Fredericton, June 1, 2005

The Fredericton Anti-Poverty Organization says that the proposed exemptions to the province's Economic Unit Policy that were leaked yesterday to the press only prove the widespread discrimination which prevents the poorest of the poor from living together to share their meagre resources.

Dan Weston, Coordinator of the Anti-Poverty Organization said the three or four exemptions planned by the Lord government are just a "drop in the bucket" and are solid proof of the widespread discrimination against welfare recipients that exists in government's Economic Unit Policy. He called the move to exempt only certain groups "sleazy" and "an example of politics determining human rights, not human rights determining politics."

Weston said "The Conservatives just walked right into it because the attitude behind the Economic Unit Policy is so sleazy."

The Fredericton Anti-Poverty Organization and other groups working with low-income people in New Brunswick have been leading the call for the complete elimination of the Economic Unit Policy for years. Weston says the policy is one of the worst examples of discrimination he can think of against some of the most vulnerable sectors of society.

"Two people earning $242 dollars a month in welfare are not allowed to live together and they still won't be after today," said Weston. "How bad can it get? Just imagine trying to live on $242 a month and it isn't hard to figure out how impossible life really is for welfare recipients."

Weston said that when the Human Rights Commission seeks to prove discrimination,"it looks for exceptions that form patterns. By exempting these three or four categories of recipients from the Economic Unit Policy, the Conservative government has clearly shown the patterns and levels of discrimination everyone else is living under."

Weston said the Anti-Poverty Organization will continue with its current Human Rights complaint that calls into question all 53 income deduction categories, especially those that keep recipients living far below the poverty-line. These include monies coming from the Federal Government, such as Canada Pension Plan and in particular, child support payments that were ordered paid to custodial parents by Federally appointed judges "in the best interest of the child" not the "best interest of New Brunswick's budget" he says.

Presently, the Department of Family and Community Services claws back child support payments from welfare recipients.