To the Editor,
Re: NDP platform is borrow and spend, B.C. Views, May 2.
I don’t like what Tom Fletcher has to say about welfare recipients.
When Gordon Campbell was in we received two raises in our welfare payments, both at election time as if to say ‘I want your vote.’
It would be nice to receive $20 more a month and be able to eat a little better.
Try living on welfare that is way below the poverty line.
The government gives single people $375 for rent and you can’t even get a room for that. I’m married and we receive $570 for rent and our rent is $655. So we have to pay $85 out of our living allowance.
Everyone on welfare has to pay out of their living allowance for rent unless they are in low-income housing. Some people on welfare can’t even afford to eat because most, if not all, of their money goes to rent.
The poverty line for a couple is $25,000, and we receive less than $18,000 a year.
I’m offended at Fletcher saying, “As with welfare, increasing support for bad choices can only yield more bad choices.”
What bad choices is Fletcher talking about? We make a budget every month and we stick to it.
Most welfare recipients spend their money in less than a week with no bills paid and no food in the house.
We don’t do street drugs, smoke, drink or gamble. We are careful with our disability welfare and have to budget down to the penny to be able to live, eat and pay bills the whole month through.
Some months we have to make the money stretch farther because we have to wait five weeks until we get paid. No margin for error, but we pay our bills in full every month.
It sounds to me Fletcher doesn’t like people on welfare and doesn’t want our allowance to be raised.
I’ve been published more than once and don’t think he knows what he is talking about concerning welfare recipients.
The NDP help the poor and the B.C. Liberals help the rich.
Donna Nordstrom
Nanaimo