"I have serious problems with this change in policy for two main reasons," says Butler. "It compromises the confidentiality rights of clients and it hinders their ability to get good accommodations.

"These changes will cause people who are on social assistance to have to identify themselves as social assistance recipients when they are looking for rental accommodations. People in this province not only have a right to receive social assistance if they are in need, but they also have a right to receive in a confidential manner.

"These people also have a right to have access to good housing. If the goal is to help these families to find some stability and get into a situation where they can eventually move off income support, this change in policy goes against that objective. It is bad social policy and while it may save government money in the short term, over time it will likely cost them more as they trap people in a cycle of dependency."

Butler say it is his understanding that, in the past, a social assistance client could either get a letter from a landlord saying how much the damage deposit was or have a receipt for the amount they had paid and it would be covered by the department as specified in the Residential Tenancies Act.

Responding to the Minister of Human Resources and Employment, Joan Burke, who said she has not received complaints about this policy change, Butler says that is part of the problem. "This minister is not listening or seeking the views of clients or front line workers in the department who would be able to tell that there are problems."

The Opposition critic says he is also suspicious about the devious ways in which this government is cutting money from some of the poorest people in the province. "There was no real announcement of this new policy. It is apparently buried in the budget documents somewhere and I was unaware of this myself until I started to receive calls on the issue. The other devious part about this policy change is that it does not impact on people at the same time. These changes only impact directly on a few people at a time, as they look for new accommodations, so the impact is not fully been felt yet and there is no great public outcry."