UN Inspectors Coming to Canada - Food Insecurity Issues!!!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Add Comment
Canada is being investigated for Food Security issues. The Special Rapporteur will be in Canada from May 6-16 to investigate suspected human rights abuses in regards to lack of income to buy food. Everyone is being urged to write submissions to them regarding this visit, especially if you are food insecure.
To read more, visit: http://foodsecurecanada.org/sites/foodsecurecanada.org/files/FSC_RTF_briefing_note_%281%29.pdf
In the briefing note you will find 3 email addresses to write to plus a snail mail address. I wrote an email to all 3 addresses and got a response thanking me for my submission. This means they are listening. Below is the letter I wrote to them, and below that, the reply I got from them.
My submission:
To Whom it May Concern,
I am writing this letter because I understand the UN Rapporteur is doing an inspection of Canada because of Food Security concerns. As a person with a disability who is not food secure I must start out by saying, THANK YOU!!
I have been disabled all my life and, at one point, was able to afford to live and eat a relatively healthy diet and take part in various social and recreational things, on the Provincial Disability Pension. It was originally called the Family Benefits Allowance and then, in 1997, the provincial government replaced it with the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). On the surface this program looked better, in that family members were allowed to provide financial assistance and medical expenses that never used to be covered suddenly were.
The thing is, the amount one receives has not been indexed to inflation. In fact, in 1994, the Premier froze the rates for people in social assistance and the first raise didn't happen again until 2004. If one uses the Bank of Canada inflation calculator (http://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/related/inflation-calculator/) they will see that the $930 amount we were getting the year the rates were frozen, is worth $1,325.30 today. The maximum amount a single person is able to get today on ODSP is $1,064.00. The breakdown is as follows: $590.00 basic living allowance and $474.00 shelter.
Considering the cheapest rental rate for a bachelor or 1-bedroom apartment is way over that, and subsidized apartment units haven't been built for years in many communities, it's understandable why people with disabilities cannot afford to buy enough groceries to eat an adequate, and well balanced, diet.
I don't understand this at all. I am disabled, I use a wheelchair, I committed no crime, I can, and will work, but can't get hired due to barriers in my community, lack of work experience, job references, etc. By the looks of things, the government expects us to scrounge for our food some other way.
Once I tried to access the food bank and discovered that the rules in my community are that they only look at source of income and shelter costs. Because I live in subsidized housing, these amounts determined that I was NOT eligible to receive food. The reason I can't always afford to buy enough food is because I must buy medical supplies for issues related to the disability that ODSP doesn't cover. I also take specialized transit that costs far more than conventional transit (in my community). In 2011 I paid $2,059.75 for the bus. That's approximately 30% of my ODSP income.
As for the Special Diet allowance, I don't qualify. The government started to name specific conditions in 2006 and I don't have any of them. That deemed me ineligible.
Recently the government has promised to do a social assistance review. In so doing, the discussion has been about possibly merging ODSP with OW (formerly known as welfare) and then requiring recipients to go to work. Considering I have been applying to do just that for close to 30 years with very little success due to lack of work experience, job references, post-secondary education, and a disability that lowers my chances for success, I'm not sure how the government thinks I'm going to suddenly, and miraculously, find work. It worries me greatly.
To close I will share with you a pie graph of my current budget to illustrate how I put food first and do without a lot of other things. My mother was a type 1 diabetic and I'm determined not to develop the same disease. I saw her suffer too much, especially when she was trying to buy food that didn't have excessive, and hidden, sugars, fats, and salts in it. I'll then share some links that will illustrate the average rates for housing, as per the Canadian Housing and Mortgage Corporation, the cost of food, as per the Nutritious Food Basket, a costing survey done by the Public Health Units in Ontario, the cost of transit, and the amounts given to people who have a disability on ODSP.
Nutritious Food Basket (Kingston): Cost of Eating Healthy
ODSP Basic Needs Income Amounts: Directive 6.1
ODSP Shelter Amounts: Directive 6.2
ODSP Special Diet (which I can't access): Directive 6.3
Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation (for average rental amounts): CMHC Kingston
Social Assistance Review: Part 1, Part 2
Submissions I made to this review: Part 1, Part 2
Transit Costs (scroll down toward the bottom): http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.ca/2012/03/kingston-continues-discriminatory.html
Charter of Rights and Freedoms (that shows Social Assistance Recipients can't move to another province unless another person will sponsor them financially for several months: http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/charter/FullText.html
The food insecurity, plus a whole host of other major violations against the rights of people with disabilities are taking place in Ontario and we can't even get a lawyer to help us get the case up before human rights.
I'm one of the lucky ones, in that I live in subsidized housing and I get money from family, that helps me to survive. The down side is the family has been VERY abusive emotionally.
Please feel free to contact me with any questions, requests for more factual proof, and to just let me know what action the UN feels it can take.
Thank you for taking the time to look into the actions of Canada and for reading these submissions.
Sincerely,
[signed]
The reply:
Subject: Re: Submission regarding UN Inspection of Food Security Issues in Canada
Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 16:35:55 +0200
From: Yoonie Kim
To: [me]
CC: Nadia Lambek
Dear [me],
Many thanks for your message and interest in the visit of the Special Rapporteur. We sincerely appreciate this information on social assistance in Canada and the short falls in policies and programmes. This will be studied carefully by the Special Rapporteur in the course of preparing his report.
With kind regards, Yoonie
Ms. Yoonie KIM
Human Rights Officer
Special Procedures Branch
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Mailing address: UNOG-OHCHR, CH-1211 Geneva 10
Physical address: Palais Wilson, 52 Rue des Pâquis, office 3-010
Tel: +41 (0)22 917 9643 | Fax: +41 (0)22 917 9006
Email: ykim@ohchr.org | Website: www.ohchr.org
A second submission regarding food insecurity in Canada.
To the UN envoy,
Yesterday I sent a letter explaining about some of the challenges faced by people with disabilities in Ontario as it relates to food security and social assistance. Later the same day I received a letter of reply from ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) saying they were denying the reimbursement of funds for a medical transportation trip to Toronto because I asked for money to pay for 1 meal for the friend from Toronto who was going down to the hotel to help me with various physical things that I can't do from a wheelchair.
The few things I need help with is, plugging in a battery charger for my wheelchair, putting a bed cradle on the bed to keep the covers of my legs, and helping me get onto the bed because the bed is very high.
By the looks of this rejection letter from ODSP (scanned and shared below), they have denied the entire cost of travel to the medical appointment because I asked for a tiny bit of coverage for my friend's breakfast. Instead, they expect me to take an attendant from Kingston; something that is not possible to do because they too have rules.
Here is a copy of them:
Attendant care Outreach Program does not allow staff to assist client’s on any trips that are not local. If you are going to need assistance in Toronto, an agency will need to be found while you are there to provide service. There are some nonprofit agencies that may be able to assist while you are there. I am not sure at this time if there is a cost involved to you the client for services of some providers.If I need attendant care in another city, the Kingston office will help to find someone in the other city, but I must pay for the service. ODSP won't pay for it.
Usually an assessment needs to be done where you are staying for safety purposes for you and staff. If there is more than one place you stay at such as a hotel there may to be multiple assessments.
If you would like contact numbers for Toronto Please let me know.
Team Leader
Attendant Care Outreach Dept.
Now, without the reimbursement for my travel costs, I'm doubtful if I can continue to go there for health care.
Because ODSP is so low, these costs are sitting on a line of credit, something that's technically not allowed by ODSP. They consider a line of credit, credit cards, or loans an asset and could conceivably claw back an amount equivalent to the debt that was incurred. These rules are set out in Directive 5.10, if you want to read more.
I will again deal with this issue by jumping through their multiple hoops and hope I can withstand the added emotional stress this is placing on me, but I felt it was important to share this with you as further prove of the level of food insecurity in Canada.
It is unfortunate that I became disabled because, if I wasn't, I would be working. I have the ability and know how to work. I just can't get hired due to the wheelchair. I also can't live with someone else unless they are willing to accept 50% of everything they earn, being clawed back by the government just for living with me; a person on social assistance. The person, if they lived with me, would also be expected to pay the normal taxes on their earned income so needless to say, I am single. My only choice is to subsist on social assistance and face this type of abuse; a crime against humanity.
I once again thank you for doing this inspection tour. Please read on to see the facts showing the level of abuse and food insecurity the disabled must face.
[Signed]
Here is the exact copy of the last two submissions to ODSP to request reimbursement for the costs to get to these medical appointments.
Dear [ODSP Worker],
April 3rd: The following are receipts for a medical appointment April 3, 2012 at the [Toronto] Clinic.
Hotel and supper = $153.40
MegaBus = $34.40
Lunch (3rd) - $0.00 (took a packed lunch)
Breakfast (4th) = $7.90 (me) *
Lunch (4th) = $6.89
2 Access Bus tickets = $5.00
2 TTC Tokens = $5.20
Total = $212.39
* Note (the $5.64, shown on the receipt, was for a Toronto friend who helps me for free with accessibility issues at the hotel - can this be covered?)
If a friend can be covered for assisting me at the hotel, please add $5.64.
AND
April 23rd: The following are receipts for medical transportation
MegaBus $28.81
Hotel: $134.47
Food total: $35.92 ($7.90 + $8.75 + $19.27)... if possible, add $7.90 for my friend and assistant)
Access Bus $5.00
Wheel-Trans: $5.20
Total: $209.40 (with friend's one meal covered, $217.30)
Please call if you have questions.
[signed]
My doctor also faxed a letter to ODSP confirming I need a minor bit of physical assistance at the hotel.
All I asked for, was a mere $5.64 for my friend's meal on one visit and a $7.90 on the second visit. Now the entire cost of the trip has been turned down. I must appeal it by requesting an Internal review and, if that fails, a hearing by the Social Benefits Tribunal. That could take months.
Here is a direct quote from the rejection letter:
This letter is about your request for Mandatory Special Necessities - medical travel under the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP).Note: an Internal Review was requested and the problem was eventually fixed. The big question is, why was this so hard? Why wasn't just the amount to feed my friend/attendant rejected instead of the whole thing?... a rhetorical question, but it must have added to the amount of wasted government dollars to fix this problem.
Your request has not been approved because Food was requested for a friend while at the hotel. This is not covered by a benefit unless a caregiver is to travel from Kingston with you as per a Doctors orders.
If you do not agree with this decision to deny your request for Mandatory Special Necessities - medical travel, you can ask us to review this decision again. This is called an Internal Review...
Please Read my Other Blogs:
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
0 Response to "UN Inspectors Coming to Canada - Food Insecurity Issues!!!"
Post a Comment