Documents obtained through an access to information request show the Liberal government suppressed the release of welfare numbers until after the May 12 provincial election, B.C. NDP Leader Carole James said Monday.
The NDP alleges that the Public Affairs Bureau instructed Ministry of Housing and Social Development officials to delay the release of damaging statistics, which showed a dramatic rise in the province's welfare caseload.
In documents released by the NDP on Monday, a communications officer with the Public Affairs Bureau asked staff at the Ministry of Housing and Social Development not to post the March welfare statistics online during the election campaign.
"Hi John вЂ" can we please hold off on publishing these until after the election?" wrote the official on April 21.
In a later email, a Housing and Social Development official refers to "the requirement not to post information to the internet during the interregnum period" as a possible reason why the information was not posted online. An interregnum period is the time between two governments.
James said the Public Affairs Bureau officials were intentionally suppressing the posting of the welfare figures for political reasons.
"These documents show that the highly politicized Public Affairs Bureau cancelled the routine release of these damaging welfare caseload numbers during the election. It's clear the [Gordon] Campbell government put its political interests ahead of the public's right to information about B.C.'s economy and fiscal situation," James said Monday.
When the March welfare numbers were released by the Ministry of Housing and Social Development on May 15, they showed the number of people on social assistance who were able and expected to work had increased 49.8 per cent in the previous six months.
The B.C. Liberals won their third straight term in the May 12 election. They have not yet responded to the NDP's allegations.
