Some Cuts Cold, Others Non-Sensical

(Aired on March 10, 2010)

The cuts to welfare benefits in this month's provincial budget are a little curious.

Consider this.  It's one thing if you actually have an ideology and you stick to it.  For example, if you happen to believe that poor people deserve to be poor - that they are nothing more than a drag on the public purse - then the cuts make sense.  If you believe that because a person lives on the street, they don't need a shelter allowance, you can eliminate that $75 per month.  After all, you got elected.  The majority of people who care must agree with you.  You can axe funeral support for sponsored immigrants.  You can cut and cut and not feel it's irresponsible.

But here's what doesn't make sense.  Slash Gordon and the B.C. Liberals also believe in fiscal responsibility - doing what's most cost effective in the long run.  Keeping that in mind, other money-saving measures in the budget do not make sense.  In the long run, cuts to birth control and dental coverage for those on welfare will not be fiscally responsible.  Neither will axing the bottled water supplement for people who have compromised immune systems.  In both of these cases, the province will be paying more for medical care down the road.  It's save now, spend later.

If you really want to save money now and pay for it in the long term, what should be getting removed is the new half-billion dollar retractable roof for B.C. Place.  After all, if thousands of homeless people can't have proper shelter, why should the B.C. Lions?