There was a fuss here at the legislature last week about B.C.’s rising social assistance cases.

In true political fashion, the argument wasn’t about the thousands of people being forced to turn to welfare. Instead, the focus was on the fact that the March numbers, scheduled to be released just as the election campaign started, were held back by government staff lest they be used for “partisan” purposes.

Other grim economic statistics were released as the campaign unfolded, but the rising welfare case load was deemed too sensitive.

For the record, by April there were 51,000 B.C. residents receiving “temporary assistance” because they are considered employable. That’s a jump of 28 per cent from a year earlier, most of it occurring in the first months of 2009.

Another 6,000 people were “temporarily excused” from seeking work as of April, and nearly 7,000 more were not deemed employable due to “persistent multiple barriers” such as mental illness or addiction.

Add the 70,000 (and rising) who receive permanent disability payments, and there is legitimate concern that the current $1.44 billion budget for social assistance payments isn’t going to be enough.

NDP leader Carole James, who raised the alarm about political interference in the statistical reports, acknowledged in an interview that the spike in cases was no surprise. Particularly in forestry-dependent towns, employable people are running out of EI benefits, and even if they have work prospects elsewhere they often can’t sell their homes and move.

Last week I described how Gordon Campbell and his fellow western premiers were posturing about the supposed unfairness of the Employment Insurance system. In fact, EI eligibility is based on the regional unemployment rate, and the upper two thirds of B.C. now qualifies for the lowest rate of 420 hours worked.

There are things for B.C. to be upset about. For instance, a pension bailout for GM workers, on top of the auto industry bailout that mainly benefits Ontario. It must be galling for people who have never had a company pension to bail out.

One of the few cheery economic statistics to come out so far in 2009 was an upsurge in self-employment in B.C. While that’s a sign of an entrepreneurial culture, it also reflects things like the wholesale shift to contractors in the logging industry. And it means that more people won’t have a company pension and will have to provide for themselves with RRSPs.

Campbell’s bad idea – fix an EI system that isn’t broken – seems to have traction in Ottawa, while his good ideas are ignored. One of those good ideas was buried in the B.C. Liberal campaign platform.

Apparently aware of the rising welfare caseload that the rest of us weren’t being told about, Campbell vowed to lobby Ottawa for a different kind of extension of EI benefits. As people run out of EI, B.C. would contribute the amount it is legally obliged to pay in social assistance, and Ottawa could top that up to the EI rate.

That would carry people through the recession at a more livable wage, at a discount cost to the federal treasury. But more importantly, it would help people avoid the welfare trap.

Welfare is not only income tested, it’s asset tested. To apply, you have to produce pay stubs, bank records, pension and RRSP statements, life insurance policies “showing cash surrender values,” student loans, vehicle registration, mortgage and property assessment, etc.

The system will then decide if you have to sell your home, car or other possessions for the program of last resort.