TTC Fare Hike

It's been a slow week. Not much to report. I was discussing the proposed 10¢ TTC fare increase with my roommate's roommate this evening. He's dead set against it. Especially since some of it is supposed to go towards paying for free rides for children 12 and under.

I told him, I didn't care because it was only 10¢. I mean, really, who cares about 10¢? He said he doesn't want his tax dollars to go towards subsidizing rides for someone else's children. This is from someone who not only goes to the doctors every time he has a runny nose or a little pain here or there. Not only that, he also mentioned he once was on social assistance.

I said that since he got free money from the government, how could he complain about children riding free on public transit? He replied, social assistance "isn't free". Incredulously, I asked him exactly what he had to do for it. He couldn't come up with an answer. He just repeated, it wasn't free, and that he paid for it with his tax dollars in the past (as if no one else in the country pays taxes). His answer had nothing to do with the question because, of course, social assistance is free money. So, what could he say?

He then said I was lucky not to have needed social assistance (as if everything I have magically appeared out of nowhere). I told him people were stupid with regards to how they manage their money.

He helped prove my point by telling me about how one of his customers at the LCBO asked him to help him get a job there. He said the guy had two kids and had been out of work for half a year. He was trying to prove the point that some people are struggling and need social assistance. I asked him why the guy was buying booze at the LCBO if he was out of work and had two kids to feed.

For the record, I don't have a problem with people getting social assistance. Nor do I have a problem with paying 10¢ more to ride the TTC in order for someone's kid to travel for free. It's just not that big of a deal to me.

In the end he just said he's happy to live in Canada where everyone is allowed to express their opinions freely (which had nothing to do with anything either). We left it at that.