Login / Registerit seems like every guy that i date (outdoorsy, active, nice) is a pot-smoker. i am in my 20s and kind of sick of the stoner lifestyle.
Premier Gordon Campbell's policies made life tougher for single moms
Media outlets across the province have faithfully reported Premier Gordon Campbell's comments about how hurt he felt after being the target of personal attacks.
On November 4, he emphasized that we should discuss issues without personalizing things.
He has a point. However, wouldn't it be nice if journalists focused just as much attention on the people that the premier has hurt over the years with his policies?
Campbell was the son of a single mother, who had a tough time in her life. So what did he do as premier? He introduced policies to make things far more difficult for many single moms across the province.
He started by eliminating the NDP's promised child-care program. The premier also kept his mouth shut when the federal Conservatives eliminated the federal Liberal child-care program.
That's not all. After taking power in 2001, the Campbell government clawed back family-maintenance payments from welfare cheques on a dollar-by-dollar basis, eliminating a $100 monthly exemption.
The premier also took away the $200 earnings exemption for welfare recipients. This meant that single mothers on social assistance would have their cheques deducted dollar-for-dollar for every penny they earned as income.
According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, B.C. was the only jurisdiction in North America that prevented social-assistance recipients from increasing their income through part-time work.
The Campbell government also put single parents in the "expected to work" category when their kids turned three. This resulted in far lower benefits.
Single parents were expected to work, even if there wasn't any child care available.
Previously, single parents weren't categorized this way until their youngest child turned seven and was attending school.
Is it any wonder that B.C. always leads the country in child poverty?
In his second term, Campbell alleviated some of the worst effects of these policies by introducing a rent-supplement program for parents who don't live in subsidized housing. He also cut personal income taxes for the working poor and boosted welfare rates.
These measures contributed to B.C. improving its child-poverty rate from 13.7 percent in 2007 to 10.4 percent in 2008.
But the province is still at the back of the pack, according to the latest national statistics. This has been the case for seven consecutive years.
Follow Charlie Smith on Twitter at twitter.com/csmithstraight.
As for Gordon Campbell, the man is such a snake and his attempt at Crocodile tears is beyond the pale.
The BC Liberals are a sick bunch of puppies.
I am just getting set to send of the reconsiderations and appeals to the United Nations so the Minster can add that feather to his cap as government spends at least $1000 turning down the hungry when they asked for a crisis grant for $20 and then go for an appeal that cost hundreds.
Is the Minister out to lunch? Yes, that is where you can find the big,old warm hearted minister in a fancy reasturant eating the finest there is because he needs to keep up his energy as its quite the job ensuring BC's most vunerable go without.
I recommend all women who have been denied food for themselves and their children also do the same. The foodbanks are filled with the cities garbage not food as the irony of the organization teaching families to eat properly and then hang out junk or food poisioning another norm.
I used to do job costing and would say cost of appeal ranges from $500 and up. It used to work if Ministry had a certain number of appeals would change the rules now Ministry just demorilizes you and tells you if you appeal they will send you to St James.
It is also impossilbe to feed a hungry child for the month on a $20 crisis grant so what's that all about?
the old man is also on the hook for alimony
it was in a court ruling in Montreal last week
so don't need to tie that knot to be tied.
they want a living wage? A wage that pays the mortgage
and feeds the kids, have you ever worked in a hospital?
Sorry to have to point that out Charlie, but it's time this kind of sexism was a thing of the past.
The Statistics Canada website is down, so I can't get more recent information. But here are some numbers:
** 2004 average after-tax income for families headed by single fathers: $44,300.
** That was $13,000 higher than the after-tax income for families headed by single mothers.
Check out this 2005 report: Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance in British Columbia.
http://povertyandhumanrights.org/docs/denied.pdf
Many single mothers are poor. According to this report, 35.2 percent who work are living below the poverty line. And 96.2 percent of those on social assistance are living below the poverty line.
Single dads don't have it easy. But as a group, they're not as poor as single moms.
Thanks for posting the link. However I can't find this study credible. I hate making an ad hominem argument, but all four authors of the study share interests that in the past have bent statistics so far out of shape as to make any statistics they repeat, and any data they present highly questionable.
You can't stop what's comin'
@Glen - Seriously, you are hilarious. Do you have some sort of web series where we can be entertained by your antics? I just can't get enough of your deep, insightful commentary on these boards.
or something.
As for single moms, the only person who made life tougher for single moms is - single moms. Having a kid isn't the path to a lucrative careers, kids. But don't worry, as long as providing such "needy" folks with a healthy lifestyle creates lots of public sector jobs, there will be plenty of it to go around.
That's pretty hard to do with no food in your belly, no shoes on your feet, no hot water to bathe or do laundry in, and no chance of getting hired because you're sick! People need a leg up in life, some get it from their parents, those that don't should have it provided for them.
We take 16 year old kids, raised in the system, and turn them loose, with little more than a: "Good luck out there!"
Yes, everyone should be as productive in society as possible, but the society must be productive and take care of its own, especially those who are hindered by disabilities, or disadvantaged by birth or social standing!
What's more, the pennies a day each of us would spend as a result of a good social safety net will save us each dollars in the future in terms of justice, healthcare, and social services.
And what you are falsely labeling "Socialism" is what is known as human compassion. Try some, its good for you!
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