There are a number of initiatives that are undertaken in the budget to make sure that we continue to put low-income people on the top of the list.
- Premier Gordon Campbell, March 5, 2010
The poor and the disabled are definitely at the top of the B.C. Liberal government’s list – the hit list for more suffering that is.
Last week – with tens of thousands of British Columbians having lost their jobs and thousands more dependent on meagre disability benefits to survive – the government slashed social assistance to save $25 million over two years.
At the very top of the Campbell hit list – people with disabilities who have no home or with chronic serious illnesses like HIV/AIDS or diabetes.
And yet the government’s Orwellian headline for its news release actually reads: “Province protects services for low-income clients”.
God help the poor from more B.C. Liberal “protection” – they can’t take it!
In fact, they are “protecting” people with disabilities and those aged 60 to 64 on income assistance who don’t pay rent – by taking away their minimum $75 monthly shelter allowance.
That will leave those who might be staying with a friend or family member without paying rent – or are simply homeless - just $531 a month to live on.
The B.C. Liberals are also “protecting” persons with AIDS and other serious illnesses by making it harder to obtain the Monthly Nutritional Supplement intended to provide vitamins and healthy foods like fruit, vegetables and special meals.
And government shamelessly used a $20 a month “bottled water supplement” that it will now eliminate as cover for the cuts.
The reality is that only those with compromised immune systems, when their doctors advise it, could get bottled water to avoid possible health problems.
But this government wants you to think those on income assistance sit around drinking Perrier at your expense – it’s a disgustingly unfair attack on the sick.
The B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities is literally stunned by the government cuts – and knows they won’t save any money.
“Already inadequate support for people with disabilities is being cut further,” the coalition’s Robin Loxton said in an interview Friday. “In the long term it will cost the health system more and will not save money.”
Why? Because poor people and those with disabilities who are deprived of healthy food and shelter get sick – so sick they end up in hospital for expensive treatment.
But the cuts don’t stop there – also being slashed are glucometers for diabetics, and pre-made foot orthotics, while dental services and x-rays will be reduced and chiropractic and physiotherapy services eliminated unless required for a “life threatening health need”.
Presumably for this government not being able to walk isn’t life threatening.
But these cuts most certainly are, not to mention utterly rotten.
