[mobglob-discuss] No mercy for those with zero power

[Graeme Bacque]

Dec. 22, 2002. 01:00 AM  The Toronto Star

No mercy for those with zero power

LINDA MCQUAIG

Luckily for George W. Bush, he never had to rely on Ontario's welfare
system.

If ever anyone has been given a second chance, it is the U.S. president, who
managed to attain his current office despite a revelation, just prior to the
election, that he had previously been convicted of drunk driving.

Right-wing media pundits rushed to point out that this shouldn't deter
Americans from voting for Bush because he had since given up drinking — as
if the issue wasn't his callous, irresponsible behaviour but whether, as
president, his driving would pose a danger to the nation's highways.

Bush also went missing while enlisted in the National Guard during the
Vietnam War. The media decided not to make an issue out of his prolonged
absence, even though, technically speaking, it left him open to the charge
of desertion (a crime that, during war time, can be punishable by death in
the U.S.)

Born into a wealthy, well-connected family, Bush is walking proof that, with
sufficient resources, no intellectual or character deficiency need be an
obstacle.

Bush's patrician, sheltered life is about as far as one can get from the
harsh, deprived world in which Kimberly Rogers lived and died. As we saw
last week, that's a world where there are no second chances.

Rogers apparently committed suicide in her sweltering Sudbury apartment,
where she was under house arrest after being found guilty of welfare fraud.

Her crime was that she collected welfare benefits while also receiving a
student loan. (She had just graduated with honours in social work at
Cambrian College.)

Originally her welfare benefits had been cut off for three months but,
because she was pregnant, a court ordered them temporarily restored.

At the time of her death, the amount of her fraud was being deducted from
her welfare payments, leaving her, after rent, with $18 a month to live on.

If this strikes you as pretty soft treatment, you'll be pleased to know that
the Ontario government has since tightened the rules considerably.

In April 2000, it introduced a zero-tolerance lifetime ban for anyone caught
defrauding the welfare system for any reason. In future, there will be no
Kimberly Rogers types out there flagrantly throwing around $18 a month.

Now let's just state clearly that what Rogers did was wrong. But on a scale
of 1 to 10, in terms of abusing the system, I'd give it about a 2. She was,
after all, just trying to get an education, and wasn't endangering anyone
by, for instance, driving drunk.

It seems less offensive than the well-known practice of many business and
professional people who routinely deduct part of the cost of their personal
entertainment from their taxes.

This forces the rest of us to pay more tax, so we end up subsidizing their
often-extravagant private outings to expensive restaurants and sports
events. And not so they can get an education.

As Osgoode Hall tax professor Neil Brooks once observed: "I'd bet more fraud
takes place on any given night at the SkyDome than at all the welfare
offices in Ontario."

And when prominent people are caught ripping off the public purse in one way
or another, they're rarely subject to lifetime punishments.

Environment Minister Chris Stockwell was forced earlier this year to repay
$3,000 for food and liquor that he and his staff inappropriately billed to
their government expense accounts — but he's still in the cabinet.

But the most desperate, powerless members of society are held to a higher
standard.