Tag: welfare

Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance

Human Rights Denied documents the very difficult conditions in which single mothers are raising their children in British Columbia today. It is a call for the Government of British Columbia to abandon its current policies – because they are a cruel failure. Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance
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Take The Welfare Time Limit Off the Books

The Government of British Columbia now says that, over the next year, only 339 people will be affected by the 24-month time limit on welfare––the rule intended to limit “employable” welfare recipients to two-years of support during any five year period. On Friday, the Government created a new exemption––the 25th. Now those who follow their employment [...]
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Letter to the Prime Minister Paul Martin and Premier Gordon Campbell regarding the human rights obligations of federal and provincial governments with respect to social assistance, endorsed by 137 organizations (February 2004)

A letter written to Prime Minister Paul Martin and Premier Gordon Campbell asking them to act immediately, together and separately, to ensure that legislation which imposes a twenty-four month time limit on eligibility for welfare in B.C. is rescinded before April 1, 2004, and that no similar provision is implemented in B.C. or any other province in future. act immediately, [...]
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The Right to Social Assistance: 14 Questions and Answers (October 2003)

British Columbia is the only province in Canada to place a time limit on welfare eligibility. From diverse perspectives, many people are concerned about the harmful results of this harsh and unprecedented new rule. This report is a response to numerous requests that the Poverty and Human Rights Project has received from concerned groups and individuals for an analysis of [...]
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UN singles out BC government on women’s rights (March 2003)

B.C. is not meeting its obligations to women under international human rights law. That was the clear message of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in comments issued recently in New York City. The U.N. Committee singled out the province of British Columbia for criticism in its review of Canada’s compliance with the United [...]
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Majority embraces stereotype of the poor (December 2002)

Majority Embraces Stereotype of Poor by Shelagh Day The majority decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in last week’s welfare rights case, Gosselin v Quebec, is a disturbing one. Five judges endorsed a Quebec scheme that consigned thousands of 18 to 30 year old welfare recipients to extreme poverty, and found that it did not harm the human dignity [...]
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