There are undoubtedly many, many people in this province whose only means of surviving is on social assistance benefits.
There are also undoubtedly many, many people in this province in receipt of social assistance who need a good swift kick in the ass and told to get to work.
This week the province announced that it is mailing out bus passes to people in receipt of social assistance.
Undoubtedly, there are some people in this province who could use a free bus pass and it will help them out. And undoubtedly, there are many, many people in this province who have never ridden a bus, will never ride a bus and when they receive the bus pass they will sell it if they can.
I have a five-year-old son and a wife who does not drive. I pay for his daycare when he is not in school and my wife buys her bus pass. Financially, I don’t want or need anyone paying for either. I was raised on social assistance and I was embarrassed. No one on social assistance seems embarrassed today.
When my child was in daycare there were numerous children in the daycare program whose parents were in receipt of social assistance and their children were picked up by the daycare provider at their home every morning and dropped off every evening. Many of these parents had a car in their driveways and because government paid for their daycare, they opted for the maximum benefits. Parents sitting at home on their lazy asses have their child care paid for by the government!
What about the poor minimum-wage earner with a couple of kids? Parents with too much pride to rely on the government? Do they get a bus pass or free daycare, or a free drug card, free taxi rides to the doctor, or free school supplies?
This province is fiscally broken. We have the highest social assistance payouts in Canada. A family with two kids living on social assistance receives approximately $2,400 monthly in social assistance and child-benefits payments, free daycare, free drugs, free school supplies and now free bus passes.
How many people out there are getting paid $1,200 biweekly from their employers and get free daycare, free drug cards, free medical transportation and now free bus passes?
I know what I would do if I were a minimum-wage earner.
Tom Badcock,
St. John’s
