Hello everyone, I want to thank all of you for supporting and signing  petition to increase the disability allowance in British Columbia. I received a reply from the Minister. The following is the response from the Minister of Social Development and Poverty Reduction, Nicholas Simons. It was a long letter, so the following are the major points. He wrote:

“The government increased income and disability assistance monthly rates by $175 per adult in April 2021. …. This is the third and largest ever permanent increase since 2017, and represents a total increase of $325 per month, or $3,900 a year for individuals on assistance.

“… increase to earnings exemptions for income and disability assistance recipients, …. ensures that thousands of people … can benefit by being able to keep more of the money they earn before having their assistance payments reduced.”

“recent rate increase and earnings exemption changes are part of our government’s overall poverty reduction strategy, TogetherBC. They show our commitment to reducing poverty and making life more affordable for all British Columbians.”

“Despite this progress, we recognize that more work needs to be done to address poverty, including addressing specific populations who face high rates of poverty, like people living with disabilities and Indigenous Peoples. Our government also recognizes that the COVID-19 pandemic and the more recent increase to the rate of inflation has had an unprecedented impact on people everywhere. These factors and more will help inform upcoming public conversations to build BC’s next poverty reduction strategy to be released in March 2024. As required by the Poverty Reduction Strategy Act, the Province must update the strategy every five years.”

It's obvious nothing is going to be done, but apparently we are all going to be okay as Nicholas Simons has everything in hand. Note the unwarranted promotion of TogetherBC. They are pleased with their ineffective actions, but maybe it helps them sleep at night. They just don't understand that those on disability must have an adequate amount of money so they are not living below the poverty line - period! 

Let’s keep this petition rolling. We must not give up. The more signatures the better and please share it. Thank you so much for signing and thank you for caring.

Cheers,

Amanda