| Coleman: NDP Love Affair With Criminals Continues
November 4, 2009 COLEMAN: NDP LOVE AFFAIR WITH CRIMINALS CONTINUES VICTORIA – The NDP is against restricting access to income assistance for people with outstanding warrants, preferring to support criminals rather than those most in need and entirely in contradiction to earlier NDP policy. Members of the Opposition stood in the House this past week to argue against legislation restricting access to income assistance and disability assistance for people with outstanding indictable arrest warrants. The NDP enacted a nearly identical policy 12 years ago as part of the Disability Benefits Program Regulation. However, unlike the legislation presently before the legislature, the NDP government of the day passed the regulation behind closed doors and with no public consultation or debate. “I must admit that the NDP love affair with criminals continues,” said Housing and Social Development Minister Rich Coleman. “They brought in the regulation in 1997 without any consultation, with no discussion with law enforcement, no discussion with communities.” Then NDP MLA Dennis Streifel’s comments on the policy in 1997 echo the intent of the legislation presently before the house: “If an individual is fleeing a warrant for an indictable offence, that disqualifies them from receiving income assistance in British Columbia.” (Hansard, June 23, 1997). Speaking against the bill last week, the NDP demonstrated an astonishing level of hypocrisy and ignorance of their own party’s earlier policies with their comments: - Surrey-Newton MLA Harry Bains – “I'm looking for some demonstrated need that exists for the government to draft this bill, and I can't find any.” - Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog – “I don't know that there's precedent for it in other parts of Canada or North America.” - Nanaimo MLA Leonard Krog – “From a public cost perspective, it's kind of amusing. I would suggest to the minister that at a little over $600 a month for a single employable, it's a lot cheaper to pay that than it is to house someone in a provincial jail.” - Surrey-Whalley MLA Bruce Ralston – “It does then begin to make the social assistance authorities an arm of the criminal justice system… But that may not be good public policy and may not be, indeed, the purpose for which these kinds of programs were established.” “How could it be okay to do the regulation haphazardly in 1997 and not okay to do a piece of legislation in 2009 that actually tries to actually deal with this issue in our province?” said Coleman. “Sometimes you should look at your history. Sometimes you should look in the mirror.” -30- |
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