BC Liberals Cut Funding for Adults with Disabilities and Give Snowbirds an Extra Month


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Social Development Minister Moira Stilwell thinks adults with fetal alcohol disorder and autism deserve more than a 50% funding cut, while snowbirds get a 7th month of healthcare!

I’ve seen the BC Liberals do some pretty cruel, heartless things over the years, but this is one of the worst.

They are cutting more than 50% of the money that supports adults with fetal alcohol disorder and autism, while giving snowbirds a 7th month of medical coverage for living in warmer climates over the winter.

Snowbirds will be back in country during the election. Many will be thrilled they will get an extra month down south next year. And snowbirds are more likely to vote for the BC Liberals because of this.

So if you know any snowbirds, please let them know what this new budget cuts, which will help fund their 7th month down south.

Families first? It seems [voting] snowbird families come first and families with adults with disabilities last.

Read the gory, cruel details here.

Here are the cuts to vulnerable adults:

The B.C. government plans to drastically reduce the average amount of money it spends on adults with developmental disabilities over the next three years, budget documents show.

Adults with fetal alcohol disorder and autism who receive service under the personal supports initiative will see the biggest decline. Documents show the average cost per client in that program dropping from $24,000 to $16,000 this year alone — a 33 per cent decline.

In two years time, the average cost per client in the program will be less than half what it is today, the documents show.

At the same time, the program’s caseload is expected to more than double from 424 to 945.

B.C. plans to slash funding for adults with disabilities – Local – Times Colonist.

And here is the gift to snowbirds:

“There are many British Columbia seniors who enjoy winters away each year, and this change makes it possible to allow them some extra time away without worrying about losing their MSP coverage,” said Ralph Sultan, minister of state for seniors, in a statement.

The proposed amendment to the Medicare Protection Act would permit an additional 30-day absence — if the time out of the province is used for vacation.

via Basic medical coverage extended for absent snowbirds – Local – Times Colonist.

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Stephen Elliott-Buckley

Post-partisan eco-socialist. at Politics, Re-Spun
Stephen Elliott-Buckley is a husband, father, professor, speaker, consultant, former suburban Vancouver high school English and Social Studies teacher who changed careers because the BC Liberal Party has been working hard to ruin public education. He has various English and Political Science degrees and has been writing political, social and economic editorials since November 2002. Stephen is in Twitter, Miro and iTunes, and the email thing, and at his website, dgiVista.org.

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12 thoughts on “BC Liberals Cut Funding for Adults with Disabilities and Give Snowbirds an Extra Month”

  1. I work in a group home with 4 young men with autism.i know young men & boys with autism as well. I know people with.downs syndrome through work & as friends. I am concerned about the budget cuts!will reduce services, not help. I guess they don’t vote. But families & friends & workers do. We’ll remember this at election time!

  2. This is the cruelest thing that I’ve ever heard of!
    There is nothing left to cut and still provide the quality of life and care that these people need and deserve!
    They closed group homes and started this “pilot project” 2 yrs ago that put these adults into private homes (such as mine) at a much decreased cost to the govt. No extra mortgages,utlities,insurances,wages for workers,benefits, etc etc They’ve already made(saved) a crap-load of money on us workers…. no wages to speak of , NO benefits at all, and if I want time off like a regular person, it comes out of my pocket @ $65/day. I live my job 24/7 with no paid holidays or sick time. I should be so lucky to live long enough to BE a snowbird!
    Now the families of these adults will be under much more stress as to what’ll happen to their loved ones and how to manage the financial costs themselves. When will THEY ever have a chance to be a snowbird?
    I’m so disgusted with this government and the worst part is…. they are all the same! Even if another party comes in, do you honestly think that they’ll put money back into the program? Not likely!

    1. The mean people who have continually cut money from critical services like this need to be punished by getting kicked out of government. I’ve been saying that for over a decade.

      But if a new government comes in, we can’t just sit back and expect things to improve overnight. We need to demand a return to dignity. And if it costs money, we need to let them know that taxes are how we buy things as a community. And if we want our vulnerable community members to live in dignity, with lives rich with vibrancy, we are willing to pay for it!

  3. I too am disgusted, though not unaware of the cuts our government has been making to services related to Autism & the Mentally & Physically Challenged of all types. SHAME ON OUR GOVERNMENT!
    My younger brother is Mentally Challenged so I know what services were available before and what has been cut. These challenged individuals will just not GO AWAY, as it appears the government hopes. In fact, THEIR NUMBERS ARE INCREASING, due to health issues resulting from the diversity of pollutants in our foods & environment – another issue our government cares little about.
    Well, the time may well be here when SILENT CANADIANS REGAIN THEIR VOICE. We are the voters & perhaps finally ready to hold you accountable for the positions YOU WERE ELECTED TO & CAN JUST AS EASILY BE OUSTED FROM!

  4. I think that taking this money away fromadults with fetal alcohol disorder and autismis is completely WRONG!

    Where is this government going when it promotes seniors to be able to live out of the country for another month on MSP? They are spending their money, not in BC or Canada but elsewhere, how does that help our local economy? Ralph Sutan should be ashamed of himself.

  5. CHARGES OF ABUSE…,perhap? When a person in authority, uses that authority for personal gain, which they have done. Gave themselves Bonuses, Lied to us saying there is no more money EIGHT years in a row. Dissed for the Twenty years of service. Slandered for speaking out. Coerced into signing under an unwritten threat. What else would “or “mean ? Are politicians above and beyond the Law. We have cared for many People over Twenty plus years. These people are Wards of the court and need and deserve protection from this government. This is precisely the reasons why we have ABUSE LAWS.

  6. Budget cuts to agencies serving developmentally disabled trigger more costly expenses in that families will now have to file more Fair Hearings and face more costly hospitalizations than if they were receiving the care their children needed at HOME than in out of home or hospital settings because they weren’t getting the care they needed at home. Duh. Even a 1:1 LVN would cost about 250,000 a year compared to over 950,000 a year that it would cost because they disabled person ended up in an out of home placement or in the hospital. Duh.

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