“The true measure of whether we live in a just society is not how much we talk about protecting the poor and the weak, but rather what actions we take to ensure it," said association president Robert Holmes.
“It is clear that we are doing less and less to protect the weakest members of society and that we are eroding justice as a fundamental value."
- Robert Holmes, Trial Lawyers of BC
We have to be asking ourselves at this point, can we, as a society, afford to have the BC Liberals in office anymore? For several long, devastating years I've been elaborating (some might saying ranting) on these pages about the small and large abuses of the public trust, about the erosion of the social contract and safety net in BC. It gets tiring, believe me.
Now comes word of the BC government's latest plan to marginalize and dump people into the abyss - more cuts to legal aid, particularly poverty law. We don't even know what else is on the chopping block. I guess it's too much to ask that the vulnerable, the indigent, the disenfranchised and the multi-generational socially excluded victims of failed government policies and practices retain at least some civil and human rights.
Is there really such a thing as having too many civil and human rights?
I didn't think so, but apparently I'm wrong, our esteemed government and government appointees think it's time to cut them back some more. How timely, heading into the Olympics.
Hmmm, sensing a theme here. Cut here, snip there, slash under here.
Why soon we won't even remember when we had those lovely social and public services and rights, they will be a mere figment of memory buried in the gray matter in the back of our chipped heads. Lucky us. But of course, it's easiest to start with the poor, they don't matter anyways, right BC Liberals?
It's really just so damn bad that the brain trust running this show is not looking at what's happening in the UK and France with the generation of YOB's they've been raising and the public disorder that's been fomented there with many of these same neoConservative strategies. Seems to me, here in Beautiful BC, the administration has done everything they could over the last 9 years to create chaos and public disorder as well, as they get out of the work of serving the public good. Most people are removed from it, but it's reaching it's tentacles out to more and more of us. Be very, very afraid of what will come of this.
"... according to an internal memo by society executive director Mark Benton, a higher-than-projected provincial deficit could threaten the agency's government funding for fiscal 2010/11, which was forecasted to be $68.5 million." (Public Eye Online).
Welcome back Mr. Christensen, I guess the family didn't need to spend that much time with you, eh? You ain't no dummy, exit stage right, time to get the hell outta MCFD.
"First, I would like to welcome one new board member. On Friday, the Law Society appointed Tom Christensen, the former Minister of Children and Family Development, who is returning to legal practice after several years in the Legislature..." (Mark Benton, July 16, 2009).
Tom Christensen becomes seventh Liberal cabinet minister not seeking ...
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Hitting the poverty line
Public Eye Online. August 12 2009.
British Columbia's poor might soon have a tougher time getting free legal aid for their day-to-day struggles. Public Eye has exclusively learned the province's legal services society may have to shutdown its poverty law programs next year. The reason: according to an internal memo by society executive director Mark Benton, a higher-than-projected provincial deficit could threaten the agency's government funding for fiscal 2010/11, which was forecasted to be $68.5 million.
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