I am aware that this is a silly question, it’s stupid, really.

This has to do with a provincial government, not the feds. If you know anything about disability politics in Canada then you are probably aware of the Canadian Disability Benefit that was recently rolled out. This is a federal program that is supposed to give those on provincial disability programs a $200 “top-up” on the already existing provincial cheque. The federal government did not think this decision through incredibly well, or maybe they did, because they specified that the provinces could treat this extra $200 how ever they pleased but “encouraged” that the money be exempt from any cut backs.

Because of this, my province (I do not care if I am doxing myself at this point) is slashing $200 from their own disability cheques. So instead of an extra 200, we would be getting the same amount of money before the CDB went into effect. Moreover, the CDB is not automatically applied to people on these provincial programs, instead we have to apply by ourselves, but the process is a pain in the ass because before we can even attempt to apply to the CDB we have to be approved for the Disability Tax Credit, which, once again, is not automatically applied. To even apply for the DTC you need a doctor to sign off on it and it costs $250.

The easy solution would just be to not apply for the CDB, but here’s the thing, my province is FORCING us to apply to it, and if we do not notify them of our application process by September 5th they are going to claw-back the $200 anyway regardless of whether we have been approved for the CDB or not.

This all sounds incredibly unethical, right? So what can I do about it? I have been trying to call my disability program to get answers but apparently they are getting a very high number of calls (no shit, I wonder why) and I haven’t been able to speak to anyone regarding what I can do and what will happen if I refuse to go through with my CDB application. I wanted to contact the feds about this gross misuse of federal funding but apparently they wont do anything because they are allowing the provinces to do whatever they want, so far it seems only my province is clawing-back benefits. Not only are benefits being reduced, but rent is also going to skyrocket as well (a deliberate policy choice by the provincial government). This is just another example of the provinces having too much power.

I’ve seen people use the legal system to get things done but I do not know if that is something that I would be able to do. After trying to keep it together for so long since I got that stupid letter in the mail I have finally had a breakdown today. I hate this government and I want to fight back but I do not know how.

I wish my grandparents never immigrated here…

  • star (she)@lemmygrad.mlEnglish
    3·
    3 months ago

    Maybe there are some disability advocacy orgs that can help? I assume you would need a substantial amount to pay lawyers.

    • SpaceDogs@lemmygrad.mlOP
      2·
      3 months ago

      I was able to finally get a hold of the provincial disability program and they gave me the run down on how to go about the whole process and to contact my MLA (member of the legislative assembly) to hopefully get the provincial government to roll back this decision to steal our $200. The call was recorded and I made sure to state that I felt it was important for our government officials to hear it from me that this was a hostage situation and thus incredibly unethical and evil.

      I have looked for groups and I can honestly only find one, I will contact them to see if they can lead me in the right direction. I know this particular group was heavily involved in getting the federal disability act to the table in the first place although they advocated for much more than a mere $200 top-up.

      Thanks for the help, comrade. I appreciate it.