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NEWS RELEASE · 2nd January 2012
SURREY NDP MLA KICKS OFF 30-DAY WELFARE CHALLENGE
Mike Raptis - The Province
Surrey-Fleetwood NDP MLA Jagrup Brar stands before the media, his family and supporters in Surrey on a crisp Sunday morning still questioning what he has got himself into.

The 52-year-old is the only B.C. MLA to undertake a challenge issued by an anti-poverty coalition to spend a month living on B.C.’s welfare rate of $610 — and Brar admits he’s a little nervous about how he’ll fare.

Read the Rest Here
Brave man!
Comment by Karen Dedosenco on 2nd January 2012
This takes an awful lot of guts to voluntarily subject oneself to homelessness - especially in the winter months. I look forward to hearing about Jagrup's experiences, and of the lives of the people he meets, as no one can truly know what it is like unless you have been there.
The Late Emery Barnes...
Comment by Helmut Giesbrecht on 2nd January 2012
...Former MLA and Speaker of the Legislature did this 25 years ago to draw attention to the plight of folks on welfare. He was the only one who took up the challenge issued by End Legislated Poverty at the time. He lost 30 lbs in the process. Emery was a tall man and former BC Lions football player. He was not overweight so the loss of weight was noticeable. He did it for an extra 25 days as well.

I had the good fortune to be a colleague with Emery for a short time and he was a real prince of a gentleman. They don't come any better.

Jagrup Brar is to be commended for his attempt to draw attention to the plight of folks on welfare and the poor in general. Such an experience will have a profound effect on Mr. Brar as it did on Emery Barnes.

You can google Emery Barnes and find interviews with him on his early years in poverty in New Orleans and how his experience on the streets of the Downtown Eastside effected him.