Senior citizens come second

by BRIAN LOCKHART

Compassion for our fellow residents on planet Earth is something we should all strive to achieve.

Helping your neighbours, friends, and family when they need it, shouldn't be something you have to think about.

However, not everyone accepts help in the same way.

If you have ever tried to help someone and they started taking advantage of you, you know your generosity will start to wane when you realize your help is never reciprocated.

This has happened to me quite a few times – live and learn.

We have had a big influx of new people arriving on our shores.

People move for all sorts of reasons. Some want more economic freedom and prosperity. Some desire a freedom they don't have in their own country.

There are few countries on the planet that I'm surprised everyone hasn't left already. The problem with those countries is the people that live there are so heavily guarded and blasted with propaganda, that they don't even realize there is a better world out there.

Let's say a local organization approaches you and says they have a person in their custody who needs a place to stay. They know you have space in your home, and ask if you will house the person until they get back on their feet.

You're a compassionate person and agree.

Do you kick your family member out of the in-law suite and tell them to take the cot in the basement so the new guy can have the space?

Probably not. That family member has worked a lifetime and supported you when you needed it. You're not going to toss them aside now.

Most likely you expect your new visitor to contribute to the household while they are staying there. Life isn't cheap and you have worked hard for what you have. That includes paying taxes, paying the water bill, the electric bill, and the gas bill. You pay for food, clothing, and everything else that you need.

If your visitor decides not to contribute, do you let him stay?

Last week it was revealed that the Federal government budgets around $224 per day to feed and house people who have claimed asylum after illegally entering the country.

Not only are hotels and other accommodations paid for, food is paid for, and other things are paid for like medicine, toiletries, and diapers. The budget allows for $84 per day for food, per claimant.

Think about that - $84 per day to eat?

The annual cost to taxpayers is $557 million. We paid for that.

At the same time, where I live, they are trying to build a new hospital for about a tenth of that cost, and the money is being raised by the community through donations – with little help from the government.

The program means the federal government spends ten times more on people who simply showed up illegally and claimed asylum than they do on seniors who spent their entire lives working and paying taxes in this country. That does not make sense, and it certainly isn't fair to people who have worked a lifetime and now can't afford their own home.

The asylum program is simply not working, and it doesn't take government committees or some group studies to figure this out.

In fact, probably the last people you want looking at this situation are government employees.

Our nation is surrounded by three oceans. People aren't fleeing a war-torn country and making their way here on rickety boats.

Many of the asylum seekers were already in a safe country before crossing the border simply because they were told that here, the government will pay for everything.

The government has turned a blind eye to the criminal element that is part of this process.

Those asylum seekers just didn't know the spot where they cross the border on foot, in some remote area of Quebec. They were guided there and likely paid a fee for the service.

Then there is the dangerous situation the parents are placing their children in.

A family of asylum seekers tied the reverse and decided to walk across the border from Canada to the U.S.- in Manitoba, in the winter.

All four of them froze to death.

If the government is budgeting more to pay for people who show up unannounced when we already have a housing shortage, than they do to support lifelong citizens, maybe it's a citizen committee that needs to start making recommendations about what should be accomplished.