Committee wants action on shelter allowances, transit
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 24/01/2012 (5346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Shelter allowances and the affordability of transit are issues the City of Brandon’s poverty committee want Manitoba’s Family Services Minister Jennifer Howard to address, Coun. Jan Chaboyer (Green Acres) told city council on Monday.
Chaboyer said Gord Macintosh, the former family services minister, had made a verbal commitment to address the issue of low shelter allowances in Brandon’s low vacancy housing market. However, in the recent cabinet shuffle, those duties shifted to Howard.
“We wanted to formally remind her of our concerns that people on social assistance are using a lot of their rent budget to pay for everything,” Chaboyer said.
“It has impacts on our local food banks.”
Chaboyer has sent a letter to Howard on behalf of the local poverty committee, reminding her of an Association of Manitoba Municipalities resolution passed in Brandon in November that requested action on this matter in the 2012 budget.
Coun. Len Isleifson (Riverview) added his support to Chaboyer’s actions.
“We are asking for increases to shelter allowances, but more importantly, we want to create a program that keeps those allowances in tune with costs of living every year,” said Isleifson, who also sits on the poverty committee with Coun. Garth Rice (South Centre).
“When the cost of living goes up, their cheques don’t. It shouldn’t take a motion of council or anything like that for them to consider increasing that.”
Isleifson said an increase in shelter allowances helps rural Manitobans as well as Brandonites.
“It’s not just Brandon that has the issue,” Isleifson said. “We heard that at the AMM annual convention. I’m hoping this is an issue in the forefront and that it gets dealt with. If they shake their head and say they didn’t know we have that problem, we have a bigger problem.”
Both Isleifson and Chaboyer spoke out in favour of reinstating the off-peak Brandon Transit pass that was scrapped in part because of a lack of support from the provincial government.
“It’s either reinstate the pass or look at a program to replace it,” Isleifson said.
“It may be time-consuming to administer, but if there are that many people using them, then it’s obviously a program that’s needed.”
» kborkowsky@brandonsun.com