When I read on Business in Vancouver that Save-on-Meats, a local diner and butcher shop located in Gastown of Vancouver, hires people who usually have barriers to entry to workforce, I was excited!  Upon further research, I noticed that they also provide meals for the Downtown Eastside Residents Association at a very low price.

Mark Brand, the owner of Save-on-Meats, is currently facing several lawsuits for late payments of invoices.  I felt conflicted about this – a part of me feels like the government should be subsidizing part of Mark’s costs for hiring people with special needs, but another part of me feels like it’s his fault for not running his business efficiently.  If the government did subsidize Save-on-Meats, would it be an unfair advantage for all the diners and butcher shops in the area?  Is it morally acceptable for the government to watch Save-on-Meats, possibly in the future, fail and stop providing jobs for the people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get jobs?  These are difficult questions that need to be asked; I personally believe that the government should support and encourage social enterprise businesses, as they sometimes encounter more challenges when compared to businesses that are solely after profits.  There’s a fine line for how much to subsidize or in what ways the government should before it becomes unfair, and where that line should be drawn is a big question.