Welfare Fraud

As an activist, I like to spend, spend, spend. I spend my time when I do activist work; I spend your money when I spend my time spending your money; and I spend your money on good causes, like fighting cutbacks to spending.

To talk about welfare fraud in Ontario is to talk about Kimberly Rogers (*). It is a real tear jerker of a read. Poor Kimberly was five months pregnant with a fetus when she died. Poor little fetus, unwelcome in an Ontario abortion clinic because mom was gaffled up on welfare fraud. I guess welfare had stopped payment on the taxi ride to the abortionist. And now I have a headache because I never would have thought a feminist would consider a five month old fetus to be human. It is like being told that Stalin considered Trotsky human.

Since 2001 Kim has been the poster girl for rolling back the clock on welfare fraud reform. There has been tens of thousands of other heart rending stories about women pregnant with fetuses, living in places without food banks, beaten by men, and exposed to second hand smoke. I cannot find any, but there must be out there. Even this web site (*) does not mention the hundreds of thousands of others who have suffered because of welfare fraud reform. The invisible cheese grater of white privilege must have got them.

Statistics and Policy

Q: How many people were convicted of welfare fraud this year?

A: In December 2001, there were 682,862 people receiving social assistance in Ontario. In 2000-2001, Ontario investigated 52,582 social assistance recipients for fraud. Only 430 people were criminally convicted of welfare fraud

Thats not very much, now is it? Just because 430 people show errors in judgement (caused and mitigated by poverty, racism, global warming, blah blah blah) is no reason to form a negative opinion about these, our most vulnerable citizens (both legal and illegal). And as for the 52,582 who were investigated (roughly ten percent of all welfare people), well, that number means nothing. If you want to embrace the New Left Logic, remember that seven cops being investigated by the Human Rights Commission is important, but 52,582 welfare fraud investigations (with 430 criminal convictions) is not important.

Speaking of funding. Go check out the site of the Disabled Women's Network Ontario (*). When you scroll down a page, you will see that they receive No Funding and have No Paid Staff. Thats great! The heteronormative right always says that these publically funded interest groups are just mouthpieces of self-serving activists to protect their jobs and promote featherbedding. And there, right after the heading Organizations Whom We Work With is the factoid that DAWN did not get their funding from the Trillium Foundation. They get no funding, but they do apply for funding. Vimy-Ridge-Canadians would think this hypocritical, but in other Half-Canadian cultures this is an acceptable cultural norm. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a racist, now aren't they?

I, Fenris Badwulf, wrote this.

crossposted at DustMyBroom, because they care