians". This book shows that they were right.

As the book's subtitle, "Ontario's Social Audit", suggests, the policies and actions of the government since its election in 2003 are assessed by experts and professionals and, most significantly, by "…hearing from low-income people whose voices are rarely heard in our society".

The chapter headings show the range of issues included: social assistance; disability support pro-gram; health; hunger; the housing crisis; the quest for a living wage; and the impact of poverty on children and families. The final chapter explains ISARC's priorities for action and makes specific recommendations to the provincial government. The appendices include The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both from the United Nations.

An impressive array of facts, figures and summations is provided by experts such as Armine Yalnizyan, Dennis Raphael and Michael Shapcott. Yet it is the everyday details of life and the quotations from those experiencing the reality of trying to exist, to live their lives in dire circumstances that convey the most powerful messages. For those of us for whom poverty is a concept, not an experience, this book can be a window into the world of the poor in Ontario today.

ISARC acknowledges the paradox facing those of us with a social conscience. We must "…put pressure on the government as if charity does not exist and … engage in charitable work as if the government didn't care". "And just as poverty is not just an individual problem but arises from systemic injustice, so too our response to it must go well beyond individual responses … Public needs cannot simply be met by private solutions."

"[ISARC's] ultimate aim remains to help shape a society whose ideal is the elimination of poverty." Lives Still in the Balance challenges us as individuals and members of communities to work to achieve that ideal.

Sylvia Hall, Toronto