Thursday, 23 April 2026

Welfare

Cruel and unusual: six weeks without welfare benefits for minor transgressions

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Six weeks without benefits is the harsh punishment meted out by Community Services to people on social assistance who don’t engage in employability activities, things like missing an appointment or not showing up for a training course. We meet Kate, who got hit with the six week cut off when she was forced to quit her job when her son got very sick. And through a Freedom of Information request we find out that it happens to hundreds of social assistance recipients each year. Some of them are innocent family members who did nothing wrong.

Social assistance: Caseworkers from heaven and caseworkers from hell

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As the stories of Donna and Leslie show, when you are on social assistance your caseworker makes all the difference. It’s very hard when your caseworker is not there for you, writes long time poverty advocate Brenda Thompson. “Just as caseworkers evaluate their clients on an annual basis, clients also must be permitted to evaluate their caseworkers on a regular  basis on criteria such as as their treatment of the clients, their knowledge of resources, and their willingness to be true advocates and go to bat for their client.”

Letter from Kendall Worth: Mind your own business!

Kendall Worth’ short letter about people on social assistance being harassed by members of their community who don’t know the realities of lives on welfare from a hole in the ground.

Applying for welfare will cost you

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In Nova Scotia, when you apply for social assistance you had better have some money set aside, because this is going to cost you. It’s a logistical nightmare as well. Brenda Thompson takes a close look at all that is required, and she does the math. Remember, people who apply for social assistance tend to be broke. That’s why they are applying….

Nothing for people on welfare in Nova Scotia budget

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There is no money for people on social assistance in yesterday’s Liberal budget. That kind of a mean spirited attitude doesn’t bode well for the secretive welfare transformation project the department has been working on since 2015.

Lives on welfare: No money at all for young couple, but plenty of stigma

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Our roving reporter Kendall Worth was walking down Spring Garden when some people who knew of his poverty activism and writing asked if he would tell their story. Here it is. No money for groceries, but many mental health and health problems, and lots of people looking down on them as if it is all their fault somehow.