Kamloops protesters rally against new bus pass fees for people with disabilities | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Kamloops protesters rally against new bus pass fees for people with disabilities

Protestors in front of the Ministry of Social Development office in Kamloops rally against an increase in bus pass fees for people with disabilities, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.

KAMLOOPS - As funding for people with disabilities changes, protests across B.C. took place today, including Kamloops.

About a dozen people attended the protest in front of the Ministry of Social Development building on Seymour Street.

B.C. Association of Social Workers president Michael Crawford says they were protesting a “clawback” by the provincial government which starts today, Sept. 1. 

“People on income assistance will receive an additional $77 a month,” he says. “Coupled with that raise (the province) is taking away the $45 a year bus pass and they’re replacing it with a $52 a month bus pass.”

As the raise is the first in nine years, Crawford says what amounts to a $25 a month net increase for those who choose to purchase a bus pass is too little.

The protest in was organized by the B.C. Coalition for Poverty Reduction and the Kamloops and District Labour Council.

Candidates for the NDP and Communist party were a part of the group. Nancy Bepple, a candidate for the NDP nomination in the Kamloops-South Thompson, says it’s important to her party people with disabilities can get the services they need.

Kamloops-South Thompson Communist Party candidate Beat Klossner says bus fares are a usage fee and he would like to see free transit across the province.


To contact a reporter for this story, email Brendan Kergin or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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