|
Make way for more black market propaganda This week, the Commission de la construction du Québec announced it was launching a "public information campaign" to dissuade people from working under the table. Featuring the inane slogan "La construction au noir, j'touche pas à ça, c'est clair!" (in English, "I'm steering clear of black market construction work," more or less), the PQ government hopes to make real troopers out of all the province's underemployed people. >> As part of the campaign, a squad of "young people, easily identifiable by their lively red outfits" will be invading construction sites to sensitize workers to the fight against black market work. >> But the Commission's moral zeal isn't shared by observers of the current welfare laws, under which thousands of Quebecers have suffered harsh "individualized" welfare cuts since the PQ embarked on its zero-deficit crusade. >> At a press conference held by a coalition of welfare-rights groups last week, a well-dressed Radio-Canada reporter raised the issue that welfare recipients were bilking government coffers while performing under-the-table construction work. >> One of the welfare rights spokespeople noted that welfare recipients don't commit fraud any more than the population as a whole. He then pointed out, with some passion, that even if a welfare recipient made $10,000 under the table, he or she would still be living below the poverty line. --Jacquie Charlton
|