Recent announcements from the BC government on welfare are not sitting well with advocacy groups from across the Province.
Bill Hopwood is with a group called raise the rates, a coalition of organizations who are concerned with poverty and homelessness in BC, and says welfare rates in this Province are particularly troubling:
“…BC has the worst inequality of any Province in Canada, the gap between the rich and the poor is worst in this Province. BC is usually near the top of the list for the number of people in poverty…”
The BC government recently announced the ending of certain clawbacks in terms of child support, and increased some earning exemptions for families with children. But the group feels it is barely scratching the surface.
Raise the rates held a march in Vancouver yesterday, marking the 8 year anniversary of the last time the rates were increased, and are looking to the government now for a response.
Hopwood says poverty costs BC over $8 billion a year, while he believes a full poverty reduction program would cost only around $4 billion.
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