TW: Too much idle chatter about Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Kissinger distracts from the outrages in front of our faces. Each and every death is singular. What is horrible about massacre is that it abstracts from this singularity. The business of throwing around numbers perversely confirms the logic of abstraction and implicitly 'justifies' reciprocal horrors. Meanwhile the slaughter continues unabated and is tolerated because each and every singular death can be discounted as only one-ten millionth as important as what happened half a century ago "somewhere else". Those who violate remembrance by such abstraction murder the victims of massacre over again. The following forwarded message only alludes to the circumstances of the death of a woman being punished for welfare fraud. Did Premier Harris of Ontario desire her death? You better believe it. The sine qua non of recent welfare reform has been reinstatement of the "incentive" to work or starve (in another time and place, *arbeit macht frei*). Who would deny that? Those who would like to comfort themselves with the thought that this case of welfare fraud is somehow "different" than concentration camps or policy-induced famines should be reminded that it is only a comfortable thought and not a substantive one. Forwarded from post to PAR-L made by Kim Pate, Executive Director of Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) Re: Death of Kim Rogers - 40 yr old woman who was under house arrest for 'welfare fraud' died during heat wave - she was 8 1/2 months pregnant Amanda Tadura of our Elizabeth Fry Society in Sudbury worked closely with Kim Rogers and has consequently been responding to media. We appreciate her diligent efforts to address the issues raised, during a very distressing time... In the interests of interfering in other similar situations -- before others die -- we need to discuss the broader issues here regarding the context in which Kim was set up to fail in the first place, regardless of her tragic and absolutely avoidable death ... She was essentially sentenced to death for welfare fraud ... I am referring of course to the fact that she was criminalized in the first place because of "welfare fraud". This label and resulting punishment were applied because Kim attempted to get an education while still on welfare. As part of the process, she also sought and received student loans. Although everyone knows that it is impossible to live on welfare without some supplemental income/support, to be caught doing so means an almost certainty of criminal prosecution. Because Kim received student loans while she was receiving social assistance (misnomer of course), the same province that created the criminally irresponsible welfare rates, chose to prosecute her for receiving $13,300 in welfare payments. She entered a guilty plea, and was consequently convicted of welfare fraud. She was then sentenced to a 6 month conditional sentence [which is supposed to have been an alternative to imprisonment -- and we should all continue to question why a jail sentence should be attached to this "offence" in the first place] and a restitution order to repay the provincial government the full $13,300 in welfare that she had received. Knowing she would be unable to seek any employment, not only because she was pregnant, but, most significantly, because one of the conditions of her sentence was that she could not leave her house -- Ontario then also terminated her welfare payments. Although a legal challenge resulted in the reinstatement of her welfare "benefits", the Ontario government continues to enforce its policy to terminate benefits and permanently disentitle from receiving welfare anyone convicted of welfare fraud. In fact, other provinces are now also following suit. In fact, just last week -- before Kim's death -- the media profiled similar problems in Nova Scotia, after a woman there was similarly convicted of welfare fraud and sentenced to house arrest and then had her social assistance terminated. Other provinces are apparently following suit. We all must act to interfere with these draconian, destructive and -- we argue -- illegal practices. These approaches are not only criminalizing the poor, but are sentencing them to destruction. Just exactly how does anybody think that someone sentenced to a jail sentence in their own home can support themselves [and their children, in the case of many single and sole support Moms] after they are permanently barred from obtaining social assistance. It is a complete and utter set up. If they leave their homes to obtain work or any other means of support, they may be subject to a further criminal charge of breaching the conditions (ie. the confinement part of the house arrest) of the conditional sentence. Such a breach will automatically result in a jail sentence. The logic is stunningly absent and the stupidity abundantly clear. Who says there is no war against the most dispossessed, especially the poor? Increasingly, we are seeing a direct relationship between such policies and the increased criminalization of the most marginalized, especially young, racialized and poor women ... This is a significant part of the reason that we, the Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies, have joined with the Canadian Association of Sexual Assault Centres to host the October 1-3, 2001 conference, Women's Resistance: From Victimization to Criminalization. These issues and welfare policies will be part of the overall conference agenda. More info is available via our website and although we are organizing with virtually no resources, what we do have, we are using to subsidize the most dispossessed to participate -- starting with women in and from prisons and shelters. Come join us in the struggle against the attacks on the poor and criminalization of the most dispossessed! Kim Pate Executive Director Canadian Association of Elizabeth Fry Societies (CAEFS) #701, 151 Slater Street Ottawa, Ontario K1P 5H3 Canada Telephone: (613) 238-2422 Mobile: (613) 298-2422 Facsimile: (613) 232-7130 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Home Page: www.elizabethfry.ca Tom Walker Bowen Island, BC 604 947 2213
