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| Last updated at 12:53 PM on 24/03/08 |
Warm shelter: isn’t it a basic human right? 
A one-time donation to the Salvation Army doesn’t absolve government of its responsibility to address rising fuel prices.
EDITORIAL STAFF
The Guardian
At first glance, the recent decision by the P.E.I. government to give $200,000 to the Salvation Army to help cash-strapped Islanders pay their oil bills seemed, quite literally, like a case of passing the buck. However, in light of the growing urgency of this issue, it probably was the most efficient way to get help to those who need it.
With rising costs of home-heating oil, more Islanders are reportedly struggling to pay for fuel, and groups advocating for the needs of low-income Islanders have been lobbying government to do something. In January, a Liberal MLA said so many of his constituents have expressed worry about the costs of home-heating oil that he was prepared to ask the Island Regulatory and Appeals Commission to step in. In February, the St. Vincent dePaul Society of Holy Redeemer Parish in Charlottetown called on government to try to negotiate a lower minimum delivery cost for those who can’t afford the current rate. It also asked for a 25-30 per cent discount on the market price of fuel for anyone who makes under $25,000 a year. Many letters to the editor to this newspaper have also expressed alarm about the rising costs of fuel.
In response to this, the provincial government announced a week or so ago that it would contribute $200,000 to the Salvation Army’s fuel program. According to Premier Robert Ghiz, government took this route because the Salvation Army has a provincewide program in place that’s been proven effective and fair in getting help quickly to those who need it.
Fair enough. This has been a long and cold winter, and it’s important that government — which is usually slow to respond — act quickly so that people can keep their furnaces filled.
But the province can’t rest on its laurels. A one-time donation to the Salvation Army doesn’t absolve government of its responsibility to address the concern more and more Islanders are having about home-heating fuel costs.
Surely the right to warm shelter is a basic right. Government has to look seriously at subsidy options, tax credits or other forms of assistance to reach out to those Islanders who simply can’t afford to pay for the fuel they need. This problem isn’t going to fade away. Islanders are still facing at least a couple of months of weather that will require heat in the home. If fuel prices keep rising at the rate they have been, we can expect more Islanders to join the ranks of those now pinching pennies to stay warm. The $200,000 donation to the Salvation Army won’t last forever.
It’s an unsettling thought to consider what it would be like not to be able to afford fuel. And it makes one a little more empathic with the Island’s homeless who have never been able to take warm shelter for granted.
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24/03/08
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