I second Sam Wagar's comments.

I don't - at least not all of them. The IWA needs to seriously get its act together, but I take issue with Adrianne Carr's Green Party as being "socialist" or for that matter, ethical. Carr clearly stated in the 2001 election Leaders Debate (on the issue of pay equity): "We trust business to do the right thing." The Greens ran candidates like Evelyn Kirkaldy in North Vancouver-Seymour who openly advocated Right to Work legislation, which destroys Unions by cutting off their funding. It's no coincidence that in the United States, the higest rates of poverty are among those States with Right to Work laws. The Harcourt administration made an error in judgement by cutting welfare rates, but I strongly believed they were backed into a corner when the Klein Tories in Alberta tried to solve its phony deficit crisis by exporting welfare recepients to British Columbia Also, I take great offense at anyone who says the NDP are no different from the Liberals. It strikes me as intellectual laziness, if not dishonesty, that one does not actually look at what the party accomplished in government to support communities, and where the party stands now in oppostion to the disaster the Campbell Liberals has inclicted on BC communities. My festive wish is that some people actually Perhaps talk to New Democrats about the mistakes of the past and the challenges of the future before passing judgement based on a few mistakes blown out of proportion by certain media outlets.

Welfare recipients are easy to attack because everybody knows somebody (or knows somebody who knows of somebody) abusing the system. These are concrete examples, making it easy for the Liberals (and previously the NDP) to target. What we forget is that the system invites abuse because for at least the past 8 years, welfare income is inadeqate. To survive, one must abuse the system.Secondly, we fail to look at relative abuses. For instance, a Minister must work approximately 38 minutes a day, for 22 days (1 month) to earn the same as a welfare recipient. When a Minister surfs the web while sitting at the legislature, travels, takes personal phone calls, goes to the washroom, networks at the water-cooler, or gets a coffee on office time, it's quite easy for them to waste an equivalent of a welfare recipient's income.Finally, of course, we fail to look at corporate welfare, where abstract unknown international corporate owners get away with paying minimal or no taxes whatsoever and having access to numerous loopholes, while reaping more than their share of benefits from the BC highways, environment, water, infrastructure and so on, and exporting their profits. How can be attack the unknown?Welfare recipients, on the other hand, are easy.

The cutoffs and the low welfare rates are borne by the poor but are the products of the tradeoffs which governments, Liberal or NDP have to make. If you want to eliminate the cutoff, or raise the rate, where would you take the money? From health care? Teachers' salaries? While you can eliminate the so-called corporate welfare all you will do is ensure capital and jobs go to friendlier environments. Or you could increase the PST or provincial income taxes. In both cases you would see more tax evasion and more successful individuals moving out of the province. A more sensible approach would be to increase the amounts that welfare receipients can earn without losing their benefits. This would not increase the expenditures on welfare much and it would improve the quality of welfare receipients lives. It would also fill in the blanks on those welfare receipients resumes with real, paid, work. Looking at the number of stores looking for help iv Vancouver the basic jobs are here at least.

The NDP has to be considered as a possible strategy if only because it constitutes the sole avenue of access to so-called government. Observe the number of literate responses herein and compare that to the level of response we can expect from government and government lackeys and government subcontractors. Because the machinery of the global corps(e) has become so seamlessly self-referencing, it is important to constantly expose its illegitimacy. But even more important to desert it and begin to create the networks which will be crucial to the recovery of a self-respecting human community. Here in Kamloops, the Mayor wrote an editorial on page A1 of the Daily Spews, stating that it was his responsibility to protect the citizens of Kamloops from the prostitutes of Kamloops. There is not one emergency bed for women in Kamloops - not one. Nonetheless, various provincial ministry offices have lots of brochures with 'emergency' phone numbers, advising women in need to contact those places for assistance. You can call all or some or most of them, but you won't be finding a bed... some are defunct, some are recently de-funded, and some are the plants, vassals and 'subcontractors' of misery put in place by a fascist regime in order to insulate themselves from legal action. When the time comes to charge these criminals, their subcontractors will be long gone. One of the most chilling manifestations of the social and moral dissolution of the BC government is its refusal to communicate in writing; they are indeed aware of the illegality and unconstitutionality of their actions, but are focused fully now on getting away with it... If the Canadian government sees fit to abandon working Canadians it is perhaps time for working Canadians to follow suit. And yes, it is certainly time to rebuild a sense of hope and dignity. Happy Chanukah.

Personally, I think increasing BC income tax wouldn't be a bad idea, since Van cannot sustain the huge rise in homelessness that this cutoff will lead to. But I am one of those low income 'lucky duckies' who does not pay much taxes so that's easy for me to say, right?

why so much surprise, shock, and why so much moaning...?? SOMEONE voted for these arstles. We have too long taken our social programmes for granted and we have all of us done too little to try to expand them. But pissing and moaning isn't going to DO anything. Which of course brings the question WHO ELSE ... well, I'm stumped. My union organizing socialist grandfather warned me that you could take ALL politicians, put them in a sack of coal, shake, and when they came out they'd all look alike. He was, of course, a coal miner! Maybe we need to dust off the CCF manifesto and try to convince SHIRLEY DOUGLAS to move out here and head up the new CCF party. And then listen to the moaning and griping about increased taxes and.... "I dunno, you know"...

Am a little confused here - the other day, just immediately after the New Year, I read in our of our illustrious BC daily newspapers that the government was saying that while some people will obviously be affected if the welfare-ouster program comes into effect, it won't be that many, likely not the thousands being talked about but some hundreds. Then they promised to look into the actual figures for us. So, with less than three months to go, they're finally going to dig up some figures on a programs that was announced months ago. So do they really have no idea of the numbers and have thrown the program together based on guess-timates (and it won't save them much money anyway)? Or do they really know the figures but daren't admit to them? It has to be one way or the other.

Quentin: It is the other. They know the figures and don't dare admit it. More to the point they don't dare fight their case in a court of law. That is why nothing is in writing and no one has a last name and certainly won't be signing anything. It is time to desert the fascists; they are not in government, they are the 'government' and they have help from criminals far more organized than themselves. gordo aspires to organized crime but so far can't get enough brain cells firing to get there; but don't worry, he's got lots of help from weaponry registered and otherwise.

I can agree that it won't really affect that many. I know persons who have abused the system over the years. And, it isn't like if you have a disability, you're given a time limit. It's actually incredibly difficultto get income assistance now. They check you out thoroughly. I actually had to apply for income assistance last January as I had exhausted my savings and could't get a new job. When I applied, a month later thier verdict was "well, we'll give you this cheque for $185.00 dollars " wha....? They had checked out any bank accounts I might have had and noticed that my ex had 1500 dollars in one of the accounts. They instructed me to steal my ex's money from our joint bank account, which I hadn't contributed to in over six months and had been too lazy or thoughtless to take my name off of. None of the money was mine but because my name was still on it, I should have taken the money? what kind of bs is that? If they could go so far as to check out my ex's balance, they could also have seen that I hadn't used the debit card, made any withdrawels or deposits in over six months. When prior to that, I was the only signature you would find on the account. oh yeah, steal ! and don't expect us to help you out in any way (though I had paid into the system for years) Meanwhile the hooker in the next booth to me was smiling because she had her check in hand.

I am trying to get a hold of the b.c government online and tell them their policy is stupid. how are people supposed to live in b.c without knowing they have some sort of welfare. for the poor who cant get a job at the end of two years they are either out on the streets or have to leave the province. they would probably after the end of two years on welfare when they were denied assistance somehow have to leave bc and move to alberta