Category Archives: Provincial

Federal, Municipal, Provincial

The number of hungry Increasing.

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Driving back from Mission on Saturday I caught the $13 dollar BMW radio ad. For kids $13 is babysitting or allowance, for an adult – pocket money … or for $13 per day you can drive a BMW.

They missed an important $13 fact. For many people $13 is their weekly food budget; for some $13 is their entire monthly food budget.

These thoughts arose Saturday because I had swung by a dinner served for the homeless and hungry in Mission. The woman who is the driving force behind the dinner was surprised and a little distressed because all the food was gone so quickly and so early.

This was the biggest turnout she has ever had at one of her dinners. There are more and more people coming to eat who have housing but with the increases in housing and other components of the cost of living they have no money to feed themselves hamburger or even hotdogs, much less fresh vegetables or fresh fruit.

All the food for these meals is by donation (Tara 604-855-5839) and the preparation, cooking, serving and cleanup is by volunteers.

I swung by to talk because I wanted to ask if they were seeing the same increase in numbers and demand for food to feed the hungry as we are experiencing in Abbotsford. As I said – they are.

Increasing numbers of people are well past recommended guidelines for what percentage of your income should go to cover housing costs, with more and more spending 90% and over to pay for a place to live.

Our streets overflow with homeless and increasing numbers of people are just hanging on to housing. All these people are hungry and in need of food.

Please keep this in mind and contribute when you can to our local food banks and/or those people and groups who prepare and serve meals for the hungry. Take time to ask politicians at all levels of government why in a great country like Canada so many are going to bed hungry.

Provincial

Integrity.

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Reading a newspaper article about how the popularity of the provincial Liberal government has seemingly not been affected by all the questions about its integrity served to remind me that I wanted to comment on the lack of integrity of our provincial government.

Admittedly all our current political parties and most, if not all, politicians are “integrity challenged”, it is just that the Liberals are the party running our province giving them a public ability to display this lack of integrity.

Integrity: adherence to moral and ethical principles; honesty; freedom from corrupting influence or motive; uprightness; rectitude.

Integrity is not about being able to say “I/we have done nothing wrong”, it is about behaving in a consistent manner; one can behave one way here and another way there. Nor does one get to avoid or ignore reality just because it does not fit into your world view or political philosophy.

Behaving with integrity is the foundation on which government behaviour should be built. Sadly this is not the way current governments at any level behave.

This question of integrity comes to mind every time I hear the government advertisement about the rent subsidy program for families making $35,000 or less per year. $35,000 per year and you need a rent subsidy. $7300 per year and you do not need a rent subsidy – if you are on Income Assistance.

I concede that to a certain extent this is comparing apples and oranges but … for a government that acknowledges that the cost of renting is so high in the lower mainland that at an income of $35,000 a subsidy is needed, to claim that $375 a month is adequate for a person on Income Assistance to find shelter is duplicitous.

This behaviour lacks Integrity.

Another glaring example is that if you are on or eligible for Income Assistance and you deal with the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance you will receive $610 a month of which $375 is for shelter. If you have to spend $600 a month on rent (if you can find something habitable for that) and only have $10 to live on – it is your problem.

However should you go to a shelter and use the BC Housing outreach program to find housing you can get an additional rent subsidy up to $120 per month. At these levels of income the $120 has a huge impact on your quality of life, especially the quality of housing.

It gives an unfair competitive advantage in the competition to find housing to those who receive the extra $120, further marginalizing those on “just Income Assistance.” It also makes the outreach/shelter programs appear more successful than they really are – at the expense of the most vulnerable people.

This behaviour lacks Integrity.

I am considering writing a brochure on the existence of this subsidy and the steps required to obtain/qualify for this subsidy in order to level the playing field, promoting fairness and integrity.

Could I get this subsidy? It is a moot point because, as badly needed as the extra $120 maybe, the actions required in getting this subsidy would lack integrity.

The government is behaving without integrity, with a total lack of fairness and are “cheating” in making their housing program “successful.

I cannot take advantage of their lack of integrity and get an extra $120 – because I have integrity.

Talk about Irony.

Homeless, Provincial

… just does not get it!

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Clearly, crystal clearly, Gordon Campbell just does not get it.

Watching the news on June 12th led to the inescapable conclusion that, blinded by his ideological blinders, Gordon Campbell just does not get it on homelessness and other important social issues. At least I certainly hope his actions stem from not getting it.

The good news is what having its wood going to China to help build homes for those left homeless by the earthquake could do for the forest industry. The really bad news was: there was Gordon Campbell leading the efforts to supply wood and workers to build housing for the homeless in China, while his government for the most part ignores the thousands homeless in BC.

Apparently if you are homeless in BC and you want to be housed by your provincial government you need to head to China and Sichuan province.

Gordon Campbell leaped into action to provide housing for thousands of homeless – in China. At the same time his Liberal government has its head stuck in the sand on homelessness and other pressing social issues in BC.

Could it be the use of the word province, as in Sichuan province, has left Premier Campbell beffuddled and confused?

Or is it the Gordon Campbell’s ideological blinders leave him unwilling or unable to perceive the earthquake of social issues facing BC, with the result he just does not get it?