Does Canada's welfare system need an overhaul?

yes the welfare system needs a damn good overhaul, the young have it all figured out how to buck the system, keep popping out kids and sitting at home, getting doctor's to misdiagnose them or their children with disabilities to get more from ODSP on top of welfare....also receiving health and dental benefits, while the seniors that worked all their lives are being treated like yesterdays news, getting nothing but crapped on from prescriptions, dental they get nothing, and getting cut down with their pensions for gaining any extra income on their pensions or income gained for the year even minimally....the government needs to WAKE up send these lazy asses out to work and start looking after seniors of this country still living in their own homes but also the ones living in long term care.

Well that would be a great idea for a change ! After all since here in Canada our leaders don't have any problems with letting our factory jobs go South...way South to 3rd world country's....Why..cause they could give little thought to any of the people that built this country... They only want to tax us more and have us work 7 days a week and never be able to afford a summer cottage ect....were not good enuff to have that after 25 years of working and never been on a system. I think some people who post comments like above really need to sit down and look at the bigger picture. I think we need to all have the same perks...work 8 years and have a full pension...After seeing how our officals run this country for a short time and get this perk...and if you ask them when there asking for your vote.....what outcome or plans they have for a new term is" To run this job" hrmmmm no personal goals of trying to save $$ or bring in new or old jobs back.. I hope the next time everone gets out to vote...look at the past...and see where your future vote will take you.....God I wish I was a puppet and just followed along like the rest of the sheep so I would have to write anything except for ya....."""" your right man""" screw the guy that's down and out...it's got to be his fault for being in that position!! Never the Gov. that let our jobs slip away to Mexico and China ect ! Wake up, and take a good look at the big picture....you just might find yourself hard pressed from your own idea's!

Welfare was designed as a stop gap measure to keep people afloat until they can get back on their feet---- that's it, nothing more. If someone becomes afflicted with some other situation then it would fall into another category... say disability benefits etc. But this was never designed to keep people afloat for a generation, two generations and becoming more prevalent ... the third generation. Somebody has to wake up and smell the coffee. There is something very wrong with the system if a whole generation stays on welfare but absurd when a second generation follows the first and then into the third. There's been some who profess the our social safety net workers actually promote long time welfare recipients to ensure their jobs going forward. I would highly doubt that but statistically speaking one wonders. It would be like the police force not solving all the crime(or prevent it) so that their numbers aren't reduced??? That wouldn't happen in this country would it?

Just a little aha moment while I was reading comments...there is something integrally wrong with a system that penalizes recipients for sucessfully completing programs and acquiring a job. Often minimum wage jobs do not provide sufficient money to cover for the basic living necessities. Welfare provides extra health care such as eyecare, and dental care that is not covered by provincial health programs, and just one of these issues can set someone on minimum wage back into the welfare system. Then because of perceived failure an at risk recipient can spiral back into a life style of drugs and alcohol, which you all are aware keeps them exactly where they are. I think an overhaul of the sytem is required...first before applying it. Do not punish the recipients it is meant to help...but change the system so that it actually helps. And by the way if the new system works so well that in turn becomes obsolete then alleluia! the welfare worker will have achieved their goal, and will (should) be absorbed into the work force.

Any able bodied person should not be eligible for welfare or social assistance period. There are enough available jobs that are available or could be created for the recepients to have work. The minimum wage is another problem. If someone can work 40 hrs a week for and make $400 or 0 hrs a week and make $300 which do you think they'll take?

Canada's welfare system constitutes differing degrees of slavery from coast to coast to coast. We pay into every type of system, directly or indirectly. All of the systems money belongs to us. The International rule is that Social Insurance is part of the natural wealth of man. Another key priniciple under the Rule of Law is that people should be able to dispose of their natural wealth as they see fit. That's not what happens in Canada, instead big bigotry prevails and one class of person is branded as a "no good" the government micro-manages their lives. Result = slavery. The most politically popular idea in the entire history of Canada were the "Guaranteed Annual Income" models examined during the mid sixties. Just pick one. Instead we got the present welfare systems heavy with political patronage and corrupt practices. There is nothing more anti-union than slavery but that is what the public service unions promote, building bureaucrat empires in government. Don't blame the victims of economic loss - blame the exploitive slave trade government, bureaucrats, and unions who would bleed you dry with a smile. Point your dirty fingers in the right direction for a change.

In B.C. on the last Wednesday of every month it is "Welly Wednesday"! This is when the downtown drug scene goes insane. Crackheads and Heroin junkies go crazy, they line up in front of the Welfare office, Money Mart, and certain banks cashing their cheques. Right next to the line up of drug addicts cashing out on taxpayer money are the drug dealers in broad daylight with dollar signs glistening in their eyes. Our taxpayer money is going straight into the pockets of drug dealers. The government is basically paying drug dealers. Plus have of these drug addicts fake a physical disability aswell and collect additional disability cheques. Many also collect fraudulent rent assistance cheques and cash them out for crack, and then choose to live on the street instead of having government assisted rent.

Welfare is the single worst use of tax money. PERIOD! plain and simple we NEED to make drug testing mandatory for all welfare recipients, and the drug addicts should be watched by a same gender official to make sure they are not using another person's clean urine. I have nothing against drug addicts, we should help them get better. Provide them with rehabilitation, and education or help finding jobs. But to just keep funneling them drug money every month is absolutely ridiculous.

Take a ride through East Hastings one day on a Welfare Wednesday! It looks just like a George A Romero Zombie movie mixed with Mardi Gras. Drug test welfare recipients NOW!!! Stop tax money going straight to drug dealers.

What can someone expect when our CPP funds are being used to fund the manufacture of
arms for the Afghan and Iraqi wars. The manufacturer is in Alberta.
Maybe the welfare system funds are being used for similar activities.

In B.C. on the last Wednesday of every month it is "Welly Wednesday"! This is when the downtown drug scene goes insane. Crackheads and Heroin junkies go crazy, they line up in front of the Welfare office, Money Mart, and certain banks cashing their cheques. Right next to the line up of drug addicts cashing out on taxpayer money are the drug dealers in broad daylight with dollar signs glistening in their eyes. Our taxpayer money is going straight into the pockets of drug dealers. The government is basically paying drug dealers. Plus have of these drug addicts fake a physical disability aswell and collect additional disability cheques. Many also collect fraudulent rent assistance cheques and cash them out for crack, and then choose to live on the street instead of having government assisted rent.

Welfare is the single worst use of tax money. PERIOD! plain and simple we NEED to make drug testing mandatory for all welfare recipients, and the drug addicts should be watched by a same gender official to make sure they are not using another person's clean urine. I have nothing against drug addicts, we should help them get better. Provide them with rehabilitation, and education or help finding jobs. But to just keep funneling them drug money every month is absolutely ridiculous.

Take a ride through East Hastings one day on a Welfare Wednesday! It looks just like a George A Romero Zombie movie mixed with Mardi Gras. Drug test welfare recipients NOW!!! Stop tax money going straight to drug dealers.

I believe more accontability is in order for those receiving and those handing it out, Welfare is a wonderful perk in this country but it's becoming more abused with every generation. A single parent or a couple working for minumum wage does need help in these times where inflation seems to have run rampant. So let's set up a system that helps the working poor and make it harder on those who have no intention of working. But we have to be carefull how we do this because there are usually children involved and they will be the ones who will do whithout. But without a doubt we do need to overhaul the welfare system.

In B.C. on the last Wednesday of every month it is "Welly Wednesday"! This is when the downtown drug scene goes insane. Crackheads and Heroin junkies go crazy, they line up in front of the Welfare office, Money Mart, and certain banks cashing their cheques. Right next to the line up of drug addicts cashing out on taxpayer money are the drug dealers in broad daylight with dollar signs glistening in their eyes. Our taxpayer money is going straight into the pockets of drug dealers. The government is basically paying drug dealers. Plus have of these drug addicts fake a physical disability aswell and collect additional disability cheques. Many also collect fraudulent rent assistance cheques and cash them out for crack, and then choose to live on the street instead of having government assisted rent.

Welfare is the single worst use of tax money. PERIOD! plain and simple we NEED to make drug testing mandatory for all welfare recipients, and the drug addicts should be watched by a same gender official to make sure they are not using another person's clean urine. I have nothing against drug addicts, we should help them get better. Provide them with rehabilitation, and education or help finding jobs. But to just keep funneling them drug money every month is absolutely ridiculous.

Take a ride through East Hastings one day on a Welfare Wednesday! It looks just like a George A Romero Zombie movie mixed with Mardi Gras. Drug test welfare recipients NOW!!! Stop tax money going straight to drug dealers.

I agree with the overhaul, however, targetting the less fortunate is not a real solution. I'm those who are attempting to overhaul this system are earning $50,000 or more. where's the rational for that? better solutions can be instituted whereby recipients are monitored through a computerized reporting system. each enabled recipient would therefore be required to report to this system for reporting. or better yet The government officials should take a big pay cut to offset any outstanding budgets. honestly spending 4 million for meeting rooms? such spending has to stop. The government searches for alternative blaming techniques in covering their butts. YES wake up and smell the coffee!!! The government will forever tax us in order to pay for their wayward spending. Then look to the less fortunate for spending cuts. Put people to work!!!! The amount of money that is spent making things look pretty is not good. Politicians say over and over again lets clean up the streets by imposing bylaws to keep the less off the streets. I say lets clean up government and impose laws to keep the highly paid government employees under tight scrutiny. Creat jobs for the less fortunate whether it be simple stuff.
The government and its wisdom is doing just that with the simple stuff and they get paid thousands of dollars every year. living off the coffers. Did you know that government travel is one of the most abused. with literally thousands of dollars spent on travel and hotel rooms.

Instead of penalizing the welfare recipients, lets stop giving Quebec 8 Billion dollars a year so they can have cheap daycare, chain smoke and cause hatred towards Canada. Hey you should elect me!!! I know exactly where to cut needless spending!

Maybe we should start by making boomers retire and make some space so that others can achieve their level of comfort. And then we should not allow immigrants to receive more pension than Canadians that have paid taxes all their lives.(A Canadian receives about 1600$ a new immigrant 1800$ + 500$ expenses).

And then maybe we should not give welfare to new immigrants either, we are not the world bank. Then maybe we can start penalizing those evil Canadians for being on welfare. And if a minimum wage job is good enough for your children and grandchildren (that have debt up the wazzoo and lived from one recession to another(greatly attributed to the vida loca of the boomers).

Whats good for the goose is also good for the gander, so lets pass a law that boomers have to leave their jobs and work at minimun wage for the rest of their lives (it would be about time they sacrificed something and learn what it is like to work at minimum wage) and all those evil over educated generations can finally have what they worked for.

DOES THAT SOUND GOOD OR WHAT!!! OVERHAUL THE BOOMERS, HELP THE ECONOMY. FAck YOU CANADA (BOOMERS), YOU SURE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR OWN CITIZENS.

the real way to live is to take care of you! and yours. when you rely on the system they own you. welfare is a trap that people get into and often for good reasons but the system is built to keep you trapped and dependent on the faceless social worker drones that need to keep their jobs. dont give up your freedom for the welfare state. live on your own dime.

Interesting read. great comments. My only input is that if we cut the dole would it increase crime rates. As for giving quebec 8 billion dollars to hate the rest of canada, hey, we would do it for free! Just kidding. there are plenty of proud Canadians in Quebec which is why immigration is so important to canada! They just don't go on the dole, they actually work.

First I see ALOT of comments from people who have never had to go on socail assistance (btw that is the ACTUAL name of welfare).
Second if you think welfare gives enough money to pay for rent, food, home phone (no cell phone) and internet (for job searching) your freaking nuts.
Yes there are alot of people who do abuse the system and do not want to work but there are alot of people who do use the system the way it's meant to used.
I am currently on social assistance and I do not spend any of my cheques on drugs, alcohol or cigarettes, I use my cheque to do exactly what I am supposed to do and that is tyo pay my rent and bills right away, HOWEVER I do have some friends who work and they smoke marijuana and they share with me so by your logic I should be kicked off of assistance for having a friend smoke me a joint?
Second in my experience the majority of the abuse is from people using their drug plans on both assistance and workplace benefit plans where they use it to get oxy's and perks (I don't touch that crap tylenol for the win) and sell the pills to others.
You want to start drug testing for abuse check people on assistance for the drugs and if they DON'T find the medication in their systems then kick them off because they are selling the medication instead of taking it.
Last point I find there are ALOT more people abusing the disability system then the assistance programs due to disability being for life and paying a HELL of alot more then assistance.
BTW I don't turn down any job if I find one (got an interview in 2 days).
If you want to encourage people to work again stop capitalism and start profit sharing
I won't refuse a job but it is discouraging that I go home broke every day making minimum wage while my employer goes home making more money in a day then I make in a month.
TRUE profit sharing MUST be made the industry standard if we want the economy to get back on trck.
AND TO ALL YOU WHINY COMPLAINERS THAT ARE NOT ON WELFARE TRY LIVING OFF $600 A MONTH AND SEE HOW FAR YOU GET.

We should not penalize drug addicts, the majority of them are pot smokers. If we go with this backward logic, lets penalize people that drink alcohol or go and buy new shoes (shoe addicts), or people that can't stop eating (food addicts). Its their money, they can do what they want with it.

Making them work though is a fair trade, we have many other blatent missspendings happening in this country, lets not penalize the disheartened, poor, sick. Yes their are people that just use it as a free ride, but they are not alone in using Canada like a free ride, like boomers, immigrants, foreign investors, government.

"AND TO ALL YOU WHINY COMPLAINERS THAT ARE NOT ON WELFARE TRY LIVING OFF $600 A MONTH AND SEE HOW FAR YOU GET." ... throw in free health care, subsidized housing, other perks and your on easy street.

"I won't refuse a job but it is discouraging that I go home broke every day making minimum wage while my employer goes home making more money in a day then I make in a month." .... what if your employer works 10 times harder than you do? why should what your boss makes have anything to do with how hard you work. you make me laugh. I remember telling my Dad I just wanted to make what i was worth. I still recall his advice : "Are you sure you could live on that?"

how you work is based on your self esteem and self worth. i found that by serving the Lord whatever He deems my worth is good enough for me and my Dad's advice was the best I ever got ...

great comments and I believe that Canada is the greatest nation on earth and its a blessing to leave here with my fellow Canadians ... have a great day and God bless ..

People need to wake up!
Welfare recipents are not the largest problem when it comes to taxation. It's obvious that no one in this thread realizes that the majority of our income tax goes to service the national debt.
Which is mainly interest paid to private bankers which is unneccessary, if we would have used the BOC instead of buying into the present fractional reserve system and borrowing from private bankers.
In order to understand what I am talking about you must understand how money is actually created, I guarantee it will surprise and may even shock you.
The best video that I have ever seen explains how money is created is titled "Money as Debt".
Just punch it into your browser and take 45 minutes to watch it.
However the powerfull elite would love for you to think that people that with no money are the problem.
The Banking elite do not want the general public to know how the majority of money is actually created. Once you understand how our present banking system works you will know why.
What we really need is banking reform.