When Pharaoh wanted to harass the Israelite slaves he told them to make bricks without straw.
The expression “make bricks without straw” means to command getting a task done without appropriate resources. Premier Ghiz has told Islanders with disabilities, get your supports with less money making their already difficult lives more intolerable, in a sense “to make bricks without straw.”

The Provincial Disability Support Program was already under funded when the new government came to power.
Of 22,000 Islanders with disabilities, only 1,100 could access supports for assistive devices like wheelchairs, hearing aids or walkers.

The new government promised real change for Islanders with disabilities but set up one of its numerous committees to study the problem. Most people believe these committees are a stall tactic. The disability committee proved to be worse than most. It showed a disregard for people with disabilities.

When the parents of autistic children won their Human Rights case last June, the government said it would add $600,000 to cover the new costs. They upped the DSP budget to cover that expense.

After that the government announced a few months ago it was increasing monthly allowances for the 1,100 clients by $1,200 a year. Even if all the DSP clients don’t get the new money, this change will cost the government more than $1 million annually to meet that promise.

So did the government increase the DSP budget? No, it reduced it by $35,000 which is hard to figure out. Where will the money come from to pay for the monthly allowance increase?

When the Services Review committee makes its report this summer, where will the money come from to implement the changes that should come from the Disability Services Review?

The Sherry Report to the Legislature last week encouraged the government to examine the expected report with “due diligence.”
Islanders with disabilities are being abused by a government that is not protecting the weak. They are being told to make bricks without straw. I recommend the government read on through Chapter 15 of Exodus to find out what happened to the arrogant king a long time ago.