PALMER’S VIEW,
Liberals shot themselves in foot over what was perceived as $52 clawback
It was Monday morning in one of the committee rooms at the B.C. legislature and the New Democrats were rectifying another controversy left behind by the previous Liberal government.
“Beginning in January, anyone with a disability who is on assistance will be able to get a bus pass and they will no longer have $52 deducted from their support payment,” announced Shane Simpson, Minister for Social Development and Poverty Reduction.
“This has been a longstanding issue for those in the disability community, and we are glad that we could find a resolution that better supports people’s needs.”
The issue dates back 18 months to the 2016 B.C. Liberal budget and government decision to trumpet a $77-a-month increase in social assistance rates for the disabled while downplaying an offsetting $52 deduction for a bus pass for many recipients.
The result was an increase that felt more like a clawback to many in the disabled community. It looked that way to many members of the public as well.
Within weeks, the backlash had the B.C. Liberals looking at the options for reversing direction. Premier Christy Clark herself admitted that the launch was handled poorly and the perception problem needed to be addressed.
But because the shift in rates had more of an impact on some members of the disabled community than on others (not everyone got the bus pass), the Liberals decided to go through with the change in order to level out rates among all recipients.
“It means that there is equity right across the province,” Clark said.
“If you happen to live in a place where you don’t have a transit system, then you’re getting the same amount that someone does who lives in a region that has transit. Everybody gets a little bit more and at the top end about half of the people get about $77 more.”
She also forecast that once the revised rate kicked in on Sept. 1 of 2016, the controversy would settle down. “I think as time goes on and people see what they get in their cheques, which will be more for everybody, I think that’s going to end the argument,” she replied.
It didn’t end the argument. As 2016 gave way to 2017 the Liberals continued to face calls for them to restore what was still denounced as a $52-a-month clawback from some of our most vulnerable citizens. Finally — grudgingly, many would say — a few days before the Feb. 21 tabling of the 2017 budget, the Liberals announced disability assistance would be increased to $1,033 a month from $983. Far from smothering the fires of indignation, the $50-a-month boost mainly served to recall what the Liberals had done the year before.
“The numbers speak for themselves, ” fumed Michelle Mungall, the NDP’s thensocial development critic. “They’re giving people what they took away, minus a toonie.”
Come the change of government, Premier John Horgan appointed Simpson to the social development portfolio along with a mandate letter that directed him to “further support those on disability assistance by fully restoring the B.C. bus pass program.”
Nor was Simpson long in getting the same message from the community and the public.
“I have probably heard more from people about the bus pass than any other issue,” he told reporters Monday.
Though the product of consultations with the disabled and their representatives, the change is simplicity in itself.
The $52-a-month transportation supplement will be posted as a separate line in monthly cheques for everyone on disability assistance. But it is a no-strings attached supplement that recipients can use as they see fit.
No need to apply. No need to submit receipts. Buy a bus pass where those are available. Take other transportation services in lieu. Use the HandyDart service. Pay a neighbour to take you to the grocery store. It is up to you, Simpson emphasized.
With those parameters, he did not lack for validators from the community.
“When the previous government announced they would be making a significant change to the way that people accessed transportation support, it was a very black day for our community,” said Jane Dyson, executive director of Disability Alliance B.C. “The additional $52, on top of the recently implemented rate increase, and increase to the annualized earnings exemption are very encouraging first steps from B.C.’s new provincial government.”
With more than 100,000 British Columbians in line for the monthly payments, the all-in cost is estimated to be about $70 million in a full year. On that basis, the B.C. Liberals could have afforded to rectify the situation themselves in their pre-election budget and fiscal plan, containing as it did billions in surpluses, contingencies and forecast allowances. But the Liberals passed on that opportunity and many others that could have been defused before election day.
As for the New Democrats, the initial $23-million instalment on the transportation supplement, covering Jan.
1 to the March 31 end of the current financial year, will be covered out of the $600-million contingency fund in the Sept. 11 budget update.
Longer-term funding will be set out in the full threeyear budget and fiscal plan the New Democrats will be tabling in the legislature next February.
By itself, the $70 million is manageable. But the New Democrats have many other priorities to address, many of them far more expensive than this one.
Though the product of consultations with the disabled and their representatives, the change is simplicity in itself.