[news] Welfare council condemns clawback

[Ishaq]

http://vancouver.indymedia.org/news/2004/07/147371.php

Welfare council condemns clawback

    Just who, is really screwing the government? Those in need or those
    without need? 

OTTAWA (CP) - Welfare rates in Canada are so low they can only be 
described as punitive and cruel, the National Council of Welfare says.
With few exceptions, welfare incomes across the country deteriorated in 
2003 through cuts, freezes and inflation, the council says in a report 
particularly critical of the clawback of the national child benefit.
"Despite years of promoting the idea that we should move people from 
welfare into the workforce, Canadian welfare programs continue to throw 
up barriers," council chairman John Murphy of Canning, N.S., said 
Wednesday in a statement.
"Welfare incomes are so low that people are forced to spend all their 
energy on daily survival. This completely undermines a person's chance 
to get back on his or her feet.
"How do we expect people to go to job interviews and training programs 
when they can't even afford a bus ticket?" Murphy asked.
The council came down hard on the clawback of the national child 
benefit, a mechanism that allows provinces and territories to reduce 
payments to parents on welfare.
Newfoundland and New Brunswick opted out of the clawback from the 
outset, and more recently, Nova Scotia, Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta and 
Ontario decided to limit their clawback.
"Some would argue that clawing back part of the national child benefit 
from parents on welfare creates an incentive to work," Murphy said.
"At the National Council of Welfare, we simply have no patience for that 
argument. Of course, it makes sense to provide incentives to work. But 
taking money away from people on welfare, with incomes already 
horrifyingly low, makes no sense at all."
The council is a citizens advisory body to the minister of Social 
Development Canada.
It says a single parent with one child on welfare in Edmonton received 
$11,897 for the entire year. A couple with two children in Saint John, 
N.B., survived on $16,852.
Couples with two children in larger centres had to make do with $18,063 
in Montreal, $18,471 in Toronto, and $18,086 in Vancouver.
The situation was worse for single people, the council says.
A single person with a disability received $6,911 a year in Saint John. 
A single employable person received $3,383 in Saint John. In Vancouver 
that sum was $6,445.

MEANWHILE

OTTAWA -- TV JOURNALIST-turned diplomat Pamela Wallin billed taxpayers 
$800 a night for a spring stay in sunny Bermuda. Wallin, Canada's 
consul-general in New York, claimed $4,159 in expenses for the four-day 
trip to meet with government and business officials, including $1,280 
for airfare, $2,391 for accommodation and $447 for meals.
Ken England, a spokesman for Canada's consulate in New York, said 
Wallin's role includes diplomatic relations with Bermuda.
Hotel prices are "astronomical" on the tropical island known for its 
luxury tourism, he said.
"It's just a very expensive place to be, first and foremost," he said. 
"Hotels run in the range of $300 U.S. a night and it goes up from there."
The consulate traditionally deals with the Fairmont Hamilton Princess 
because it's a member of the Canadian-owned hotel chain, England said.
Wallin's Bermuda expenses were disclosed in travel and hospitality 
expense reports posted on the Department of Foreign Affairs website 
under new government rules. Over the past six months, the former CBC 
anchor spent $8,724 on travel and $20,419 wining and dining guests in 
Manhattan.
Meanwhile Gilbert Parent, Canada's Ottawa-based ambassador for the 
environment, racked up $34,286 in travel expenses in the first half of 
2004.
ATTENDED CONFERENCES
The former Liberal MP and House Speaker who met with criticism for his 
lack of expertise on environmental issues when he was handed the 
patronage post, made various speaking engagements and attended 
conferences abroad.
Bruce Winchester of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation said the public 
will likely wince with a "visceral negative reaction" to the high expenses.
The Department of Foreign Affairs, which oversees diplomatic missions 
abroad, must show measurable results that prove value for money for 
taxpayers, he said.


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