Author: Clicklaw Editor

Your Welfare Rights

New on Clicklaw

If you or someone you know have questions about income assistance in British Columbia, you’ll want to have a look at this updated publication from Legal Services Society. Your Welfare Rights: A Guide to BC Employment and Assistance has just been revised and reprinted.

This comprehensive guide has been around for 25 years, and includes information on Income Assistance for employable people,  Persons with Disabilities benefits, Persons with Persistent Multiple Barriers benefits, and Hardship benefits. The latest edition, in purple, is written in plain language and includes practical tips throughout. It also highlights important information on Persons with Disabilities benefits. Written for people who need to apply for benefits or who are already on income assistance, the booklet explains:

  • who is eligible for welfare,
  • the application process,
  • what benefits are available to you and your family,
  •  your responsibilities while on welfare,
  • how to appeal a decision, and
  • where you can get more information or help.

Available online in pdf format, this booklet is regarded by many community workers and public librarians as an invaluable resources to help their clients. You can also order free print copies from Crown Publications (under Quick Links, click Legal Services Society).

Clicklaw has links to Your Welfare Rights and other useful public legal education and information resources on pensions, benefits and welfare programs.

Public Access Computers in Public Libraries

The broader context

Do you use your public library for Internet access? That could be about to change. At the beginning of April, Industry Canada announced that they have ended the funding for the Community Access Program. This program had been operating since 1995 to help connect Canadians to the Internet by funding public access computers in places such as public libraries.

The Canadian Library Association is dismayed at this announcement and released a statement in response. Industry Canada says 79% of Canadians now have Internet access at home, and many can also get online access through their smart phone. However, the Canadian Library Association points out that only 54% of households in the lowest income quartile have home Internet access, so community-based Internet access is still needed. The BC Library Association also issued a statement, describing the funding cuts as “a blow to some of the country’s most vulnerable and remote communities.”

While a few larger public libraries in BC have announced that they’ll continue to provide public access computers, there are real concerns that many libraries in smaller communities will no longer have the resources to provide public access computers.

At Courthouse Libraries BC, we’re also dismayed that funding for the CAP program has ended. We work closely with public libraries in BC through our Law Matters program. We help them to develop legal collections for the public, and provide training for librarians on using Clicklaw to answer legal information questions. Our recently released consultation report, Talking to Librarians about LawMatters: Promising Practices, confirms that people use public access computers in public libraries for many purposes, including to access legal information, to complete court forms, and to apply for federal and provincial government programs. Ending the funding for these public access computers will have a negative impact on many communities in BC and across Canada.

The Nova Scotia CAP Association has launched a campaign to save the Community Access Program, called Save CAP. They’re asking people to contact their MP to say why they value this program. We encourage you to check out their website and have your say.