At the end of the day the government needs to justify to the taxpayer how the money is being used, what it will change, and why it is important. To me it is a bit strange that the Conservatives are running what seems to be an effective social program and they haven't really bragged about it yet. But, the media did their job and now Canadians who follow the news know what is going on.
I don't agree with blindly throwing money at welfare programs for the the sake of saying we 'help' people because we spend x amount of dollars on homeless people. There are to be a justification for literally every dollar spent. The US has a big problem with this. Billions upon billions spent in programs like food stamps without any serious effort being made to make sure the money is being spent effectively. Its not that the program is 'wrong'....its that nobody is making sure the money is being allocated to the right people. As the article states, doing that will often involve adopting what appear to be radical ideas on how to combat problems like homelessness.
I'm as libertarian as they come, but there are quite a few studies out there that have shown that effective welfare programs are a benefit to society down the road. Especially to the taxpayer who is often stuck paying the bill for the people who can't pay taxes. If this program can ultimately help homeless people get on their feet, get a job and begin contributing to society, it is a benefit to us all.
And please, its not like we have a serious spending problem. The Conservatives could easily cut the deficit if they wanted too, and still fund programs like this.
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