VICTORIA – The British Columbia welfare caseload continued to rise in April, according to government figures released today.
The total number of cases grew by 0.7 percent since March. The number in the expected to work category receiving temporary assistance was 54 percent higher in April than it was in June 2008.
The total number of clients, including those on disability assistance, was 161,780 in April.
That's still significantly lower than the 244,821 in 2001 when the then new B.C. Liberal Party took office and tightened eligibility requirements. In 1995 there were 367,387 clients on the welfare caseload.
The B.C. government last released welfare figures on May 15 after delaying the report on March numbers until the May 12 election was over.
Andrew MacLeod is The Tyee’s Legislative Bureau Chief in Victoria. Reach him here.
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sunshine coast girl
2 years ago
And the numbers will continue to climb...
No wonder our illustrious Premier has suddenly shown such an interest in a socialist program like EI. Good economic managers indeed.
DJT
2 years ago
Where's SuperGord?
What? You mean SuperGord hasn't reversed that yet with his mighty business acumen powers? Gee, maybe it's all beyond his control after all!
Moonbug
2 years ago
Yeah, it is pretty cheap of
Yeah, it is pretty cheap of him to go after EI when he plainly admits that social assistance is plagued by stigma and traps people in a cycle of dependence because of it's utter destitution and lack of human decency.
Anyway if he actually cared about people he wouldn't give a free pass to Harper over the $50 billion dollar EI surplus which seems to have magically dissipated right when workers need it.
Where did it go?
Wilfred Laurier
2 years ago
EI Surplus
The EI surplus went straight into general revenue, completely ripping off those who paid for it-workers and employers.
As for "stimulus," giving our more EI benefits faster would have a greater effect than any road building project because they money would be in the hands of those who need it in a matter of weeks.
As for your "stimulus," well, how about giving an extra $1000 to recipients of the GST credit on July 5? How about doubling the CCTB for the unemployed? Great ideas if they are for a limited time.
Harper claiming he cannot afford to do this is total hypocrisy, he forked over $13bn to two bankrupt car companies and paid $1,000,000 per job, at least half of which will not be "saved" anyway.