Claudia on Income Assistance Rates Indexed

CLAUDIA CHENDER « » : Speaker, I am pleased to rise and celebrate the movement toward an idea whose time has clearly come. It's something for which we've been fighting for a long time - something the minister committed to - and we're glad to see it happen.

I do want to point out, as my colleague did, the number of people who have worked so tirelessly for so long, including assistance recipients themselves, whom I know have spoken to all of us in our offices about the gross inadequacy of the income they receive, and the advocates who work to represent those folks in different areas. To all those people, I say thank you, and this is an important day.

I also need to say that this still leaves income assistance recipients thousands and thousands of dollars below the poverty line in a time of record inflation. The fact that this $7 million, which almost qualifies as a rounding error in the provincial budget, is now being announced after we finished debating the budget is a good thing, but it's not enough. We are happy to see this first step toward ensuring that all Nova Scotians have the ability to live in dignity, and we will keep fighting until that becomes a reality.