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B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall

 
MercurialStorm
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07/09/2009 01:26 AM
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B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall
he B.C. government is headed for a $100-million shortfall in its welfare budget next year suggesting that the province's deficit will be much worse than promised, the Opposition NDP says.

“What it shows is just how badly [Premier Gordon Campbell] has misjudged the economic situation. It puts the lie to his claims throughout the election and since the election that they are good managers,” social development critic Shane Simpson said yesterday.

Mr. Simpson's assertions are based on documents for an internal presentation at the Ministry of Housing and Social Development, obtained by the NDP, which say welfare recipients will increase by 27,000 to a total of 147,000 in June, 2010.

The forecast, outlined in a June briefing covering a response to the economic downturn, would be 28 per cent more than that budgeted by the province and would cost about $100-million, Mr. Simpson said.

Social Development Minister Rich Coleman conceded Mr. Simpson could be on target in his interpretation, but said the government could cover the overrun from contingency funds or forecast allowances without any serious impact on government finances.

“It's conceivable with the pressure on the economy that that number could actually happen,” said Mr. Coleman, though he noted the shortfall would come in the next fiscal cycle, after March 31.

Welfare is a statutory obligation for the government. For that reason, there will be no cuts to rates, Mr. Coleman said.

Mr. Campbell has hinted that challenging economic times marked by soaring unemployment and falling commodity prices have undercut the government's ability to stick to the $495-million deficit he pledged throughout the recent provincial election. The legislature is to be recalled on Aug. 25 and a new budget tabled on Sept. 1.

Earlier this year, the Liberal government adjusted their legislation outlawing budget deficits to allow them to run two consecutive deficits.

Yesterday's welfare disclosures, said Mr. Simpson, “confirm the growing problem that we face, the growing problem of the economic challenge, the effect on employment, the numbers of people who are losing their jobs.

“All of these economic indicators tell us we're in a much more difficult place than Mr. Campbell would like people to believe.”

Mr. Coleman said that since the Liberals won a third term in May, some discretionary grants and programs in his department have been frozen as a result of a “sober second look at what was being efficient or not.”

The government is in a process, he said, of asking tough questions. “When you're in a tough economy, you ask tough questions and that's just good management on behalf of the taxpayers.”

[link to www.theglobeandmail.com]
Mr. PredictorModerator
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07/09/2009 01:27 AM

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Re: B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall
just reduce spending ..... it's that not difficult for anyone but politicians
"If there is a new fascism, it won't come from skinheads and punks; it will come from people who eat granola and think they know how the world should be." - Brian Eno
Anonymous Coward
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07/09/2009 01:34 AM
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Re: B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall
Take in more unskillled immigrants.
Free Store

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07/09/2009 01:40 AM
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Re: B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall
But the BC Gov can spend billions on the 2010 winter Olympics without so much of a thought to the taxpayer

I can just see it now when the party's over

What a fraud score BC Gov is
Razrin™

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07/09/2009 03:14 AM
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Re: B.C. faces $100-million welfare shortfall
The BC Government is a joke.

BC Health Care SUCKS man. The BC Government really screwed it up. Privatization of Hospitals fucked up everything.

The Hospitals are GROSS. Even if I nailed myself with a nailgun, I wouldn't go to the ER. I'd just pull the nail out myself. 4 hour wait time for Vancouver? Are you kidding me?

6-8 years ago Heath care was running much smoother. Now it's a joke.

The Olympics is bullshit. Why the FUCK does our province need the damn Olympics when there are so many problems in East Van?

Has anyone who voted for the Olympics even seen the downtown East Side? I don't know if anyone who voted for the Olympics ever seen the ghouls walking around. Or the bonerack prostitutes scratching their arms.

I remember one Vancouver mayor, tried to "clean up" East Van... Basically by moving all the bums and fiends to another area. Great.

BC is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The government sucks.

Even the Canada line looks ghetto. The trains look so slow. 24 minutes to get from Richmond to Vancouver? Are you kidding me? I could drive faster.

I gotta admit though, the Richmond Olympic Oval is kind of cool... But fuck, for 400 million dollars? I'd rather spend 2 million artificially freezing a pond in Richmond and pocketing the rest of the money.

There is NO affordable housing in BC man. Try finding an apartment in Vancouver or a House in Richmond.

BC Government needs to:

1. Legalize Cannabis & Ibogaine and create treatment centres for all the addicts in East Van.

2. Affordable housing. Too many young people live with their parents or are homeless because they can't afford housing. A detached home in Vancouver is like 1.5 million. A house in Richmond is like $650,000.

3. Connect the stupid Canada line to the Ferry Terminals. Great, you spent billions creating a high speed train network, but failed to connect it to access Victoria? Lame.

4. Get the damn Hospitals in order. 4 hours wait in the ER for Vancouver?

5. Tax rate. What a joke. So if I make $150,000 - You're going to take 50%? Where exactly is the motivation to earn more money if you just get taxed more?
See ya.





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