Sharing Our Realities

Life on Disability Assistance in British Columbia

DisabilityCaucus

Sharing Our Realities: Life on Disability Assistance in British ColumbiaBy Heather McCain, Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods and Omar Chu, BC Poverty Reduction Coalition

AcknowledgementsThank you to Laurie Hill, Doug Cook, and Scott Bernstein for their assistance. Thank you to Lorraine Copas for providing statistics about people with disabilities in BC, and to Ayendri Perera and Julian Tennent-Riddell for reviewing and editing the initial draft. Thank you to Erin Pritchard, Doug Kinna, Kelly Newhook, Bill Hopwood, Faith Bodnar, and Paul Gilbert for their insightful edits and comments. And a special thank you to Trish Garner for all her work on the report.

This publication is available under limited copyright protection. You may download, distribute, photocopy, cite or excerpt it provided it is credited and not used for commercial purposes. Permission is required for all other uses.

Layout: Omar ChuPhoto on Page 3 by Trish Garner Photo on Page 4 by Omar ChuPhoto on Page 21: “6th ANNUAL WOMEN’S HOUSING MARCH” (https://www.flickr.com/photos/caelie/7998504825) by Caelie_Frampton (https://www.flickr.com/photos/caelie/) is licensed under CC BY 2.0

DisabilityCaucus

Sharing Our Realities

Life on Disability Assistance in British Columbia

April 2017

“BC’s disability assistance rates, despite the recent $50 increase, remain woefully inadequate and thousands of people with disabilities live in abject poverty as a result. Most people have no knowledge of the challenges experienced by British Columbians who receive disability assistance. Their realities need to be heard. The personal stories in Sharing Our Realities will help people learn about the hardship experienced by so many people with disabilities. They speak of desperation and sadness. They are the same stories that are so familiar to us at Disability Alliance BC. These realities need to change.”

-Jane Dyson Executive Director, Disability Alliance BC

“Inclusion BC along with a group of dedicated community partners have led the call to action to raise and maintain Persons with Disabilities (PWD) rates at a level that is respectful and provides for the security and fundamental dignity of people with disabilities in BC. Inclusion BC remains committed to seeing this happen. To date, we have seen small increases that in no way address the real challenges faced by some of BC’s most vulnerable citizens. Sharing Our Realities adds to the call for a fair, equitable and progressive approach to supporting people with disabilities so they can take their rightful place as full citizens. By telling the stories of those who are forced to subsist on PWD, Sharing Our Realities underscores the inaction of our province and the lack of a coherent plan to address the abject poverty of BC citizens with disabilities.”

-Faith Bodnar Executive Director, Inclusion BC

“Income assistance rates in BC have been frozen for over a decade, and disability assistance rates have not been meaningfully increased over that same time frame. Even those inadequate amounts are difficult for many to access, given the government’s increasing push to technology-based service delivery. While the public conversation about these issues often gets lost in facts and figures, Sharing Our Realities provides an eye-opening look at how our government’s decisions affect real members of our communities.”

-Erin Pritchard, Staff Lawyer, BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre

Contents2 Introduction

8 Dignity 9 Interactions with Government 10 Access and Accountability 11 Profile: Richard 12 Profile: Frank 13 Accessibility 14 Profile: Ryan

16 Raise the Rates 17 Profile: Sen 19 Profile: Alex 20 The Bus Pass 21 Housing

22 Mental, Emotional and Physical Health 23 Profile: Whitecrow Village FASD Society Team

24 Conclusion 24 Profile: Mishi

26 Key Recommendations

27 Appendix

2 Sharing our Realities

In 2014, the BC government announced that it wanted to be the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities. It initiated the Disability White Paper Consultation which resulted in over 7,500 comments, ideas, suggestions and solutions, through online and in-person consultations throughout British Columbia.

The introduction in the resulting Disability Consultation Report says that “our government is building a British Columbia where everyone can participate in the economic prosperity of our beautiful province.” 1 The government’s actions are not living up to this promise.

In 2016, the BC government made an announcement that severely impacted the over 100,000 citizens in BC with the designation of Persons with Disabilities. The announcement included a modest increase of $77 to disability assistance rates administered by the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation (the

“Ministry”), while also drastically changing important programs that improve access to transportation for many people with disabilities.

Prior to the changes, the BC Bus Pass Program offered an annual bus pass at a reduced cost of $45 per year for disability assistance recipients in areas where BC Transit and Translink operate. The Special Transportation Subsidy provided a lump sum subsidy to people who resided in an area where the Bus Pass Program operated, but were unable to use public transit because of a disability. Approximately 55,000 of the 100,000 provincial disability assistance recipients relied on one of these two transportation programs.

The announcement said that as of September 1, 2016, these programs would now charge $52/month for a bus pass, or $66/month for the Special Transportation Subsidy.

The stories in this report are directly from people with disabilities living under the poverty line and feeling the crushing weight of that every day, as well as from the people who work within the income assistance system and see the demoralizing effects government policy has on people with disabilities.

Introduction

1 Disability Consultation Report: Moving Together Toward an Accessible B.C. A Reflection of the Voices of British Columbians Heard During the Disability White Paper Consultation, May 2014, page 5

Sharing our Realities 3

This meant that for those recipients, the rate increase was actually only $25 or $11, respectively. Further, the government had said that it would charge an additional $45 per year “administrative fee.”

The announcement about the change to the bus pass program and rate increase blindsided many in the disability community as well as disability organizations and advocates who have been working with the government to increase rates for people with disabilities. Before the changes, rates had not been increased in nine years, and people with disabilities were struggling to cover basic needs. Now, the government was giving with one hand while taking with the other.

The government stated they were giving people with disabilities a choice, they could choose transportation or cancel their bus pass and receive the full $77 a month. Of the 35,000 people with disability designation who used the bus pass program, most felt this was more of a burden than a choice. They now had to decide between applying the small increase to rent, medications, medical services and/or food or continuing to have access to transportation. It was a cruel catch-22; people with disabilities need both money and transportation. Indeed, it was a very hard decision, applied to people who already live with the weight of poverty on their shoulders.

Multiple media sources ran stories on the hardship, frustration and despair for people with disabilities being forced to choose between a full increase or the bus pass, as well as the anger over the first increase in nearly a decade being such a small amount that would do little to better the lives of people with disabilities.2 Rallies were held around BC in protest of the changes. A

petition with over 15,000 signatures was presented to the BC government,3 and over 160 provincial and local community groups signed a joint open letter opposing the changes and calling for an increase in rates.4

Inclusion BC Executive Director Faith Bodnar stated:

“This announcement simply equalizes the hopeless poverty of people dependent on PWD benefits. Minister of Finance Mike de Jong indicated that the rate increase will level the playing field and provide choice for people with disabilities in how they use their transportation funding, with reference to those who sell their bus passes. This disparaging viewpoint and callous attitude is deeply offensive to the poorest and most vulnerable people in BC. People on PWD struggle with impossible pressures including whether to get a bit of extra money to buy food or take the bus.” 5

In the face of criticism, the government quietly changed the wording regarding the raise, no longer referring to the increase as $77, but rather that people on disability assistance were receiving a $25 increase with a $52 transportation support

allowance. This did not appease those with 2 BC Poverty Reduction Coalition - Raise the Rates, Leave Our Bus Pass Alone mediahttp://bcpovertyreduction.ca/campaigns/disability-campaign/#media3 Inclusion BC, Petition to raise PWD rates and end bus pass claw-back delivered to Minister Stilwellhttp://www.inclusionbc.org/disability-supports/whats-new/petition-raise-pwd-rates-and-end-bus-pass-claw-back-delivered-minister4 BC Poverty Reduction Coalition - Raise the Rates, Leave Our Bus Pass Alone Open Letterhttp://bcpovertyreduction.ca/campaigns/disability-campaign/#open-letter5 Inclusion BC, Disability Benefit Rate Increase – Equalizing Poverty for BC’s Most Vulnerable Citizenshttp://inclusionbc.org/disability-supports/whats-new/disability-benefit-rate-increase-equalizing-poverty-bc-s-most-vulnerab

4 Sharing our Realities

disabilities, or the organizations or advocates who knew that wording was not what needed to be changed.

The government then announced that they were going to waive the $45 a year administration fee, which was a minor concession that did not address the issue of forcing people to choose between transportation or the full rate increase.

All those who fought for years to have an increase in rates tried once again to make the government understand that for those living in poverty on disability assistance without a rate increase in nine years, a $25 increase was not nearly enough to cover the increase in costs of housing, food, utilities, medication, and other necessities of life.

This is a clear violation of Canada’s human rights commitments. In the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Canada ratified in 2010, Article 28(1) recognizes, “the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions.” 6

As Tom Page, chair of the ACORN disability rights group explained:

“The situation has worsened to the point of desperation for many, many people, they are receiving about half of what they need to survive. This is a human right that Canada has accepted and recognized in 2010 — it was ratified in Parliament, and it’s being violated.” 7

The decision to increase the rates by such a small amount was all the more baffling considering how much information the government has about the inadequacy of

rates. Disability assistance rates were one of the most commented upon issues during the Disability White Paper Consultation, as people shared that they did not feel able to participate in British Columbia’s economic prosperity. The report reads:

“One issue that arose throughout the consultation was the call for an increase in disability assistance rates. A number of suggestions were put forward to address this issue, including establishing an evidence-based system to assess and set the disability assistance rates, aligning rates with Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, and indexing rates to inflation.”8

In the Summary of Shared Ideas of the report, the second point is that “The disability assistance rate should be in line with Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, about $1,200-$1,300 per month, and indexed to inflation.” 9 However,

the 2016 rate increase kept the disability assistance rate below $1,000.

In addition to the disability assistance rates, the BC Bus Pass Program was also mentioned in the report: “Expanding the BC Bus Pass Program to include all persons with disabilities in BC was suggested by a number of individuals.” 10

Instead of expanding the program, the government has forced many to choose a rate increase in place of the bus pass program that once worked so well for them. 6 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/article-28-adequate-standard-of-living-and-social-protection.html7 News1130 article: BC disability still leaving people below poverty line: advocate, http://www.news1130.com/2016/12/03/disability/8 Disability Consultation Report: Moving Together Toward an Accessible B.C. A Reflection of the Voices of British Columbians Heard During the Disability White Paper Consultation, May 2014, page 209 Ibid. page 2610 Ibid. page 20

Sharing our Realities 5

11 Report on the Budget 2017 Consultations, Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services, page 25

Throughout 2016, Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods (CAN) was routinely contacted by people with disabilities who felt they had no voice or power in this province. People had participated in the 2014 government consultation, but felt that their comments and suggestions were ignored, written into papers, and then filed away. They desperately wanted their voices to be heard by the general public. They wanted fellow British Columbians to have an understanding of what it is like to live on current disability rates.

In addition to the Disability Consultation Report mentioning the need for a rate increase, the government’s own 2017 Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services stated that:

“The current income and disability assistance rates should be examined and increases considered to reflect the true cost of living in B.C., including the high cost of housing and rental accommodations, and to index the

rates to inflation. The Committee heard that the current rates are not enough for people to live on and this can cause undue hardship for those who may already face multiple barriers to inclusion and participation in their communities.” 11

The government has ignored its own consultation processes.

As CAN was founded by people with disabilities who did not feel their voices were being heard or considered in decisions affecting their communities, we took action by creating the Sharing Our Realities survey.

We strongly believe in ensuring people with disabilities have the opportunity to use their experience to educate others, to broaden perspectives, and to ensure that all British Columbians see themselves reflected within their community.

CAN wanted the Sharing Our Realities survey to be a platform to give voice to those who were feeling ignored by their government and who were not seeing their stories or realities reflected in popular media.

As we began to create the questions for our survey, we realized that we were focusing on only one side of the system (i.e. disability assistance recipients), the other side being people who work within the system - namely, ministry workers. They see the effects of policy on the lives of their clients, so CAN created a second survey for those working within the system to learn what they thought needed to be improved to truly help those with disabilities.

We were told by many ministry workers that they are discouraged from speaking out about the inadequacy of disability assistance and problems with service delivery — and that they fear dismissal if they do so. As a result, few were willing to respond to our survey. Despite this, we felt it necessary to give both sides a chance to speak out. In order to improve the system and thus the lives of people with disabilities, we must work together and understand each other’s perspectives.

“Income Assistance workers tell me all the time how powerless they now feel to actually make a difference in people’s lives within the current service delivery model,” says Doug Kinna, a British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union elected representative for Ministry social workers. “Things used to be different.”

Not surprisingly, people on disability assistance and ministry workers have very similar perspectives about what ails the system and what is needed to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

6 Sharing our Realities

Sharing Our Realities Survey Response Themes

The income assistance system devalues people and treats them without dignity.

Accessing Persons with Disability designation is increasingly challenging, and the transition to a more technology-based system reduces access and government accountability.

Accessible infrustructure is crucial for all — at some point, everyone has a disability and will need accessibility.

We need to significantly raise income and disability assistance rates and index them to inflation.

The bus pass and the special transportation subsidy were a lifeline to those who recieved them and should be restored.

Shelter rates do not cover shelter costs. There is a need for subsidized housing with shorter wait lists, including accessible units and housing that accepts pets.

The lack of funds and support for people with disabilities erodes their mental, emotional and physical health.

2.

1.

4.

3.

6.

5.

7.

Sharing our Realities 7

The surveys were open for three months. The survey for people with disabilities was completed by 72 individuals from across the province: 56 recieve disability assistance [commonly referred to as PWD], 5 are in the process of applying (4 currently on income assistance and 1 recieving People with Persistent Multiple Barriers to Employment [PPMB]), 1 is receiving CPP disability with a top-up from their employer, 1 is receiving benefits through an insurance policy and 6 are receiving income from elsewhere. The Income Assistance Workers survey was completed by 15 individuals: 13 are Employment and Assistance Workers and two are advocates who work within the system.

Since the completion of the survey, on February 17 2017, the government announced that they would be raising monthly disability rates from $983 to $1,033. This is far lower than the minimum recommendations from disability organizations, the survey respondents, and the government’s own Disability Consultation Report.

Vancouver Sun columnist Stephen Hume echoed popular feelings about this increase writing:

“Friday’s announcement that disability assistance will increase by what actually amounts to less than a penny an hour is a shocking insult to 107,000 citizens already forced to live in penury because of inadequate assistance rates.” 12

Shockingly, basic income assistance (welfare) rates were not increased at all and remain frozen at $610. Many people with disabilities have to live on income assistance with its lower rates and asset limits during their long application for disability assistance.

British Columbia must create a plan to support those on disability assistance within a comprehensive poverty reduction plan. British

Columbia is the only province that has never established or made commitments towards a poverty reduction strategy.

The government may talk about wanting all British Columbians to “participate in the economic prosperity of our beautiful province,” but its actions are sending a different message.

In the 2016 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Michael De Jong stated that:

“the measure of any society is reflected in the degree to which it is willing to help the most vulnerable and create the kind of supports that will truly make a difference in their lives. For these British Columbians, we want to be able to provide the help they need to be happy, healthy, productive and as independent as possible in their lives. That’s what our social safety net is there for.” 13

As you will see in the following stories, we are certainly not happy and healthy. In fact, the lives of people with disabilities living under the poverty line hang in the balance.12 Vancouver Sun column: Meagre provincial hike to disability assistance an insult, http://vancouversun.com/opinion/columnists/stephen-hume-meagre-provincial-hike-to-disability-assistance-an-insult 13 Budget Speech 2016, page 17

Sharing Our Realities Respondents

8 Sharing our Realities

Dignity“We deserve to be treated with the same respect and compassion that all British Columbians deserve.” – Joe

The main theme woven throughout the survey responses is that the system devalues people. In fact, seventeen respondents (24%) used the words “dignity” or “respect” when describing what they were asking from government.

“Personally, I feel like a non-person, with little worth or value,” Ashley14 said.

“Someone who is easily forgotten and whose needs are shoved under the carpet. No dignity is afforded me.”

These emotions are rooted in a feeling of being ignored and unheard. “We have been talking at them for years but they aren’t actually listening,” Terrance explained. “They did a white paper and then ignored the majority of what we said.”

Therefore, it is unsurprising that a key suggestion for how the government needed to change its practice was to make decisions with people with disabilities and to recognize the diversity of experiences and needs within that group.

Suggestions for what this would look like varied including:

• creating a council of people with disabilities currently in the system to be a major voice in policy making

• having an independent committee or taskforce in charge of a complaint mechanism, and

• employing people with disabilities within the Ministry.14 Survey respondents were asked if they wanted their full name included, their first name only, or to be anonymous. If they chose to be anonymous, we’ve used pseudonyms.

Sharing our Realities 9

15 Disability Benefits, Income Assistance, Help for People with Persistent Multiple Barriers to Employment, CPP Disability or Old Age Security pension

Currently, people with disabilities’ experiences interacting with government workers are largely unpleasant. In fact, of the sixty-four respondents who were on social assistance,15 fifty-one respondents (80%) said that they disliked their experiences interacting with the Ministry.

“I find the experience of talking to a government worker about my disability benefits frightening, demeaning, degrading, insulting and almost impossible to accomplish,” Joe wrote.

Among the five respondents who documented explicitly positive experiences, two implied that service was dependent on their own behaviour. “I am always polite and smile a lot no matter how poorly I feel,” Taylor explained, “and I never take my frustrations

out on front line workers, so my experiences are positive.”

Some respondents attributed negative individual interactions with government workers to larger systemic factors:

“You can hear the frustration in the staff’s voice from word one,” Rosa noted. “They are overworked and treated badly by the government, a lot of them aren’t even trained properly and don’t know how to help us, and usually, because of how badly managed the offices are, they have been dealing with irate people which makes them tense and easier to get upset at our questions.”

Interactions with the Government: “I try to be polite and they get miserable and yell at me sometimes.” –Sheryl Ann

Yasmine, who has experience as both a volunteer advocate and a client within the system, had a complex understanding of the factors at play:

“Workers are put in the impossible position of denying essentials to people, overworked and dealing with very stressed out people amongst other things. I choose to believe the stresses of the job make them condescending, rude and plain disrespectful to their clients.

They don’t treat us like equal human beings but as a ‘lower life form.’ I have had some

workers who genuinely treat me like a human being, deserving of respect, kindness and compassion, but they

are far and few between. The attitude seems to be that we are somehow at fault for living in poverty and thus deserve bad treatment.

I also volunteer as an advocate helping people fill out disability forms (among other things). The attitude coming towards me as an advocate is completely night and day from most experiences of mine as a client of the ministry. They are kind, helpful and respectful when I identify myself as an

advocate helping someone else.”

10 Sharing our Realities

Many of the income assistance workers noted that the system is degrading and frustrating for both clients and staff. Two even pointed out that the office décor added to the degrading environment. Staff noted that the application process for disability assistance seems designed to be complicated, frustrating and confusing for many clients. Eight respondents (53%) said that the application form was too long.

“The form needs to be streamlined,” Tory said. “In the early ‘90s, the form was two pages, now it is 28 pages. The application is too long and complicated for our clients. A lot of the people applying have health issues worsened by stress, we are literally making people sicker or live in more pain, not to mention the constant stress they live with until they find out whether they’ve been approved or not.”

Eight respondents (53%) said that the system needs to be less adversarial and

support people as opposed to questioning them, while three (20%) thought that adjudicators should have a medical background or at least accept the expertise of medical professionals.

“Disability claims are routinely rejected,” Jesse wrote. “It almost seems to be a systemic piece that applicants are rejected at least once, and often more than once before they are accepted, just to see if people are persistent enough to get the support they are entitled to and desperately need. We have found that without professional help from WELL trained volunteers and professionals in filling out the forms, people will NOT be accepted for disability, regardless of need.”

More specifically Jan wrote, “Our provincial government is proud of the 50% diversion rate [for intake applications]. This needs to change. We shouldn’t be taking pride in that. Change the system from diverting to helping.”

Despite not specifically being asked, thirteen respondents (18%) reported that government mistakes and contradictory information from different government workers impacted them financially. This is particularly frustrating considering the immense scrutiny and consequence for mistakes made by people with disabilities.

“They worked me over recently for 6 months accusing me of all sorts of things and here it was their clerical errors,” Dave wrote. “Never said sorry. Nothing... I was worried sick for 6 months, and they were really rude.”

Despite not being specifically asked, nine respondents (12.5%) explicitly recommended

returning to a system with individualised caseworkers as opposed to the current system which depends on the phone and the internet.

“When I started on disability, we were assigned a social worker who was part advocate, part educator and someone who really knew your file.” Terrance explained.

“There was also accountability. Now you phone and, if you actually get through, you get a random person who doesn’t know anything about you and seems too overworked to want to help.”

The challenges with the system start with the multi-step application process. In addition to the five respondents who are currently

Access and Accountability: “There doesn’t seem to be any accountability when it comes to the ministry making mistakes. But when an innocent mistake is made on our side, we are treated like dirt.” –Rob

Workers’ Views

Sharing our Realities 11

I actually am not on PWD yet, I am currently applying for the third time since becoming sick with a neurological condition similar to MS 5 years ago. I am currently on regular income assistance, as I am no longer able to work at any ‘normal’ job. I currently receive $610 per month, which is very far below the minimum amount needed to live — rent for even just a bedroom in the town where I live is around $500 per month. I have been very fortunate to have family I have been able to stay with, if not for that I would have become homeless a long time ago, with 100% certainty.

In my experience, it is almost impossible to get any useful information [through the ministry offices], and it ends up just being a run-around. The worker at the desk at the welfare office tells me to go to the government website, which is a nightmare to navigate and actually accomplish anything. It is clear as mud and not user-friendly in the least. For a time they were also refusing to give people forms they needed at the office, you had to go to the website, where you either couldn’t find the form you needed at all, or it wouldn’t work to actually print out, meaning you just didn’t get the form at all. They have since begun allowing you to get forms over the counter again, but who knows if they are going to stop doing that again with no notice.

[People with disabilities] are dismissed and disregarded and swept under the carpet

at every turn. The message I would like to be heard is that this government very deliberately makes life for those on any form of assistance as difficult as they possibly can, through a variety of tactics including:

• The bus pass clawback.

• The low rates people on assistance or disability receive, far below the cost of living; deliberately making it very difficult or impossible to access services, talk to workers or get necessary forms.

• Forcing people to re-prove and re-prove the nature and severity of their condition time and time again, and withholding services, money and approvals in the meantime.

• Maybe most of all, being notorious for outright denying the applications of persons who have even serious, provable medical conditions and fighting these people in a mean-spirited fashion, disputing the severity of their condition even when they can demonstrate and prove their condition has major negative impacts on their daily life and ability to function (as has been the situation in my case).

If major positive changes do not happen soon, there will be a huge increase in the number of disabled people who are becoming homeless, possibly myself included.

Profile: Richard

applying for disability assistance, 53% of respondents recieving disability assistance reported difficulty and frustration applying for the persons with disability designation.

“It took 8 months,” Dana said. “I don’t know why it took that long… the only way I could pay my rent during the process of being on regular welfare was to cash advance on a

credit card each month. Obviously, I couldn’t pay it back, so now it is in collections.”

Most of those who provided details about smooth and quick applications for disability applied more than ten years ago and had support with applying from a government advocate.

12 Sharing our Realities

[My experience getting on PWD] was horrible. First of all the web site was terrible. I was a computer professional, and even so the forms were so unintuitive that there were many pages I had to fill out over and over before I could get them accepted. I recall spending several minutes just getting it to accept a simple date because it took just the right combination of clicks and keystrokes. I’m not making that up, and remember I used to develop software for a living. This was not my first web form.

Then the ministry took so long to process the information that they closed our file, and we had to start all over again. That wasn’t them waiting for us. That was the government waiting for itself and then giving up when it took them too long. But they didn’t tell us this had happened. We were waiting and waiting and inquiring and worrying until eventually SOMEONE told us our file was closed. It is incredibly discouraging after all we had gone through. As a person with a severe anxiety disorder, every step of this process was extremely painful. It seemed like it would never end. I never would have gotten through it without the help of an advocate. If I wanted to create a more difficult process I would have to think hard about how to do so.

[On the provincial disability rate,] almost every choice is based first on the price, and only after that on other concerns like our health. We eat what is on sale, and there are many foods we will never have because they are too expensive. I wear my clothes until there are too many holes in them, and my shoes until they are falling apart badly enough to hurt. I reject prescriptions for any medicine that isn’t covered by Pharmacare, so there are things my doctor’s have recommended as being right for me

that I can’t afford to try. I don’t ever take the bus without thinking about the expense. It is cheaper to not go anywhere than to pay for a bus pass. Preventative care is not part of our budget. My body pain contributes to my trouble sleeping, and when I don’t sleep my mental health goes to hell. Here’s the real kicker. My wife works and so we have more money than people who must rely exclusively on PWD. We live as I’ve described above WITH her income.

We desperately need [the government] to stop redividing the same old pie, stop adding a couple dollars here and there, and look at what it actually costs to live any sort of decent life in this province. If the housing allowance is supposed to cover rent, heat, insurance, basic cable, basic Internet, and a phone, then set it at an amount that could conceivably, choosing the cheapest option for all of those things, pay for them. Any suggestion that the current rates can pay for all of that is just fraud.

Start with being honest about what kind of life the current rates actually condemn people to, and what the rates would have to be to “lift people out of poverty” as our Premier recently boasted she was doing. I cannot express how angry it made me to hear that claim about a system that ensures none of us will ever get up to the poverty line. People are desperate and she is bragging about having saved them.

I have to believe that most people don’t understand how bad it is. The alternative, that they understand and that they choose to leave it like this, is unthinkable to me. The message is that we don’t have enough for basics like food and shelter, and this makes our disabilities worse. We are losing our health. We are losing our homes. We are losing our lives. This is a crisis.

Profile: Frank

Sharing our Realities 13

Staff are immensely frustrated with the focus the government is placing on implementing technology and the removal of the human element of the system. Twelve respondents (80%) said that the technology being used makes it harder to support clients. “We have moved away from being a service to people with disabilities,” Hayden said. “We are focused on technology. This is not to the betterment of the staff or the client.”

Six respondents (40%) noted the long wait times, while nine (60%) described the confusion and lack of accountability created by the telephone and internet system which randomizes and limits client-worker interactions. “When a client phones us,” Lee explained, “because it is a random staff member who picks up, we have to read chronological notes, which are copious, so the client is frustrated by our slowness in trying to sort out their issues.”

“Not having assigned workers means that ministry staff can pass off a case if they don’t want to deal with it,” Hayden added.

“We used to learn from our mistakes… but

[now] there is no worker accountability because a random ministry staff member will be the next to pick up the file.”

Nine income assistance workers (60%) noted that the technology that is being required to interact with the system is inaccessible to many people with disabilities due to challenges with communications or simply lack of funds. Meanwhile, six respondents (40%) lamented hiring and training practices that focus on technological ability and away from empathy and how to interact with clients.

With all this in mind, eight respondents (53%) recommended the need for individual casework and income assistance offices that allow face-to-face time and staff discretion. “Stop the focus on technology, this is very much a human system,” Dallas wrote. “We need more face to face interaction, we need more personal touch, we need to know the clients and have them trust the staff. We need more accountability.”

Workers’ Views

An important theme within the surveys and the most common issue raised by respondents who weren’t receiving social assistance was the need to create accessible transportation, buildings and public spaces.

“Accessibility has to be 24/7 and isn’t ‘special access,’ it’s just access,” Mary said. “People with disabilities in this province come from all walks of life, all ages and stages. Some are parents, some are children, some care for senior parents, some travel, some work, some volunteer, some go to school, some love to go to the movies, some act in movies, some need significant support to navigate a

day, and some can manage independently with the right equipment and environment adaptations... don’t leave any of us out!”

“I would like to see a broad law implemented across BC that would force all businesses and public facilities to be accessible for persons with disabilities,” Jennifer suggested. “Simple. Just do it.”

After all, as Cris explained, “People do not understand yet ‘accessibility’ serves the entire population, not just persons with disabilities. And EVERYONE has a disability at some point in their life.”

Accessibility: “No, I do not have access to be more independent.”–Kim

14 Sharing our Realities

When I had to apply for disability it was very difficult to find a Doctor that would fill out the forms to give a clear picture of what it’s like to live with your disability at your worst. It was hard enough to admit to myself that my disability was real.

I always had a learning disability and attention deficit disorder (they never knew what that was when I was growing up). I had suffered multiple head injuries causing brain injury that went undiagnosed until several years later after being a victim of criminal assault once again. This time there was no ignoring it or denying it. This is when my family stepped in trying to get me help. I finally got the help I needed from a doctor that actually took a serious look at what was happening to me.

It was a battle trying to live for months and months on “welfare” trying to apply for disability before I finally got approved provincially and then federally although I did not qualify for CPP nor was I ever asked to even apply for it. The whole process takes way too long to go through especially when your life is in turmoil already with 2 years of your life going through the court system and battling the ministry at the same time.

This really doesn’t come close to describing what I went through mentally and physically throughout this process. You’re left beaten down feeling like you are less than a person (treated worse than an animal) with your every move scrutinized by people that have no idea or empathy for anyone.

You’re disabled now and forced to live on money that barely covers your rent and you have no idea where your next meal is coming from because most of that money goes to rent and utilities. I am not proud

to say that during this time I attempted suicide and ended up in the hospital Psych. Ward. Now I am really broken down and left feeling that the whole system is against you setting you up to fail in every aspect of your life.

During all this time I had to rely on food banks for food hampers. There was never anything substantial in those hampers. Most of the food had very little food value (empty calories) or healthy choices (plenty of starch, mostly sugar and carbs). They contained enough to survive on for no more than a couple of days.

Then you became the scavenger and found food anyway you could by any means you can because there is still a couple weeks to go until issue day. I was always getting sick and the more sick I got the more desperate I was for something, anything better.

I guess I am actually one of the lucky ones that actually got into B.C. Housing but it took about a year after I was released from the hospital from my last suicide attempt. I am thankful but it still isn’t a home. It’s like living in a box or the worst motel room you have ever stayed in. Dealing with bed bugs and endless move in’s and move out from people being evicted.

I don’t believe the voices of people with disabilities are heard unless you are very high functioning mentally and physically and don’t have to live in poverty.... If you have cognitive disabilities of any kind, nobody is listening. If you are poor, nobody is listening.

It’s a choice to keep the disabled living in extreme poverty. You can afford it! You choose to demoralize us and persecute

Profile: Ryan

cont’d on page 15

Sharing our Realities 15

“The amount of clients who suffer from depression, whether medical or situational (because of being on disability) is staggering. Our system is creating depression but doing nothing to alleviate it.” - Avery

“The frustrations [of people who are caught in the system are] pushed over to us because our interactions start as adversarial and not as a team. It is hard to go to a job every day where I know I will be yelled at, fought with, all the while trying to do my job in a system that has made things harder by a computer system that is supposed to streamline services but actually ends up complicating them.” - Jesse

“Whereas once you were walked through the system, the compassion has disappeared— we need to bring back the compassion, the assistance; make this a less adversarial system.” - Paris

“The adjudicators have no medical knowledge. 80%16 of the applications are turned down right away, this definitely needs to change. Our government is proud of turning so many people away from disability, it is a shame!” - Lee

“I would like to see [election] platforms that include poverty reduction strategies, an increase to rental amounts, and food security issues.” -Tracy

“A lot of our clients feel like they have no options, that the system is working against them. This is very demoralizing for those of us in the system who still believe in what we do. Improvements are needed!” - Hayden16 Multiple ministry workers reported this figure in their survey responses. We were unable to verify the source of this number in time for publication.

Workers’ Viewscont’d from page 14 us by scrapping away social programs and services that we need until there is nothing left.

We have become dependent on non-profits, run by people without disabilities, deciding what is best for us when the reality is that it’s about what’s best for them and that stats/numbers they can use to access more money to pay higher salaries and provide minimal services.

Life is a living hell to say the least. This is not an exaggeration in any way. Then really what is this living hell? Hell is not knowing if you’re going to have the strength to make it to the next day without ending your life.

Hell is having to take a shitload of pills everyday just to stay alive.

Hell is the depression you fall into with little or no way out.

Hell is having to decide between eating today and paying your rent or maybe your utility bill.

Hell is getting sicker and sicker as time goes on from poor diets and the inability to afford the high cost of healthy choices. Hell is now I am diabetic.

Hell is the fear of losing [my service dog] because he is unable to do his job because of inadequate and inappropriate housing to meet his needs.

Hell is fighting every day for that one little reason to keep living.

Hell is knowing that tomorrow might be the day that you lose control and end your life.

Profile: Ryan

16 Sharing our Realities

Raise the Rates“I want the government to understand that long-term poverty has very real consequences.” – Casey

With the exception of one respondent, all those surveyed who were on social assistance described the inadequacy of the rates they received; in fact, without being specifically asked, twenty-two respondents (34%) explicitly identified as “poor” or “living in poverty.”

“There is not an hour in the day when I am not wondering how I am going to afford housing, food, medications and all my essential necessities,” explained Terrance.

With the current rates unable to cover basic needs, unexpected or unordinary expenses are a major source of stress and hardship. “My glasses broke and I was told there are

glasses for $49 on the website, but how am I supposed to afford $49 when I can barely afford food?” Angela asked.

The low rates create particular frustrations when government requirements force additional costs. For example, Terrance wrote about how the move towards computer-based interactions affected their bottom line:

“It is extremely frustrating to barely be able to afford internet and have the ministry moving more and more towards computer only interactions - they are the ones who keep us poor and unable to afford technology and then they force us to require it.”

Sharing our Realities 17

I have very few options in terms of moving my life forward.

I don’t have enough money to get therapies (counselling, physio, splints, occupational therapy etc.) that could actually allow me to work or pursue

hobbies that were lost with my disabilities.

I feel written off, like I’m not worth working for anymore. They want to give me the bare minimum to survive instead of helping me thrive.

I have opted out of the bus pass program, I did the numbers and I simply was not able to leave my house often enough to justify the cost. I feel more stuck without it, especially since I used to use riding the bus as a way to calm myself, when I needed to go out, but couldn’t really “do” anything. I feel more isolated without the bus pass, and more like I have to track every trip and

“justify” the expense.

[The government’s platform should include:]

1. Case workers who live in the community that their clients do.

2. More housing allowance, there is not a single place in BC you can get for $375; it’s bullshit.

3. Literally anything to improve healthcare, I’m so desperate I would be ecstatic at literally any improvement. which is in itself quite sad. But mostly I want access to health care when it’s not an emergency.

4. I want the bus pass program back.

5. I want someone to actually act like we can be members of society even if we can’t work.

6. I want accessible online access to government workers, there are food websites and crisis counsellor websites that I can text chat with a worker, but I have to call or go in to deal with my disability benefits, it’s absurd considering the year.

I feel constantly low key suicidal because I feel completely stuck, and completely reliant on my family to maintain basic health and dignity. Even thinking about the position of my life right now has brought me to tears.

Profile: Sen

Meanwhile, Taylor shared similar feelings, upon learning about cuts to medical coverage: “Ironically when my doctor ordered a basic blood test so I could be checked for malnutrition, the lab tech informed me that the test was no longer covered by our medical coverage and would cost me $63.00. How convenient for the BC Government that we can no longer prove we are malnourished because we can’t afford to pay for the blood test!” The government claws back what they call “unearned income” including CPP

Disability payments and earned income above the applicable earning exemptions.

“How the ministry can call my income free is a disrespectful insult,” Mark said about the provincial government taking his CPP Disability payments. “I had to work hard and endure great pain all my working life to just get by, now everything I have is having to be sold to friends for pennies on the dollar so I can eat.”

18 Sharing our Realities

The government has increased the earnings exemption to $800/month allowing Persons with Disabilities to keep this amount of their earnings. However, while many respondents expressed a desire to work, they found that they did not have enough support to do so.

“What I need to live a full life is to be a self-supporting individual,” Jordan said. “To be able to achieve that I need to be employed. I do not have the supports or services to achieve that.”

“I am having trouble securing employment and am very frustrated at how limited all available employment services are,” Casey said. “I can’t seem to connect with anyone who understands how hard it is to find employment when you must walk into a job interview with an obvious disability. We need employment programs that match employers and the disabled in a more meaningful way.”

Should a person with disability achieve employment they could face clawbacks of their disability benefits. “Most of us want

to make a difference,” Joanne said, “by being able to work and not have our PWD deducted.”

“There is an idea that the disabled are taking advantage of the system by getting benefits,” Dana added. “That we don’t really deserve to be looked after. People need to put themselves in our shoes and realize how scary it is to depend on the government — a government that doesn’t want us to be ok”

Respondents provided a variety of descriptions of what they would consider appropriate rates. Twenty respondents used the words “cost of living” or “livable” to refer to appropriate levels. Meanwhile, seven respondents compared British Columbia’s disability rates to Alberta’s (currently $1588/month), and six respondents emphasized the importance of indexing rates. Suggested specific monthly dollar figures ranged from $1,200 to $2,100, still well above the current rate of $1033.

Of the fifteen workers who filled out the survey, twelve (80%) indicated that disability rates needed to be raised to livable levels, eight described the need for affordable housing (53%), and six (40%) said that the transportation allowance/bus pass program needs to be reinstated.

When asked about the biggest challenges facing welfare and disability recipients, Avery answered, “The stress of living in poverty. Money issues are a constant struggle. It is a weight that never lets up. They are unable to concentrate, they are unable to get better because the poverty is making them worse. They are unable to focus on anything other than making it through the day.”

Six (40%) respondents also pointed out particular services that aren’t covered including education, medication, and mental health supports. “I have clients that are in wheelchairs who could walk if only podiatry was covered,” Avery continued. “Do you know how frustrating it is to know that if these people were in the system fifteen years ago, they would have had coverage that would allow them to work?”

Jan clearly laid out the approach they wished the Ministry would take: “Treat the users of the system like people who need help, give it to them, support them, help them better their lives and possibly get off the supports they currently need.”

Workers’ Views

Sharing our Realities 19

I’m in my late 30s and I live with my parents because I wouldn’t be able to afford to live on my own. It would be nice if disability rates were a living wage rather than a poverty wage.

Changes to the bus pass program are extremely disheartening. I am fortunate in that I am able to borrow a vehicle for most of my transportation (but I still use the bus pass when going to Vancouver). For many, the bus pass was their lifeline, access to volunteering, health appointments, social support etc. $45/year was reasonable, but increasing the rate of the bus pass by 1287% is unacceptable.

I don’t have access to specialized help that I need ~ trauma counselling, eating disorder counselling, depression/anxiety counselling. Public system doesn’t really have trauma counselling and it is really expensive to go privately (one quote I was given was $110/hr plus GST).

Why doesn’t MSP cover psychologists, physio, massage therapy? I’m on disability because of mental illness and yet, I cannot get appropriate help for my mental illness.

Actually listen to what people are saying and make decisions *with* people with disabilities rather than *for* people with disabilities. Co-create solutions. Right now, the Minister of Social Development clearly is ignoring thousands of voices who have said cutting the bus pass is not OK. How much louder can we get?

There was no consultation about this change ~ the government just did what it wanted and then tried to tell people how great the change is. No, our voice is not heard.

What needs to be heard:

• Raise the rates to a living wage (and index this to the cost of living. I think MLA’s have their salaries indexed to increases in cost of living, but we don’t) so we can at least live with some dignity and independence.

• restore the $45/year bus pass

• provide coverage for psychologists so people with disabilities can get access to necessary treatment for mental illness

• increase the shelter rate ~ what kind of housing can be found for $375/month?

I feel like the government has shown that my life doesn’t matter, and my health doesn’t matter. I feel like every month, I get treated as if I have committed a crime with the monthly cheque stub that asks if there is a warrant out for my arrest. I didn’t choose to be disabled. It can happen to anyone. The government has a choice to ensure people with disabilities have some quality of life and right now, it is choosing to show us that our lives don’t matter.

It’s not like we’re asking for millions of dollars. We’re asking for dignity, independence, compassion, empathy, a living wage, a $45/year bus pass and access to necessary services. The current Minister of Social Development has shown no evidence of compassion or empathy for those with disabilities, has argued she is an advocate for those with disabilities (and yet, does not listen to the concerns of those with disabilities, so it makes me wonder how she can possibly advocate for us when she doesn’t *hear* what we are saying); she even called a rally for the bus pass a ‘photo-op.’ This kind of treatment by the Minister adds further insult to injury. No one should be treated like that.

Profile: Alex

20 Sharing our Realities

Questions about the change to the bus pass brought a diversity of answers in terms of how it affected respondents’ personal circumstances. However, regardless of respondents’ personal circumstances, the driving theme behind their feelings and decisions was the inadequacy of disability rates.

Forty respondents reported that they recieved the bus pass under the old program. This meant that in September 2016, they had to choose if they wanted to pay $52 a month to keep it. Only four survey respondents (10%) reported that they continued to pay for the bus pass. Twenty-five (63%) reported giving up the bus pass, and eleven (27%) expressed anger and outrage over being forced to make this decision, but did not indicate their final choice.

“It would be really helpful to me if I could use the $77 for my general budget, it would really help take the pressure off,” Yasmine deliberated. “However, I need transportation to get food, do things that get me out of the house, etc… It was a hard decision in that I lose either way, which does not make me feel very good.”

Eighteen of the twenty-five (72%) respondents who said that they had given up the bus pass felt like they were forced to give up their access to transportation to meet other basic needs.

Dana explained the immediate impact of losing the bus pass: “I gave up the bus pass and now I have to be strategic in outings. If I pick up say a prescription I have to get right back on the bus to not run out the transfer. I can’t window shop for fun or go get a tea. It does make me want to stay home.”

The Bus Pass: “I think it’s brutal to be handed a pittance only to have much of it taken away again.” –Judy

Meanwhile, the seven respondents who were happy to give up the bus pass in exchange for a larger increase unanimously agreed that the increase was still far too low. “I’d already got to the point that the $45/year rate was more than paying the full rate for the amount of travel I was managing to do,” Jigme explained. “The problem is, while this makes things ‘simpler’ for me, it’s not a *real* increase in rates (considering the time period since last increase in rates, it is *far* below that of inflation, I believe even if you consider the entire $77) and it isn’t genuinely ‘making things more fair’.”

All four of the respondents who reported paying the new bus pass fees called for a return to the old bus pass system. “I am an HIV person of 30 years, I had a liver transplant 3 1/2 years ago, I am presently dealing with cancer … I had to choose the bus pass because of my health problems going between three hospitals, for doctors and several specialists,” Terry said. “And sometimes I don’t want to even take public transit from time to time when my immune system is down.” Likewise, for Angela, “being able to get to appointments is more important than food.”

18 7

4 0

11 0

Benefitted from the old Bus Pass

Rarely or never used the Bus Pass

Gave up Bus Pass

Kept Bus Pass

Angry, and didn’t report decision

Sharing our Realities 21

An oft-neglected component of the changes announced in February 2016 is the change to the Special Transportation Subsidy. Four respondents reported being affected by this change, and all of them described it in a negative light. “I get a $77 increase but no longer get the transportation subsidy,” Donnie said. “My thing is that it sounds good that I

Housing: “$375 a month buys nothing in the way of shelter here.” –Dan

Housing represents the largest expense for many people with disabilities, and is inextricably tied to the inadequacy of social assistance rates; forty-three survey respondents (60%) directly referenced the need for affordable housing.

“Currently the shelter allowance is $375 which is absolutely ridiculous and has no basis in reality,” Kelly declared. “I live in a reasonable rent-controlled apartment which costs $710 a month. There is not enough subsidized housing so there should be some sort of reduction for market-priced housing or more money allowed for shelter.”

Indeed, the need for subsidized housing and the immense waitlists that currently exist were common concerns. “I have been on wait lists for years and have not received a single phone call about a potential unit!” wrote Casey.

Without affordable housing, the threat of homelessness is a constant concern; eleven respondents (15%) used the words “homeless” or “homelessness.”

“I am worried about my landlord increasing my rent,” Mark shared. “Even though I live in substandard housing, I cannot complain or I would be homeless.”

Of course, housing does not only have to be affordable, it also has to be accessible and appropriate to the needs of its residents.

“I don’t need too many supports,” Rob said about his struggles to find an appropriate low

income home, “but being a married disabled couple we need a proper low income wheelchair suite and a subsidy so we can afford to move into one of those suites.”

One commonly noted need was for housing that is suitable for pets and service animals. “With no money, nowhere to go, I could have gone to a transition house,” Danielle said. “However, they wouldn’t accept my cat, &

I had the cat way longer than I had the husband!”

In addition, the quality of existing housing needs to be addressed. As Sabrina said, the BC government needs to “care about the bed bug and cockroach infestations in low income housing instead of acting like it doesn’t exist.”

have that $77 every month by putting it away so that once a year I’ll have that $700 but when you are sitting here with maybe $2 to my name and I have been this way for a while, about a week now, I am going to go into that additional $77 and buy groceries.”

22 Sharing our Realities

Mental, Emotional and Physical Health

“This is not a healing environment.”– Judy

The lack of funds and support for people with disabilities in British Columbia can be extremely detrimental to health. As Rosa explained, “having a disability is tough enough, living in forced poverty rates makes life all the more stressful. My health issues are negatively impacted by stress and the poverty causes stress, it is a never ending loop that I have no hope of getting out of.”

Many respondents reported that they often skipped meals or ate unhealthy food as a cost-saving measure. “I do budgeting where I only eat a meal and a half to two meals a day…” Terry wrote. “I am still alive, but I wish I could eat more properly.”

To address the needs created by inadequate social assistance rates and unaffordable housing, family and friends often subsidize or provide housing for people living with disabilities. As Angela put it, “Without help from my family and friends I could not survive.”

Seventeen respondents explicitly recognised this type of support with varying levels of gratitude, frustration and shame. “I can’t afford to live on my own - which is a constant source of anxiety and distress,” Casey

explained. “I am forced to live with a relative: something I suspect no adult wants to do. I have no privacy and no opportunities for a social life.”

This can breed dependence, stress, and vulnerability. Dan described his 81-year-old roommate as “the best roommate in the country” because he charges “a minimum amount of rent.” However, Dan explains, “it leaves me with a feeling of vulnerability; always in fear that if my roommate passed on, I would live on the street.” Jill, who is on CPP disability, shared the consequence of her dependence on her high-earning ex-husband,

“I lived in an emotionally, mentally and in the end physically abusive relationship because what else could I do?”

In addition, there is a range of services, for which application processes are too long and complicated or which the government does not sufficiently cover to meet the needs of people living with disabilities in BC. Various respondents described pharmacare, physiotherapy, massage therapy, chiropractic care, orthotics, podiatry, dental coverage and optometric care within this category. “I would like to see dental and optical coverage actual cover those costs,” Jordan said.

Sharing our Realities 23

Meanwhile, counselling or psychiatric treatment is not covered publically at all. “I would like to have a psychiatrist and/or counsellor,” Kelly said, “but I’m not offered those options.”

People living on disability assistance endure conditions that are breeding desperation. Seven respondents (10%) reported thinking of or attempting suicide. Rosa described

The Whitecrow Village FASD Society Team summarized their responses in one survey. Because the team’s responses were combined into one unique survey, for the purpose of this report, they were treated as one respondent.

Applying for PWD was expensive as it needed an adult diagnosis or at least assessment, not paid for by BC Medical. Most practitioners do not have knowledge of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD) and do not know how to effectively complete the application. That means having to go to more than one practitioner to find someone who can successfully fill the application.

Some respondents have been denied 3 or more times. The process has taken from 8 months to 19 months for our respondents who did not have to go to multiple practitioners. Without an advocate to walk with them through the process, 4 of our respondents have previously given up trying to access PWD.

It is not possible to live in single housing on $375/month. We who have FASD do not do well with roommates whom we do not know or who do not understand our specific disabilities and needs, as well as valuing our strengths.

We require better nutrition than we can buy with PWD funds. Many of us require assistance with food shopping, preparation or meal management.

We are at high risk for eviction by landlords who do not understand FASD. We are at risk of being taken off PWD for non-compliance, due to misunderstanding of the reporting forms.

The disability office is now in the general welfare office and they treat us all like nobodies. The whole room looks at me because I look able bodied and they treat me like I am a scammer. They are disrespectful and do not give enough time to clarify questions and answers. Half of our respondents have signed a form to have an advocate speak on their behalf.

To be progressive with people with disabilities means to have respect for all people, no oppression, support mental health in communities and families, quit bullying children in school (by school staff and provincial education administration), no profiling and stereotyping. Provide effective education to service providers, politicians and bureaucrats so they can hear what is needed. Stop cutting funding to successful non-profits and services.

Profile: Whitecrow Village FASD Society Team

life with a disability in BC as “a constant stress. It is the weight of the world on your shoulder. It is poverty and depression and isolation and I feel like we don’t matter. I need something to change. If things don’t change, I feel like I am forced to make the ultimate decision of ending it all because I just can’t keep living like this.”

24 Sharing our Realities

The stories shared by people with disabilities from across the province demonstrate a common view of the difficulties in the province. This is not news to the government.

“They need to actually implement everything people with disabilities and advocates and organizations have been telling them for years,” Rosa said. “Read the White Paper you created and start at the first step (raise the rates) and go from there.”

Indeed the two-year-old Disability Consultation Report’s Summary of Shared Ideas eerily echoes the themes from this report, in its identification of the need for inclusive government, accessible service delivery, individualised service, accessible internet, accessible housing, accessible transportation, income supports, employment, and inclusive communities.17

Income assistance workers are also well aware of the issues, and assert that we’ve lost the human element of the system. Unfortunately, among this staff, there remains a culture of fear. Ten of fifteen (67%) respondents said that they did not have avenues in which they could share their thoughts and/or concerns about their ability to do their job.

“I wish we could have an open discussion about the system,” Lee wrote, “but we are told in many ways that we are not to talk to those outside the system about what happens within the system, and that is never going to lead to improvements.”

“I don’t want to see any promises, I want to see actual plans, with details, on what they will do. We need to see PWD rates raised substantially, to rates people can survive on.”– Angela

17 Disability Consultation Report: Moving Together Toward an Accessible B.C. A Reflection of the Voices of British Columbians Heard During the Disability White Paper Consultation.

Conclusion

The bus pass program is completely useless now. The point of it was to make sure persons with disabilities could get places they needed to go, such as doctor’s appointments, work for those who can, and school for those who can. Now, people who already can’t afford to take care of themselves have to pay for their bus pass, which means many simply will not be able to go to doctor’s appointments or fill their medications. People are going to get sick and die because of this. I will not be buying a bus pass as a result of this.

Currently there are no services to provide people who are on disability with therapists

at no cost - and there is no way we can afford to pay for them on our own!

[Speaking to a government worker is] rather pointless actually. And it is pointless to go call them, because I only have a cell phone with a very basic plan and it quite literally uses all my minutes for the month to sit on hold with them, and then I can barely hear them anyway because their phone equipment is garbage and full of static and can’t be turned up to where I can hear them (I have a hearing impairment, phones are terrible for me but nearly every other business or organization I deal with can turn up their microphones when I ask!).

cont’d on page 25

Profile: Mishi

Sharing our Realities 25

“I want to see a dialogue between the government, ministry staff and clients,” Avery said, “and I want that dialogue to lead to actual action. We can improve this system, we can refocus on this being a social net for people with disabilities, health issues, work problems, etc. As it is run now, it seems more punitive than a helping hand. I would hate to have to be on the other side of this system.”

The recommendations emerging from the Sharing Our Realities survey (see page 26) echo the many demands that people with disabilities and advocates have been making for years.

If BC wants to be the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities, Terrance said, “they need to find money to meet that goal. When they set about creating the white paper to go with that goal, they made it clear that the only changes they could make were changes that wouldn’t require money. Well, money is required for positive change for people with disabilities.”

“The message is that we don’t have enough for basics like food and shelter,” Frank wrote,

“and this makes our disabilities worse. We are losing our health. We are losing our homes. We are losing our lives. This is a crisis.”

People with disabilities have shared their realities repeatedly, and need to be heard and supported. “I want actual action,” Rosa said. “Doing another study or white paper isn’t going to get us anywhere. Making more promises at more photo ops isn’t actually helping people with disabilities.”

Despite having the second highest poverty rate in the country, British Columbia continues to be the only province that refuses to even consider a poverty reduction plan. British Columbia needs a poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines that substantially increases income and disability assistance rates.

The BC government wants to be the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities; it’s about time it took action.

cont’d from page 24 I want an actual Disability Act written to ensure that people with disabilities can find work and school opportunities and cannot be discriminated against. It’s supposed to be in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms but too many businesses get away with discriminating anyway. And, of course, increases to both the support payment and rental assistance payments for people receiving PWD assistance. We are living well below the poverty line and that is NOT OK!

No, we don’t have a voice. The message I want to send is “We are human, too. We have basic human rights. These rights are not being met. We are tired of being

marginalized and we are willing to help find solutions to this marginalization if everyone else is willing to just listen.”

Life with a disability is harder than it needs to be. With proper supports, we wouldn’t have to be living in fear, isolation, and poverty. We just need people to LISTEN. We need people to be willing to help us make changes for the better. We can contribute to society, and many of us do contribute. But we can do more.

We just need people to be willing to see what is going on and listen to the experiences and concerns of those who live this reality every single day.

Profile: Mishi

26 Sharing our Realities

Key RecommendationsTreat people with dignity.

Return to a system with individualized caseworkers and train staff how to interact empathetically with clients, as opposed to a system which depends on phone and internet and values staff solely for their technical skills.

Simplify the applications both for income and disability assistance and provide more support throughout the application process.

Ensure that accessibility for people with a wide range of disabilities is a central consideration when building infrastructure.

Significantly raise income assistance and disability assistance rates and index them to inflation.

End clawbacks of income and disability assistance including clawbacks of CPP Disability payments and penalties for cohabitation.

Reinstate the bus pass and the special transportation allowance or ensure that transportation is affordable and accessible for all.

Provide additional employment support, and create legislation to address discrimination that keeps people with disabilities out of the workforce and in precarious work.

Build social housing including accessible units and housing that accepts pets.

Increase health care coverage including physical, mental and emotional care.

Implement a poverty reduction plan with legislated targets and timelines.

2.1.

4.

3.

6.

5.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Sharing our Realities 27

AppendixCitizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods launched the Sharing Our Realities Survey in mid-October. As we wanted to encourage as many participants as possible, we had the survey available in multiple formats: the survey was available in paper form and online; participants could email or mail in their answers, they could do the online survey or they could phone in answers.

We started with one survey directed at people living on provincial disability rates. Half of the survey questions were general questions about life with a disability in BC and the other half were specifically about living on provincial disability.

As people started responding to the survey, we realized the survey was giving voice to one half of the equation, but not the other, so we created a second survey for ministry staff. We were told by some ministry staff that their workplace did not encourage dialogue and so we may not get many responses, but we still felt it was important to include their voice as they work in the system every day and know what can be done to improve it.

PWD Survey QuestionsWhat was your experience in getting on PWD? How long did the process take?What is it like to live on the provincial disability rate?How do you feel about the change to the bus pass program? Will you now buy a bus pass? If not, what impact will that have on your life? If yes, was that a hard decision and what will you be giving up to do that?What supports and/or services do you need to live a full life? Do you currently have access to those supports and/or services?When you need to speak with a government worker about your disability benefits, how is that experience for you?We are leading up to an election in May of 2017, what would you like the parties to promise people with disabilities? What would you like their platform to include that would affect your life?The BC government announced that they want BC to be the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities, what do you think they need to do to reach that goal?Do you feel people with disabilities have a voice that is heard in BC? If not, what message would you like to be heard?What is life like with a disability in BC?Do you have any additional thoughts?

Income Assistance Workers Survey QuestionsWhat are some of the biggest barriers you face in your job? Do you feel you have avenues in which you can share your thoughts and/or concerns about your ability to do your job? If so, what are they? If not, what would you like to see?What are your thoughts about the process for applying to welfare and provincial disability? What works and what needs to be improved?What supports or services would you like to see implemented for your clients?What are some of the biggest challenges facing the welfare and disability recipients? We are leading up to an election in May of 2017, what would you like the various party’s platforms to include that would affect your ability to do your job as you see fit?The BC government announced that they want BC to be the most progressive province in Canada for people with disabilities, what do you think is needed to reach that goal?Do you have any additional thoughts?