General

Wanted for arrest? No welfare for you

B.C. won’t dole out social assistance until outstanding warrants are “cleaned up”

The British Columbia government—determined to crack down on wanted criminals who abuse the welfare system—has introduced a bill that will deny social assistance to people with outstanding arrest warrants. Rich Coleman, the provincial minister for housing and social development, said the new law is aimed mainly at people from other jurisdictions who move to B.C., although it applies to anyone with an outstanding warrant for an indictable offence anywhere in the country. “They will now be asked if they have an outstanding warrant,” he explained. “If they have, they will be advised that they won’t be eligible for social assistance until they clean up the warrant.” The bright side? The government will pay “transportation costs” so would-be welfare recipients can travel back to the scene of their crimes and clean up those warrants.

CBC News

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