It’s no joke.
According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, April 1 marks the 10th anniversary since basic welfare rates were last increased in B.C.
Yes, a decade ago.
The provincial government’s never-ending defence of this situation is simply this: folks on welfare are there temporarily. We wish this were true. But data from the Ministry for Social Development itself states that, of those individuals in the “temporary” category, more than 27,000 were on assistance for more than one year, and almost 19,000 were on assistance for more than two years.
The ministry also defends its policy by saying that people on assistance can supplement their incomes. But apparently only 10.6 per cent reported earnings exemptions in 2015.
But what exactly is the point of freezing rates at a 2007 level? How much has housing, food, transit and clothing gone up in the last 10 years? No matter what your ideology is about government helping out poor folks, they still have to eat and live somewhere.
It’s no wonder the homeless rates are rising and more people are going to food banks.
Think of a poor single mom just trying to get by on a welfare rate that’s a decade out of touch with the cost of living.
We understand there still exists a philosophy that says not providing a basic benefit people can live on will forced them to go find work. But that is just not possible for a lot of people. Some have ended up at the bottom of the social ladder through just plain bad luck – illness, job loss late in life, divorce, etc.
Do we honestly think making it even harder for these people to survive on a day-to-day basis will help them to get back on their feet?
It’s hard to think about a better future when all you can do is think about how to keep the kids fed and clothed and the heat on from week to week.
Given that the B.C. Liberals have been handing out goodies like Santa to their supporters lately, surely they can muster up a bit of charity for the poorest among us. If not, then shame on them and shame on us.
