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(Ed: the CBC Compass story is posted on YouTube and listed to the right)
DAVE STEWART
The Guardian
Imagine a family of four on Prince Edward Island having to get by on just over $21,000 a year or a single parent trying to survive on a mere $13,000 a year.
That’s the unimaginable reality for those on welfare, a reality that gets worse for those with disabilities or those without families.
– 2005 Poverty line is $17,784 annually
– Single welfare recipient gets $6,214
– Person with disability gets $8,084
Alert, an association of Islanders on social welfare and supporters of those people, held a news conference in Charlottetown Wednesday to outline some of the findings in a 2005 report on welfare incomes by the National Council of Welfare. Brian Curley, a member of Alert, said the report has been largely ignored.
“People don’t turn to welfare because they want to, they turn to it because they have no other options,’’ Curley said. “Who would choose to live on such a meagre income?’’
Alert member Irene Burge said too often they meet with officials in the provincial government and are told at least welfare recipients on P.E.I. aren’t “the worst off’’ in Canada.
True enough. In Canada’s richest province, Alberta, a family of four is forced to get by on less than $20,000 per year. Leo Broderick, with Council of Canadians, calls the system “criminal’’. “There is a major injustice here,” Broderick said. “It’s a system that gives the least amount that is possible.’’
The National Council of Welfare report indicates that in 2005 just over half the households had incomes that were one-half of the poverty line or less and that levels of income were so low people are forced to spend a much higher proportion of their income on the basics of food, shelter and clothing as compared to other Canadians.
Curley said not only is income inadequate, governments continue to cut back on how much they give. The report states since 1989, P.E.I. has seen a decrease of more than 30 percentage points for both the single employable person and the person with a disability.
Edith Perry, another Alert member, said on top of everything most people in society — on P.E.I. and across Canada — view people on welfare with disdain. She said they are viewed as lazy people who live off the system.
Curley fires back that the system is designed to make people rely on welfare and less on trying to get a job. He backs up his argument with figures. A single person on welfare is allowed to make $75 plus 10 per cent of their monthly welfare income before government starts to claw back what they get from welfare. A family is allowed to bring in $125.
“There isn’t a whole lot of incentive to go to work especially when they don’t cover things like transportation to get to work,’’ Curley said. Perry called on politicians, federally and provincially, to wake up and show some leadership.
Lisa Murphy, representing the Status of Women on P.E.I., said even the slightest policy change would make a difference. She said Islanders shouldn’t have to beg for their dignity.
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