Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the big news stories and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
A walk from Carmichael Outreach to the Ministry of Social Services office wanted to make a message heard loud and clear: The Saskatchewan Income Support program doesn’t do enough.
“The problems (with the SIS program) go so deep. The biggest one is the amount that (people on it) actually get. Their living costs, I believe they get $575 for rent and bills,” said Payton Byrne, who helped organize Monday’s walk in Regina.
“They took away direct pay to landlords, which means that rather than the pay going directly to landlords to ensure their rent is paid, they receive a quarter of what the rent should be and are expected to pay for everything and get it to their landlords as well.”
More than 50 people turned up to support the walk. One of those people was Morley Redwood, who brought along his 18-month-old son.
Redwood knows firsthand what type of help homeless people get. He was without a home and turned to Camp Hope for help while he was also battling addiction problems.
“I’ve been clean since Dec. 3,” Redwood said. “I wrote every day that I was at Camp Hope in a book. I realized a lot of it has to do with addictions, but everyone should be judged differently. Everyone is different.
“I believe the SIS program has set people up to fail. Look at how many pennies (government officials) put towards the (CFL’s Saskatchewan) Roughriders. They give them millions but just give pennies to the homeless. Our society looks down on the homeless but those are real people.”
In a written statement, the Ministry of Social Services said it continued to work with partners and all levels of government to help tackle the issue of homelessness.
“The 2022-23 budget makes a record investment to support Saskatchewan people and families in need. This includes an $11.4-million investment to increase Saskatchewan Income Support basic benefits and shelter benefits,” the statement said.
“The budget also includes expanded trusteeship and money management services through community-based organization partners to help more clients with complex needs. The Saskatchewan Housing Benefit is helping people with low incomes better afford their housing costs, providing up to $11.5 million under the National Housing Strategy.”
But Byrne said that record investment only amounts to an extra dollar per day for people on the SIS program.
“A dollar a day does not help me pay my rent. A dollar a day doesn’t even help me get a bagel to eat. A dollar a day is a slap in the face when you’re asking to be able to have a roof over your head. It doesn’t do anything except they can say, ‘Well, we did it,’ ” Byrne said.
In its statement, the ministry said the best way to receive support was to go to one of its service centres in person. So that’s why Byrne and others brought the problem to the front steps of the ministry’s office.
“People shouldn’t be houseless; it shouldn’t be a question. We’re trying to prove to Lori Carr, the minister of social services, that people are houseless and that this SIS program is a failed program that needs to be scrapped,” Byrne said.
“We hope that she realizes there are houseless people and the SIS program is failing. She keeps reiterating the same three sentences in the Legislative Assembly and she’s admitted it. She says, ‘I’ll keep saying the same things. If there is someone who is truly being turned away, bring them to me.’
“There’s houseless people and people who care about them as well. It’s not just houseless people. There are people who want to show her that it doesn’t matter where you’re standing politically, these are humans, these are lives, these aren’t numbers and they aren’t dollar signs.”
