Derryl.Killan@p0.f61.n134.z1.fidonet.org (Derryl Killan) (05/15/91)
Index Number: 15656
On May 10 - 91 Susie Lee said the following:
">"How easy is it for anyone (anywhere in the country, anymore) to try
">"and make some kind of living, even in the poorest hovel, on mimimum
">"wages? Mimimum wages, government-set standard for what they think
">"one needs to start at as a cost-of-living salary.
Susie, the situation here in Calgary, Alberta is very similar to what
you describe down there. While we are in a recession our PRIEMIER we
are well off!! :-( . While I am off on a medical and collecting less
than $600.00 on social assistance I pay $400.00 for rent and 60 - 70 $
for utilities and the balance goes for anything and everything else but
prescription drugs. If I needed to work to buy my med I would need more
than $8.00/hr. as my calcium and rolcaltrol costs over $200.00/mo plus
my other meds. I have a lot of empathy for your plight as mine is
similar and while we jave low income housing it is a farce and joke as
there are many abuses to the sysytem and the supply is totally
inadequate. Unfortunately, the climate is not conductive to living on
the street and life has hit the lowest ebb if I need to do that.
I have two trades in Horticulture and twenty years experience and I am
lucky to make eight dollars per hour! Plus with the overcrowding and my
age the chances for retraining are zippo as I am close to fifty. People
over 45 are basically "retired" as they can't get a good job ($$$$).
While we live in different nations the plight of the poor is the same as
it has always been ... the poor get poorer while the rich get richer!!
Your Canadian friend Derryl Killan TTYL
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