JULY 11

I have been crowdfunding for two full months now, and have managed to raise $4100 total! That is absolutely amazing, and never could have happened without the support of everyone on Tumblr. Thank you so much to everyone continuing to share my post, and an especially big thank you to those who donated. I have just under $3,000 in direct debt currently, and I have until December 1 to find a new place to live, regardless of if I have been placed by BC Housing into housing whose rent is geared to my disability income. Vancouver rents are about $2,000/month for 1 bedroom, I don't have a prayer of keeping a roof over my head without donations.

So that's where I am now, to be clear, the money not spent directly on debt was spent on food, monthly bills, and transit. Even so, I ended up needing to take out payday loans to get through this month, and am out of funds for now.

I have more appointments and transit costs than ever right now, and with time running out to clear my debts before I'm on my own I'm really feeling the strain. There is much more information on the gofundme page, I also, of course, have my original post, which I am retiring because it seems to have lost traction now.

I'd appreciate anything anyone has to offer, from $1-$5 on paypal, to $5+ on gofundme, literally ANYTHING helps. I feel abandoned and alone and I don't know what to do other than beg the public for help. Please.

So the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) (which the gov't passed last year, Bill C-22), which was passed with the intent of "lifting people with disabilities out of poverty," finally got funded in the budget that was released today - and it's such fucking bullshit.

It's a maximum amount of $200/month ($2400/year)

You have to be approved for the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to be eligible - something that advocates were specifically saying should not happen because it's so fucking difficult to get on. The CDB should be barrier-free.

Doesn't start until July 2025

It's such fucking bullshit. $200 a month? And not for another fucking year? Not to mention the DTC requirement? Are you fucking kidding me?? I'm so mad.

This CBC article about it can contains this quote - "Khedr estimates that roughly 1.6 million Canadians with disabilities are living below the poverty line. But Tuesday's budget says only 600,000 would be eligible for the new national benefit." This is because of the DTC requirement. Jesus Christ.

Anyway, Canadian folks, please for the love of god contact your MPs and tell them how awful this is. It needs to be more money, it needs to be enough to actually have an impact, and it needs to not require DTC eligibility.

I'm so mad.

Photo description: Daily Bread Food Bank posts "Support a fully funded Canada Disability Benefit" in dark green letters over a white background, with a yellow "Take Action" button and a sillouette image of a blind man walking with a cane.

Below: a link to fund the benefit with an image of more sillouetted disabled folks in yellow, purple and green

PLEASE GO SIGN THE PETITION TO GET BETTER FUNDING FOR FOLKS ON DISABILITY IN CANADA!!!

My prediction for the next 3 years of Canadian politics

NDP/Liberals continue dragging their asses about the Canada Disability Benefit and then put it on the sideburner because of Election Season

-OR-

They somehow magically get it out and working but every province other than Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta and *maybe* BC are completely forgotten (hi, this is my biggest fear, Newfoundland doesn't even *have* a disability system it's just welfare with 'disabled' stamped on your file, oh and it's max 360$)

EITHER WAY

The cons get in in 2025

Immediately cancel Canada Disability Benefit

MAID, having been expanded in 2024, booms in numbers.

People still keep insisting it was totally our choice to die and legislated poverty had nothing to do with it, checks and balances guys, checks and balances.

Please sign this petition if you're Canadian! 1.5 million disabled Canadians live in poverty. I am one of them. In Ontario, we make greater than $10,000 below the provincial and federal poverty lines. The federal plan right now is to give 600,000 of us $200 per month. That won't get us anywhere near the poverty line, and helping two fifths of those in need isn't good enough. Even giving each of us $1,000 per month won't get all of us to the poverty line, but it's a lot better than what the feds are suggesting. This will help us pay rent, afford food, and get a lot of us who can work back in the workforce.

https://act.leadnow.ca/CDB-1000/?utm_source=leadnow&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blast2024-04-25

The Canada disability benefit won't end disability poverty, even if the government doesn't make the evil policy choice of using the DTC as the gateway. Most people with disabilities live in market rental units and many paying below-market or near-market rents are one eviction away from becoming homeless. Let's say a person with a disability was brought up to the market basket measure poverty line, which doesn't include disability-related cost at about 27000 dollars for 2023, you'd have to have enough money to pay 28k a year on average 1bdrm metro Vancouver, and the numbers don't look any better for most of the major Canadian cities in Canada https://liv.rent/blog/rent-reports/toronto/…. Some people might be thinking that smaller towns would be cheaper, but you'd be wrong. Tons of people fled the cities to go move to those small towns and as a result, the rents are sky-high there too. The Canada disability benefit will be a help, but without a major war effort-style plan to tackle our housing emergency, it'll be a band-aid on a dam leak.

Letters to Jagmeet - PWD

Last year, just before the federal election, Jagmeet Singh made a cell number public that he said was his, and welcomed people to text him. I have done so, multiple times. Is it doing anything more than datamining? Who knows. But I do have a reasonable belief he might actually be seeing at least some of the texts, but it would be impossible for me to explain that without live action/video, which I'm not going to provide because I hate being recorded. If I ever meet you in person, I'll display.

Today's text to Jagmeet:

You're not a leftie. The NDP are no longer left. That saddens me, but it is what it is. And if that's the way it is, use the power you have to stick the knife in to the Liberals as much as you can and squeeze as much juice out of the fruit as you can. Don't wither, be a force. Be a power.

Given the continued shoving of the disabled under the rug - and you can't convince me anyone actually cares about them as anything more than an electoral talking point, despite them being one fifth of the population - your next move should absolutely be to force the Liberals' hand on the federal disability benefit. And when you do, try to get it expanded to be no age limit.

It makes me ashamed and vomitous that a country as rich as ours, that so widely decries human rights violations in other nations, treats disabled people the way they do. It's vile. And we should be ashamed.

If you can do nothing else with the power you have, at least be morally upright on this.

Did you know that people on the Ontario Disability Support Program can only leave the province for a maximum of 30 days?

Excerpt from an email I got: "Ontario Disability Support Program is for people living in Ontario. You can be out of Ontario for up to 30 days in a row when you are on the Ontario Disability Support Program. If you are out of Ontario for more than 30 days in a row your trip must be pre-approved to maintain your eligibility for the Ontario Disability Support Program. Your monthly declaration will help keep your file updated."

"And ODSP can give you income support even if you're away more than 30 days.

They do this if they agree that you need to be away:

for health reasons,

to attend a college or university, or

for what ODSP calls "exceptional circumstances""

But only with their approval.

If anyone on Ontario disability support leaves the province for more than 30 days without government approval, we risk losing our benefits.

This is ableism. This is restricting our rights and forcing us to go through ODSP (which is notoriously slow) in order to leave not just the country, but the province, for 30 days of more.

I work in accounting in Canada and over the years I have realized just how many people aren’t aware of all the various government programs they can take advantage of so I was hoping you could post this on the chance someone who it could help sees it. The main one I see people missing out on is the disability tax credit. If you live in Canada and are disabled you may qualify for the disability tax credit. It’s a non refundable tax credit that’s relatively easy to apply for. All you need to do is get form t2201 from Canada.ca and fill out the first portion with your information then you take it to your doctors office and get them to fill out the remainder. Depending on your provinces medical coverage they might charge you a form fee. Once it’s filled out you can either mail it to the address Canada.ca tells you to or you can submit it online through MyCRA if you’ve set up access to it. If you have an accountant do your taxes for you they might be authorized to submit the form for you once it has been filled out by a medical professional. Processing time for the application is 8 weeks. They’ll mail you a letter letting you know if you qualify or not. It’s also available to people with temporary disabilities or illnesses depending on the disability. And if you do qualify that means you can open a registered disability savings plan. I think it’s similar to an IRA but I don’t actually know what an IRA is cause I’m Canadian lol. The registered disability savings plan is an account where you can put money to save for retirement. It’s different from a registered retirement savings plan because with an RDSP the government will give you grants and match your contributions up to a certain amount each year based on income. There are rules about how much you can take out of the account and when you can take it out but if you take the letter from the CRA saying you qualify for the disability tax credit to your bank they’ll help you set up the account and explain all the rules and everything else. Here ends my speech about federal disability benefits. Go forth and take the federal government for everything it’s worth my fellow disabled bitches.

You are doing the lord's work, my dove. Thank you so much for sharing with the whole class. Canadian bitchlings, take note of the above! Especially if you're a person with disabilities!

This might also help for our United Statesian readers:

How to Pay Hospital Bills When You’re Flat Broke 

Did we just help you out? Tip us!

Hamilton Centre's independent member of provincial parliament (MPP) Sarah Jama says she will table motions at Queen's Park that would boost Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) rates.  Jama told CBC Hamilton in an email she wants the housing allowance portion of both ODSP and Ontario Works to be calculated by and tied to the annual average market rent price of the city someone lives in. She will also table a motion that would ensure ODSP benefits aren't reduced as a result of another household member's income. If someone gets married, for instance, or has a common-law partner and is on ODSP, they shouldn't see a decrease in benefits.  "I've heard disability benefits are just not enough to meet the soaring costs of rent in this province," Jama, who uses a wheelchair, said in a video posted to X on Tuesday.

Continue Reading

Tagging @politicsofcanada

If someone sent me $20 so i could buy milk, oatmeal, and sugar that would be so helpful! 🥺❤️

idk i believe medically assisted death should be legal bc i think adults should have the right to make an informed decision to do that but the way they’re loosening the range of ppl who can apply and be approved for it in canada really feels like theyre on the way to eugenics 2.0. like how long will it take for doctors and politicians to go “ya your disabled but we wont provide you any financial or medical support bc its cheaper for you to literally go die”

#Canada - #Disability expert resigns from federal advisory group over benefit program

I hate the fact that so many things changed or ended due to covid, but even though everyone decided covid is over now, they didn't fix or bring back those things. why. stop being lazy and/or greedy, you useless big corporations

No time to die