Welfare Minister Against Increasing Welfare

The Tyee.ca is reporting that British Columbia’s Employment and Income Assistance Minister, Claude Richmond, has ripped into a proposal that would aim to raise the province’s welfare rate by 50%. Mr. Richmond has called the suggestion, which was put forward by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (a social justice think tank), “unrealistic” and continued by suggesting that an increase would lead to B.C. becoming a “magnet” for those seeking welfare assistance.

In a separate report, the CCPA also concluded that cuts made to the welfare program in 2002 has forced Premier Gordon Campbell into an explosion of spending focused on housing and healthcare during his second term.

Currently, an “employable” welfare recipient would receive $7,320/year from the province, while an estimated $55, 000 is spent annually on an individual who is homeless. Raise the Rates, a non-profit coalition of community groups and organizations concerned with the level of poverty and homelessness in the province, has argued that the current welfare rates are wildly insufficient to meet even the most basic costs of living in the Vancouver area and much of the rest of Beautiful British Columbia.

With the cost of living rising at alarming levels – mainly due to record oil prices, and especially soaring food prices, a stagnant welfare rate not only spells trouble for those who rely on the service, but for all Canadians. Stats Canada has recently shown that the income gap in the country is widening and historically, that’s bad news for everyone. As the income gap between the rich and the poor increases, our life expectancy decreases.

What does that all mean?
It means that we’re all in it together.

Poverty and homelessness is everyone’s concern.

So, Mr. Minister of Employment and Income, instead of allowing welfare in your province to flounder, you could raise the rates and help to decrease that worrisome income gap. By doing so, you would actually be helping everyone in B.C. – and by extension – all of Canada.

And even if you don’t want to do it for the poor, your constituents, or the people of Canada – you could do it for yourself. So help welfare out and tack a couple of years onto your life.