& - Sunday, September 8, 1996 — North Shore News

Dear Editor:

I'd like to protest the severity of the
provincial government’s recent welfare
reforms. The NDP has gone so far over-
hoard in its effort to appease the right that
it is inviting a whole host of social ills in its
wake as welfare recipients scramble to keep
up with their amazingly demanding job-
search requirements wathin the confines of
their pitiful living allowances.

Under the “B.C. Benefits” program
which has been introduced in stages since
last. November, “employable” people
requiring social assistance have had their
benefits cut to a maximum of $500 per
month, $325 of it earmarked for shelter,
and a mere $175 for everything else. They
are also now expected to apply for about a
hundred jobs a month to retain those
“benefits.”

But for at least the first seven months,
they don’t receive any assistance in their
job searches for transportation allowances
or office support; after that, they only get
help with their resumes and job goals for a
scant few weeks in job clubs.

\«, Just think about it: after rent, they have ©

tess than .$6 per day to both live on and
search for employment: with, Six dollars a
ay: for three meals? Maybe, just barely.

fare reform | Railway tax cut to

But for three meals, plus all the expenses to
apply to five jobs per day: the cost of the
phone calls, the stationery, the postage,
possibly the computer time rentals to work
on the customized cover letters, and the
faxes? Forget it; the faxes alone run $3 or
$4 per application, and increasingly, they're
the only way to get in touch with employ-
ers running ads.

And if they are lucky enough to land an
interview somewhere away from the
impoverished neighborhoods they have to
reside in, the recipients must spend their
food money on transportation to get there.

And forget about the money for some
decent clothing or even a good haircut —
it’s just not there. So I ask you, how are
these ;zople supposed to find decent jobs
if they don’t have chough resources to
both conduct a thorough job search and
get sufficient nourishment to keep their
strength up enough to make a good
impression?

They can’t, of course, and that's what’s
really insidious about the NDP's new
“Youth Works” and “Welfare to Work”
programs. They’re not geared towards get-
ting people decent jobs, but just any job at

"all, Hence, the new requirement that recip-

ients cannot turn down any job offer,

again, on pain of losing their beefits for at
least a month — no matter how reprehen-
sible the employer, how demeaning, the
work, or how alien to their values.

Thus, rather than protecting our most
disadvantaged and vulnerable citizens from
exploitation and abuse, our government is
now actively driving them into the clutches
of unscrupulous employers such as mid-
level marketers and boiler-room telemar-
keting managers who encourage them to
victimize their friends, families, and our
elderly and more gullible citizens with
overpriced or unwanted merchandise (such
as vacuums or other home cleaning ser-
vices, or deleted cassettes, or promotional
sports or entertainment tickets).

Barring that, many are going to become
il! from the stress, and end up costing us
more in medical bills, and many others are
already resorting to property crimes to pro-
vide for their needs, instead.

In the long run, we're all going to suf-
fer from this attempt by the NDP to out-
flank the free enterprise parties — all except
for the most shameless employers who can
have our sons and daughters and brothers
and sisters for the asking.

‘Warren Dow

Rurnaby

ikers: plus

your pipes

Dear Editor:

- Re: The J.W. Campbell let-
ter “Noisy motorcycles and
_the RCMP’s noise meter.”

-: agree with the comments
and want to add this: there
seems to. be hundreds of
motorcycles on the streets

- with straight pipes replacing
the stock exhaust systems.

. The noise they make is in

scale, being a logarithmic
scale that makes them as
much as 500% noisier than the

average car or even huge

transport trucks.

Surely there is a law in the
Motor Vehicle Act that
requires a properly function-
ing exhaust system.

So why isn’t it enforced?
I’m sure I couldn't drive a car

long before being ticketed.
B. Scott
North Vancouver

NV district is untair

Dear Editor: : ;

I see the provincial government is going ¢o reduce
or take away tax revenues coming [o municipalities
from the use of municipal land by the three railways.)

I can understand cutting the taxes of a private

ublic corporation if the public receives compensatory,
enefits. i :

If CN Rail and BC Rail lines were used for a munic

municipality. t oo

I am particularly disappointed with government p
orities. Providing at least adequate iF not excellent ed
cation and other municipal services {s vital to our.co!
munities. Right now schools in our district are den’
children the right to attend their neighborh
schools. a

Meanwhile the government is bu Iding ‘one
most costly highway projects in. 8.C history,
upgrading and expansion of the Isiand highway.

The government got a warning in| the tastelec
that it has not been listening. Is it listening now?
Allan Orr ; eo Bh
North Vancouver

the high 90s of the decibel with straight pipes for very

| for S menths* on all YAMAHA
| Acoustic & Digital | Pianos aby
MEW BAND

. Ps A mae,
SELMER + BACH + BOOSEY & HAWKES
VITO + ARTLEY « CONN

Zand much much more

Wearing a bicycle helmet:is a really good idea for kids and adults alike. exec axe
in fact, this September it's also the law. So make sure your kids are wearing 2
‘properly fitted helmet when they pedal their. way back to school.
And with safe cycling skills, they can learn to steer clear of trouble before it
happens. Kids aren't born with helmets. But gayaagges FASE SOFT.
good judgement can become second nature. BIZRMETS AAG MARS.

And that’s the best protection you can get. ‘SE mor it.

lavemary of Tranepertetion
~ ea repeers
CTOR VEACLA DANCE