Taxes on the poor .... the government is getting back every dime from Bell Islanders where the unemployment rate is over 50% and participation in the labour market at all is less than 50%...

There are fewer than 3,000 residents on Bell Island, Conception Bay, but in 2004 they spent more than $5 million on gambling, alcohol and cigarettes, according to a study by the Bell Island Health and Wellness Advisory Council. Of that money, $1 million was pumped into video lottery terminals.

When the iorn ore mines shut down on Bell Island some 15,000 people moved off the island. The vast majority settled in the Cambridge area and commenced factory work. For those that have remained, work has been scarce and unemployment is now generational.