Single parents protest provincial child support cutbacks
Posted December 23, 2014 3:23 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BURNABY (NEWS1130) – A group of single parents dropped off empty gift boxes at MLA Richard Lee’s office this afternoon to protest child support clawbacks.
If you’re a single parent on disability or income assistance, in certain situations the government cuts back payments.
For single mother Tabitha Naismith, who organized the protest, it’s been frustrating. “So now they take my child support off my disability cheque every month which is ridiculous because that money is for my daughter, it’s not my money.”
Naismith adds it’s especially hard at Christmas. “The premier needs to be held accountable, saying ‘families first,’ she is aware of the stats, she is aware of the problem.”
The parents say the provincial government has been consulting on this for a year without any real progress.
A report from the organization First Call released last month stated that from statistics gathered in 2012, one in five BC kids’ lives in poverty.
