09) MLA SETS EXAMPLE BY WADING INTO LIVES OF THE POOR

By Gurpreet Singh

     As the occupy movement against one percent super rich and in solidarity with 99 percent of the working class and downtrodden continues across North America, a New Democrat MLA from British Columbia, Jagrup Brar, has set an example by wading into the lives of homeless and poor.

     Brar accepted a challenge from an anti-poverty advocacy group called Raise the Rates and lived on $610 during January. That's the amount a person surviving on B.C. welfare gets. Raise the Rates had thrown a challenge before the BC MLAs to survive on this meager amount for a month.

     Brar was the second MLA to accept the challenge after Emery Barnes, who survived on the welfare money 25 years ago. Incidentally, both men were from visible minority groups. Whereas Barnes was black, Brar is an Indo-Canadian.

     As part of the challenge, Brar resided among the homeless and needy both in Surrey and in Vancouver. At his Surrey room where he stayed during the first half of January, visitors were greeted by the picture of Barnes, who became a role model for Brar during the experiment. While doing so Brar gained first hand experience of what it means to be poor in a province that government ads claim to be the best place on earth.

     In his hometown of Surrey, Brar had to survive on Food Bank and met with a number of people without jobs, homeless, single mothers and refugees. A big map dotted with population relying on Surrey Food Bank also welcomed visitors at his small room. The only washroom in the building was shared by other occupants. The room rent was about $400. Another room offered to him for $300 was as big as a closet but wasn't available immediately. 

     The life in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside was worst where Brar lived among 55 single room occupants. The building has five floors with 11 single rooms on every floor for each individual. They all shared one washroom, and each individual was required to take care of personal hygiene. The room rent was $410 a month and Brar lived on free food served by a Church next door. "Nobody can survive on such a small amount when the lion's share of the welfare money is spent on renting a room", he said in an interview with this reporter at his stinky and suffocating room which had a broken fridge.

     The line up at the free lunch and dinner at Church and a long wait for one's turn to get a shower takes a lot of time from the schedule of a poor person who is on a job hunt. Brar came to understand closely how the myths about these people have demonized the poor in the mainstream media. He wrote his daily experiences in a diary and took notes of the testimonies of the people he met.

     Within his own Indo-Canadian community such myths continue to prevail and Brar was also attacked by many callers during open line radio talk shows. "Many Indo Canadians think that this is the problem of the mainstream whereas I also came across many Punjabis on welfare. The Indo-Canadians don't know this because those on welfare in our community are scared to tell the truth and do not share their stories with others fearing humiliation and ridicule."

     At the end of this journey Brar broke financially. What gave him strength was a greeting card from his daughter Noor hanging from one of the walls. Though he was aware that it was not real for him, as he would eventually return to his normal and comfortable lifestyle, yet he faced occasional hardships. He refused to accept a samosa from a kind-hearted landlord at his temporary home in Surrey. He barged into Brar's room when a media interview was in progress. "I am supposed to kill my urge and not to accept such luxuries. Others might accept them but I can't and that makes this experience real for me."

     The occupy movement was partially sparked by the vacuum caused by lack of leadership. Only more humanist politicians like Brar can reassure people who are disappointed and disillusioned with the system. While some critics accuse Brar of trying to take political mileage out of this experience, they are missing a point that politicians cannot survive by ignoring the strength and expectations of the voters. What is important to remember is whom the politicians are trying to please? The elite and the corporate or the poor and needy? If a good deed is performed to attract

(The above article is from the February 15-29, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)