At latest count Canada had more than 1.5 million kids living in poverty, a guarantee of some really serious juvenile crime problems very soon and more serious adult criminal problems down the line. At first it was believed the poverty results from a series of cutbacks in welfare payments by Ontario and other right-wing governments across the country. A new report however, produced last week for the Canadian Labour Congress, shows that some the blame falls back on the federal government. More than 300,000 Canadian working women who paid into the Unemployment Insurance fund over the years, have been taken off the rolls by the current Liberal government and are no longer eligible for benefits. Tragically, most of them happen to be at the very bottom of the wage scale.
Poor moms means poor kids.
Ten years ago about 70 per cent of all working women were eligible for unemployment insurance. The U.I. plan is so skewered right now that working men have a better chance of getting paternity benefits than do women of getting maternity benefits, says CLC vice-president Nancy Riche. Not even the greediest insurance company in the country, can claim a profit margin like that on premiums taken in versus benefits paid out. The CLC has mounted a campaign to have the federal government pay back the money it has taken from workers in the guise of a job insurance scheme. The Coalition for Gun Control has launched a campaign against the National Rifle Association's Eddie the Eagle gun program for kids.