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Roland Butler, Opposition critic for the Department of Human Resources and
Employment (HRE), says poor people in this province will feel the pain of
the cuts being implemented by the Conservative government in their first
budget. "They have hit the people of this province who can least afford to
take cuts and they are implementing policies which will trap people who are
already disadvantaged in a continual poverty cycle," said Mr. Butler. "This
is not what the PC party promised when they were looking for public support
during the last election and I don’t think this is the reason the people
voted for this government.
"There will be less funding for employment development programs for
people who want to prepare for entry into the workforce. Such a move is not
only cruel but it also does not make any long-term economic sense. If people
want to get training and want to become self-supporting, I think government
should do everything to help them. Instead, this government has cut programs
that help people achieve these goals.
The Liberal Critic says he is very concerned about the closure of 20 HRE
offices around the province. "I don’t think anyone will believe that this
will not result in major problems in program and service delivery. For the
government to announce these closures without details of what offices will
be closed is irresponsible. It is obvious that this decision has not
received full and proper examination. The whole idea of social assistance
recipients having to access services using new technology seems out of touch
with the real situation facing these people."
Butler says reduced taxes for low income earners is a case of too little
too late. "These reductions are not really significant and may not even
offset the increase in various user fees which the government is bringing
forward. The other factor that has to be remembered is that this initiative
will not result in any additional money for low income earners until at
least 2006."
The Liberal MHA also says the $500,000 announced for the Kids Eat Smart
Program is nothing new, it is just the continuation of an initiative the
Liberal Government announced in last year’s budget. "They are too ashamed to
try to cut this funding so they are trying to present it as if it is
something new," says Butler. |