The specific example I was thinking of was a phone. In Victoria, on basic income assistance you receive $510 a month. I know that's a provincial issue, but this touches on the importance of national welfare standards. The average cost of a bachelor suite is $515 a month, so before you even get to paying for transportation, clothing, and food, you are already in the hole. Of course, people are not accessing the average cost. We know that a phone is a key issue for employability. It's not just having a phone number for people to put on their resumés, but also we hear quite frequently that people who have been out of the labour force for a long time, when they mess up at a job once, are scared to go back. We hear from employers that because retention is such a key issue across the country, but especially in B.C. right now, they'd be happy to call their workers and say, it's okay to come back in; you messed up, don't worry. But they don't have a phone.
On November 8th, 2006. See this statement in context.