To the editor:
Re: "Explosion of disability 'welfare' crippling the Downtown Eastside," Nov. 30.
I am responding to Mark Hasiuk's inflammatory column regarding welfare, disability and the Downtown Eastside in particular. The statistics he quotes are misleading (as statistics frequently are).
It is true that the general welfare rates have fallen. However, this does not take into account the disenfranchised that are unemployed and do not qualify for benefits under the newer stringent regulations. These are the people one encounters in shelters, doorways and the morgue.
The statistical increase in disability recipients fails to account for the loss of union positions (logging, mining, construction etc) with long-term benefits. Under the collective agreement, union members facing disabilities would have been eligible for long-term disability.
Secondly, health care and pharmacology have advanced, extending life, but not necessarily the ability to fully participate as a working member.
Where does he get $1, 863 per month disability? He punctuated the amount with the peevish and spiteful, "the maximum rates do include $35 bonus for each dependant."
The implication being "Have 20 children at $35 a pop and pad your cheques!"
Far from "welfare keeping poor people poor, welfare keeps poor people alive."
Finally, maybe he should try living on $906 a month with a physically and emotionally debilitating illness and paying market rent. I am sure he would then thank God for social housing and benefits in general and be a little less contemptuous of his fellow travellers.
Maureen McNichol, Vancouver
