Re: "Welfare families can afford food," letter, Oct. 9.

Income Assistance Minister Claude Richmond suggests a 2006 Dietitians of Canada report shows recipients would have sufficient money left over after paying for food, rent, and utilities.

The report shows no such thing. What it showed was that a family of four would have left over in 2006 would be one per cent of their income, or $14, for everything else -- bus passes, clothing, school supplies, shoes, every kind of incidental expense. Of course, the government's "magnaminous" $100 increase will raise it somewhat, but the cost of rent, food, and utilities have also gone up since 2006.

The report is sobering reading. It reveals B.C. has the highest child poverty rate in Canada and that for a family on welfare, 99 per cent of their disposable income is required to rent shelter and buy the food basket. As the report points out, families in this circumstance are forced to sacrifice the quality and quantity of food to meet other costs of daily living.