|
Liberal Opposition Critic for Finance and MHA for the District
of Grand Falls-Buchans, Anna Thistle, is urging the provincial
government to follow the lead of Nova Scotia and boost social
assistance to help Newfoundland and Labrador families with the
high cost of school supplies.
The Government of Nova Scotia announced on Thursday that it
would be once again delivering a program that would see families
on income assistance getting help with the cost of back-to
school pencils, backpacks, calculators and other supplies. This
is the seventh year the Department of Community Services in that
province has helped families with school start-up costs.
"We all recognize the huge financial burden that is
shouldered by all families as the school year approaches",
states Thistle. "However, for those who are living on or well
below the poverty line, it creates an enormous amount of added
stress. It also means during this time, those on income support
often use their food and bill budgets to pay for school supplies
for their children and it just means that these same children
are not being properly fed."
Thistle says that such a measure would be particularly timely
given the report released on the same day by the National
Council of Welfare which reports that social welfare recipients
across Canada are living in a depth of poverty no better than 20
years ago. The council characterized this statistic as "morally
disgraceful" and held both levels of provincial and federal
governments across Canada responsible.
The Liberal MHA points out that the reduction in some of the
school fees introduced in the 2006 provincial budget will
largely help families not on social assistance, but those
receiving income support would benefit from this much-needed
initiative. "It would just be a matter of adding the money to
income assistance cheques so families are not required to apply
for the funding, as Nova Scotia is proposing.
"The Government of Newfoundland and Labrador has never been
in a more favorable financial position to help those citizens
who are most vulnerable and trying to work their way out of
poverty. For a government that prides itself on having a poverty
reduction strategy in the works, this would be an opportune time
for this government to step forward with a prompt and concrete
social protection measure to show they are capable of real
action."
- 30 -
|