VICTORIA, B.C., Canada: Cruel and callouses the only way to describe the Socred’s decision to lower welfare rates for British Columbians unfortunate enough to be on social assistance. I cannot think of any other recent decision by the government that has made me so angry.
The courts have declared that the practice of paying those under 26 a different rate than those over 26 is contrary to the Charter of Rights. The decision is not surprising, given you cannot discriminate solely on the basis of age. What is shocking, however, is that government’s decision to lower rates for those over 26 as a way of dealing with the Court ruling.
Think about it for a second. Here is a government that for years has been guilty of wrongdoings. You don’t need a law degree to figure out that the action is contrary to the Charter. Finally, the Courts have said the government is guilty. Instead of increasing the rate as is morally obliged to do, the government chooses to punish older welfare recipients by lowering their rates. Why should people on welfare be paying the price of the government’s wrongdoings?
Claude Richmond, the minister in charge, pleads poverty. He says the government doesn’t have the $4.6 million required to increase tates. That’s rubbish. It amazes me how the government says it doesn’t have money when it doesn’t want to pay. It angers me that it turns tables on unsophisticated recipients and asks them where the money will come from. Well, the minister knows where the money can come from and if he doesn’t let me offer a few suggestions.
They can reduce the government information budget by $4 million. That’s the group that sends out those silly Provincial Reports and does political advertising for the government. As an alternative, let me ask where did the $159 million come from to pay for the overrun on the Coquihalla Highway? Where did the $400 million come from to pay off the debt for B.C. Rail? The minister of finance estimated revenue from the Property Tax to be $162 million, economists say it will be nearly double that. Why can’t $4.6 million be allocated from that surplus? The government received unexpected windfall funds of over $200 million from the Lumber Tax and changes in federal legislation. Why can’t $4 million be applied from that? The minister of finance has promised to reduce the sales tax by 1% if he delays his decision by a week he’ll have more than $4.6 million. If Grace McCarthy can find $1 million to put on a party in Vancouver, then surely there are discretionary funds available to the government. I can go on for hours to tell you where the money can come from. The point is that Claude Richmond is full of it when he says he doesn’t know where the money will come from.
If you think I’m mad, you’re damn right. This week, I spent some time at the Western Communities Food Bank and met their volunteers and recipients. Our office dealt with the usual number of social assistance problems. I visited a lady in Esquimalt and left wondering how she survives on.
Article extracted from this publication >> August 28, 1987
