Thursday, June 03, 2010

$445 Million Paid In Welfare Fraud In BC

 Since 1997 BC Paid $445,000,000.00
In Fraudulent Welfare Claims
Little Hope Of Recovery

An article appearing in today's Times Colonist says the BC Taxpayer has been ripped off for $445 million in fraudulent welfare claims since 1997.

The NDP have accused the government of 'poor bashing' for trying to recover some of these fraudulent claims by making small court claims against 317 welfare recipients to recover overpaid welfare payments.

The annual welfare budget in BC is $1,500,000,000.00 and is paid to 177,526 people.

allvoices

3 comments:

  1. I suspect this amount is exaggerated. Then again, how many on welfare "cheat" so that they have enough to feed themselves. When you give people so little then they may have to do do whatever they have to in order to survive.

    The public wants people on welfare to eke out a living - but nothing more.

    Just the other day my brother in law said it's not that I get to little, it's that I need to learn to live with less....on a budget....like all Canadians do. Basically he says there is no such thing as too little.

    He said I need to give up anything that doesn't directly keep me alive - such as my land-line phone, the Internet, cable TV etc because they are not essential to my survival.

    If I'm left with nothing to do but stare at the walls that's the way it should be apparently. And if someone becomes depressed or suicidal then that's one less mouth to feed.

    When I pointed out the (shameful) fact that today people on welfare are getting virtually the same as people did 20 YEARS ago (rates have increased less than 6%) and asked if he could live on the income paid in 1992 I was told that this was irrelevant. You just have to budget and everyhting will be fine.

    When it comes to the poor, the people of BC (Canada) have become callous and spiteful.....and mean. They actually take pleasure in the suffering of others because that means they they aren't getting to much.

    PS: I read that the welfare budget is $1.8 billion for 180,000 people and yet the public thinks that the $10,800 per year (20 years ago it was $10,200 per year)I currently live on is to generous..... yet we are spending almost $1 billion per year on a special native healthcare program (called NON-INSURED HEALTH BENEFITS) that no one seems to know about.

    And rember this $900+ million per year is only paying for health care...and it's not part of a claim. Hey it even includes chartered planes to go to doctors appointments.

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  2. Its a shame that People with children feel that there allowed to abuse the system.I know of one family in Nanaimo.He has a job and she collect welfare and gets a rent rebate to boot.Her 13 yr.old son dresses like a hobo.Her clothes{the mom}shops at high end stores when she's not drunk or high.The stepdad works as a security officer or at robin's parking.Been over 3 years and they still haven't been caught.New minivan,trailer,motorcycles etc... in the father in laws name and he's 93.

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    Replies
    1. If you're so certain that they're acting fraudulently, it's your duty to report them. The ministry employs some (not as many as in the past) fraud investigators who are former police and law enforcement officers. While working for the 'ministry' for a total of more than 12 years in various places in northern BC and the lower mainland, I was assured that the rate of fraud is around 1%. The process that a person has to go through to receive welfare is quite complicated and arduous, and until recently tabs were kept on those in receipt in various ways. This government reduced the number of line workers (financial assistance workers) to such a degree that they were unable to follow the guidelines of monitoring those on assistance. Even in my day (1982-89 and 1998-2003 - I was one of the first to be laid off by this gov), especially the '80's we could have caseloads as large as 700 individuals and families and it was impossible for us to complete our work obligations. Almost all applications were done on home visits, often in pretty awful winter conditions in pathetic government cars not designed for the interior! It was and is extremely rare to interview ANYONE who was in any way well off. It sounds to me that your jealously is playing a role in this situation but yes, the bottom line is find out the rules for getting welfare and then if you're still convinced this family isn't eligible, report them. Also remember that since last October, as a disabled person under BC regs, you are able to earn $800/mo and still be eligible for assistance. Let google help you! :D

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