More than 160 organizations write to Premier Christy Clark opposing changes to bus passes for people with disabilities
(This letter was released to the public in response to this year's provincial budget.)
May 18, 2016
Dear Premier Clark:
We are writing in response to your government’s budget, tabled on February 16, 2016, which announced a modest increase of $77 to persons with disabilities benefits while also drastically changing important programs that improve access to transportation for many people with disabilities. For the reasons set out in this letter, our organizations strongly oppose the changes to the BC Bus Pass Program and the Special Transportation Subsidy. We call on the government to leave these programs in place, and to provide a meaningful rate increase for all income assistance and disability assistance recipients.
The BC Bus Pass Program currently offers an annual bus pass at a reduced cost of $45 per year for disability assistance recipients in areas where BC Transit and Translink operate. The Special Transportation Subsidy provides a lump sum subsidy to people who reside in an area where the Bus Pass Program operates, but are unable to use public transit because of a disability, to help offset the cost of alternative transportation. Approximately 55,000 of the 100,000 provincial disability assistance recipients rely on one of these two transportation programs. Many of our organizations work directly with people with disabilities, and all are acutely aware of the importance of these programs to ensure people are able to move about their communities, whether that be to shop for basic necessities, attend medical appointments, go to school, or take part in social gatherings.
As you know, those who rely on these programs will now be charged $52/month for a bus pass, or $66/month for the Special Transportation Subsidy. This means that for those recipients, the rate increase is actually only $25 or $11, respectively. Further, the government has said that it will still charge the $45 per year “administrative fee” on top of that. Promoting the change as a $77 increase to disability rates is misleading and unfair. While the government maintains that its aim is to make the system fairer for people with disabilities who do not currently receive support for transportation, the proposed changes are not the right approach.
It has been almost a decade since the government has increased income assistance and disability rates—and at $906 per month, disability assistance rates in BC are among the lowest in the country. In Alberta, for example, the government increased the comparable disability benefit (Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH)) to $1588 in 2012. The recently announced $77 increase to BC’s disability assistance rates would be a welcome (if inadequate) change, if it were truly providing that increase to all.
When the change was announced, the Honourable Minister of Finance Michael de Jong spoke about how it would allow those on disability assistance “the freedom to make their own choice about how to meet their own unique transportation needs”. For many living in poverty in BC, this is not a real choice. While the $77 increase will undeniably help those living outside the areas where the Bus Pass Program and Special Transportation Subsidy operate, it creates an impossible choice for those that do rely on these transportation programs. With disability assistance frozen at a paltry $906 per month—an amount clearly inadequate to meet basic needs—it will be difficult not to opt to put the $77 each month toward previously unmet needs like food or rent. The Bus Pass Program and Special Transportation Subsidy allowed vulnerable members of our communities to make a $45 purchase once per year, and then have a reliable method of transportation year-round. The proposed changes to these programs will result in social isolation for those who “choose” not to renew, particularly for those with disabilities that restrict their mobility.
Finally, we are concerned about implementation of the proposed changes, which will inevitably be fraught with practical problems for both disability assistance recipients and Ministry staff. Over the last several years, there has been a radical shift from in-person services at local Ministry offices to services that are primarily delivered through a centralized phone line and over the internet. Wait times on the phone line are long, and many users of Ministry services lack the reliable phone or computer access required to access the services—and may also lack the capacity to navigate the new systems. It is difficult to reach Ministry staff at all, let alone the appropriate staff for a particular matter. Many that rely on the current transportation programs fear they will be unable to access Ministry staff in a timely way to resolve the issues that arise, and that staff will be ill-equipped to address the problems.
As our provincial government tabled its budget, it celebrated BC’s strong financial outlook. Minister de Jong emphasized that BC is in a position to “offer greater support to the most vulnerable among us.” It is long past due for the government to make real commitments to do just that – and to share some of this province’s wealth with the members of our communities that need it most.
Our organizations collectively urge you to:
- Bring back the $45 per year bus pass for people with disabilities;
- Eliminate the new $52/month bus pass fee;
- Allow everyone receiving PWD benefits to keep the $77/month increase;
- Bring back the Special Transportation Subsidy, and introduce a rural transportation subsidy for those living outside the areas where the Bus Pass Program and Special Transportation Subsidy operate; and
- Raise income and disability assistance significantly by October 1, 2016 to reflect the cost of living, and then index to inflation.
Sincerely,
- Aboriginal Front Door
- Action Committee of People with Disabilities
- Africa Great Lakes Networking Foundation (AGL)
- AIDS Network, Outreach & Support Society (ANKORS)
- AIDS Vancouver Island
- AiMHi – Prince George Association for Community Living
- AMS Bike Co-op
- Anglican Eco-Justice Unit, Diocese of New Westminster
- ASPECT BC
- Association Advocating for Women & Children (AWAC) – Prince George
- Association of Neighbourhood Houses of BC
- BC ACORN
- BC Association of Child Development and Intervention
- BC Association of Social Workers
- BC Council for Families
- BC Federation of Community Social Services
- BC Federation of Labour
- BC Federation of Retired Union Members (BC FORUM)
- BC Federation of Students
- BC Government and Service Employees’ Union
- BC Health Coalition
- BC Initiative for Inclusive Post-secondary Education (STEPS Forward)
- BC Non-Profit Housing Association
- BC Nurses Union
- BC Poverty Reduction Coalition
- BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre
- BC Teachers’ Federation
- BeConnected Support Services
- Beneath One Sky Community Support Society
- British Columbia Schizophrenia Society
- British Columbia Schizophrenia Society, Prince George Branch
- Burnaby Community Services
- Campbell River and District Association for Community Living
- Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives – BC Office
- Canadian Deaf Blind Association, BC Chapter
- Canadian Mental Health Association, North and West Vancouver Branch
- Carnegie Community Action Project
- Cerebral Palsy Association of BC
- Chilliwack Society for Community Living
- Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods
- Claytree Society for People with Developmental Disabilities
- Clements Centre Society
- Committee to End Homelessness, Victoria
- Community Integration Services Society
- Community Legal Assistance Society
- Community Living Society
- Community Living Victoria
- Community Social Planning Council of Greater Victoria
- Community Ventures Society
- Cool-aid Society – YES
- COSCO (Council of Senior Citizens’ Organizations of B.C.)
- Cowichan Valley Basket Society
- Cridge Centre for the Family
- Dandelion Society
- Dawson Creek Society for Community Living
- Delta Community Living Society
- Disability Alliance BC
- Downtown Eastside Neighbourhood House
- Elizabeth Fry Society of Greater Vancouver
- Empowered Living Services
- Faith in Action
- Family Net
- Family Services of Greater Vancouver
- Family Support Institute of BC
- Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
- First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition
- Fort St. John Society for Community Living
- Fraser Valley Brain Injury Association
- Fraserside Community Services Society
- Gitskan Government Commission
- Gordon Neighbourhood House
- Greater Trail Community Skills Centre
- O.M.E.S – Healthy Opportunities for Meaningful Experience Society
- Health Sciences Association of BC
- Hospital Employees’ Union
- Inclusion BC
- Inclusion BC Foundation
- Inclusion Kamloops
- Inclusion Parksville
- Inclusion Powell River
- Indigenous Women’s Action Group
- Interdependent Investments
- Interior BC Community Services Co-operative
- Intersect Youth and Family Services Society
- It’s My Life Kamloops Society
- Kamloops and District Labour Council
- Kindale Developmental Association
- Kiwassa Neighbourhood House
- Kootenay Advocacy Network
- Kwantlen Public Interest Research Group – KPIRG
- Lifetimes Networks Victoria
- Living Wage for Families Campaign
- Megaphone Magazine
- Mid-Main Community Health Centre
- Milieu Family Services
- Mission Association for Community Living
- Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative
- MoveUP
- MSA Society for Community Living
- Mustard Seed Church
- Nanaimo Association for Community Living
- Nelson CARES Society
- Nelson Committee on Homelessness
- Nelson Community Services Centre
- New Perspectives on Community Living Society
- New Westminster & District Labour Council
- North Shore ConneXions
- North Shore Disability Resource Centre
- Oasis Society
- Our Place Society
- Pacific Centre Family Services Association
- Pacific Community Resources Society
- Pacific Developmental Pathways Limited
- Parent Support Services Society of BC
- Pathways Abilities Society
- Penticton and District Society for Community Living
- Pivot Legal Society
- Pivot Point Family Growth Centre
- PLAN – Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network
- PLAN Institute
- Port Alberni Association for Community Living
- PosAbilities
- Princeton and District Community Services Society
- Raging Grannies of Maple Ridge
- Raise the Rates BC
- Realistic Success Recovery Society
- Realize Coop
- Richmond Centre for Disability
- Richmond Poverty Response Committee
- Richmond Society for Community Living
- Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living
- Salvation Army Stan Hagen Centre for Families
- Sea to Sky Community Services Society
- Semiahmoo House Society
- Shuswap Association for Community Living
- Simon Fraser Public Interest Research Group (SFPIRG)
- Sisters of St. Ann Social Justice Committee
- Slocan Valley Seniors Housing Society
- Social Planning and Research Council BC (SPARC)
- Society for Children and Youth of BC
- Society of Intravenous Drug Users – S.O.L.I.D.
- John the Divine, Victoria
- Vincent de Paul, Victoria
- STEPS Forward
- Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living
- Terrace and District Community Services Society
- Thompson Community Services
- Thompson Okanagan Community Services Co-operative
- Together Against Poverty Society
- Trail FAIR Society
- Umbrella Society for Addictions and Mental Health
- Vancity Community Foundation
- Vancouver and District Labour Council
- Vancouver Island Persons Living with HIV/AIDS Society (VPWAS)
- Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG)
- Vela Microboard Association of BC
- Victoria Disability Resource Centre
- Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society – VIRCS
- Victoria Native Friendship Centre
- Victoria Youth Clinic
- Williams Lake Association for Community Living
- Women Against Violence Against Women – Rape Crisis Center (WAVAW)
c. Hon. Mike de Jong, MLA, Minister of Finance
Hon. Michelle Stilwell, MLA, Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation
John Horgan, MLA, Leader of the Opposition
Michelle Mungall, MLA Nelson – Creston
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