Save your pitying looks and condescension, please.

[_ocelott_]

Recently the results of a study on the attitudes and misconceptions towards poverty in Canada were released. The Vancouver Sun carries a loaded article on it, full of quotes from the Salvation Army. Oooh, how legitimate sounding

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[_ocelott_]

Heh, I intimidate people sometimes when I get all ranty on a subject. I think occasionally folks are afraid to reply to my rants, so they kind of read it and then tiptoe away very quietly.

We do have a lovely health care system, which includes visits to the doctor and necessary hospital visits. It doesn't cover prescription medicines, though, or anything "extra" like the optometrist or dentist. A lot of workplaces will offer medical benefits, which includes paying for (in whole or in part) or refunding for those things. In the past month, I've had two kids with tonsilitis, which wound up costing us a little more than 50$ for the medicine they need. It could have been a lot more, especially if our taxes hadn't already paid for the two doctor visits required, but an unexpected 50$ when you're on a budget can be a lot, depending on the month. We manage, though, despite what the article with their bizarrely specific numbers tries to imply.

We're right smack in the middle of the continent, and while we're not wealthy, I would never have considered us poverty-stricken. We have enough money to cover our needs, and even some of our wants. Our income probably wouldn't be enough for us to live on in some of the other major Canadian cities (particularly, as you said, ones closer to the coasts) but we do fine where we are.