The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor A noticeable rise in the number of Flin Flon region residents on welfare is holding steady. Provincial statistics (excluding December) show the region had a monthly average of 439 people on welfare in 2012. That was virtually unchanged from the 2011 average of 445 and the 2010 average of 446, and slightly higher than the 2009 average of 429. It was in 2009 that welfare rates rose after at least three straight years of marked decline. The monthly average in 2008 was 378 compared to 409 in 2007 and 473 in 2006. In 2012, single parents accounted for more than half, 54 per cent, of all welfare recipients in the region. Another 23 per cent were classified as disabled, with the remainder receiving general assistance or assistance in the 'other' category. When it comes to welfare, the province combines Flin Flon, Cranberry Portage, Snow Lake and non-treaty residents in Pukatawagan into a single category. Figures specifically for Flin Flon are not provided, but it is by far the largest community in the region. The figures do not include First Nations band welfare, which some residents claim, as those funds come from the federal government. Meanwhile, almost all Flin Flon's government housing units _ 72 of 76 _ were full as of Dec. 31, 2012. However, the community lost 14 units earlier in the year when the moisture-plagued housing complex at 4 Hemlock Drive was abandoned. The NDP government hopes to begin construction on a replacement facility this fall, but it's not clear when it might open. The new building will go up either at 4 Hemlock, following demolition of the current complex, or another location yet to be determined. Wherever it is located, the new building is to include a similar number of suites as the 14 in the existing complex.
