When is Change Needed?

I do find my life lucky. 

Some people may think that I am a downer, that I am so negative and many times when I am not on my medication that is true. 

But right now in my life I am happy. Even though there is stress, I am trying very hard to deal with that stress in a positive way. I am trying to help not only myself but others who matter very much. I keep busy with gardening and Keagan is keeping me on the run.

A short time ago I blogged how much money I received of government funding. I want people to know, I do not expect more than what I am getting. I have survived on what I get and I know it is my choice to live where I do.

I don't waste what little I have. I use my funds to feed, cloth and put a roof over my daughters head while still being there for my son who is living with his father. 

I am not responsible for any other person's expenses or hobbies but my own and my daughters which are minimal to begin with (until lately ;) Keagan has gotten into some school activities like badminton and track and field. We also found her a Cello teacher! YAH!) 

I live a very simple life, eating out happens rarely, I do not make expensive purchases for others or for myself without having the cash available in hand, meaning I save for it first. Snacks are a given in all households but there is a limit to how much is spent each month and fruit is always available in the house. I do preserves and freeze in the fall what we cannot store over the winter.

Do I expect others to live the same way? No. 

But there are those that are very much worse off than I and that is who I want to bring attention to...to those people who don't even make the $18,000/year, but are working from morning until night. 

Those who can make the difference are those who make more than I do, they make more than $40,000/year...these are the people who need to decide that cleaning toilets, mopping floors and cleaning grills is worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who have to look at the numbers...inflation 1975 pay=2015 pay for minimum wagers...but the prices are wacked. These are the people who have to see that a house in 1975 was 10% of what it is now. 

Food cost has skyrocketed since then as well and you complained THEN that it was expensive, if you are not living on minimum wage now...think, if you were complaining about the cost of food in the '70s how do you think someone on minimum wage feels NOW? They cannot afford meat.

Doctors, lawyers, accountants, all those professional politicians, along with the floor scrubbers, hamburger flippers and skyscraper builders need to decide that those people who bathe, feed and dress our grandparents in the homes are worth more than minimum wage and no benefits. 

These are the people who need to say, enough of YOUR taxes going into the pockets of people who are not doing their jobs and into the pockets of people who are working. 

A person who works as a client care attendant/nursing aid in a group home for seniors or for the severely disabled should not have to be on assistance and a person working as a chambermaid should not have to be on assistance. These people should not have to be assisted with health care benefits.

Alberta has an election coming up in a matter of days...while I choose to live in Saskatchewan, I am always watching what happens in my beloved home province. 

Informing ourselves about the choices and allowing those choices to have a chance to prove themselves is how change happens, it is scary...but more often than not it works out for the best when we decide change is needed.

Who is Cleaning Your Toilet?

When the Middle, Rich and Mega Rich classes tell the Poor class they shouldn't procreate it leaves me to wonder…

Who do you think is going to clean your toilets?

For the most part the Middle class do this on their own at home, but think about it this way, who does it in the Malls, Restaurants, theaters, Hotels or Casinos you enjoy using?

I wonder…

Which class of citizens do the Middle/Rich/Mega-Rich believe make the beds in the Hotels they stay in when they vacation in their favorite destination spot? Which class of citizens rings your bill up and hands you those bags of groceries every time you visit a grocery store?

I read comments all the time from Middle/Rich and Mega Rich individuals who believe the poor should stop having children if we cannot afford them, we should have to have a licence to have children in the first place.

What these individuals do not consider is who after our generations are gone and we are not allowed to procreate unless told to is going to clean up after them, cook for them, stock the shelves for them…basically do the manual labor?

Can you see a Lawyer, after spending the night in a $500/night hotel room, washing the bedding and cleaning the room before he leaves the hotel for the day? Can you see yourself cleaning the isles in the movie theater and washing the sinks and toilets after the movie?

Those jobs are done by the working poor, whose children are usually the ones who take over those crappy jobs, thank you very much, unless WE parents drill it into their heads that they are worth more and can be more, the working poor’s children will end up as the working poor right after us…serving the Middle/Rich/Mega Rich Classes.

Before you try telling the poor classes to stop having children, remember who is handing you that coffee, making that bed or cooking that meal at your favorite restaurant, because most likely it isn’t your wife or husband if your family is making over $100,000.

And think, should the working poor have to worry about whether they can pay the utility bill or have the car breaks fixed so they can get to their job safely?

Ministry of Social Services Needs overhaul in Saskatchewan

There are some departments in the Government of Saskatchewan that just need to be privatized from liquor to highways to insurance, but then there are those who need huge over hauls in Saskatchewan like the Ministry of Social Services.

While more on site social workers are desperately needed there is a bloating going on at the higher levels, I know my worker could probably use another in her area as she travels to surrounding areas, but the bloating happening at the higher levels where the offices are inflated with people doing the same jobs as the on site social workers who are working their butts off. The on site workers are essential.

When a person has to report their income twice to same Ministry there is a problem. Some of the programs the Ministry of Social Services in Saskatchewan are responsible for are Saskatchewan Assured Income for the Disabled, SAID. (It could take some lessons from AISH in Alberta.) Saskatchewan Assistance Program, SAP. Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, SES. Saskatchewan Rental Housing Supplement, SRHS and there are others but I won’t go on as you can see there are options for help, however the paperwork is enormous and not just at first…but constant especially when you qualify for more than one program, which no one will not tell you if you do or not, so you will live without for months or years living on less than the poverty line only to find out later from a stranger that you would qualify for another program as well.

I am on disability. I receive SAID and if you do not know, you have to qualify for this. My common-law works at a very low paying job as many employers in the area will not hire him because he has broken disks in his back which caused a degenerative disease from his previous job here in Saskatchewan and his union did nothing to help him, so we also qualify for another program run under the Ministry called Saskatchewan Employment Supplement, SES.

I originally moved to Saskatchewan to help him after he was hurt. I love the country, it helps me with my mental disease and I care about my friends enough to help when I can, something has grown between us and we have been honest about this with my worker.

Because of my disability, I receive just over $500/month from CPPD. I was receiving just over $300 from the SAID program before we changed our status. Now I receive $0 to $60/month depending on his wages which are less than $630 every two weeks (aprox. $1260/m take home)…Definitely no where near the average weekly wage of $800 that drew him to Saskatchewan in the first place 8 years ago and no, he was absolutely no where near making that at his last job either before he was hurt…With the SES program we will receive another $190-$250/month…which is basically what I lost from SAID.

We have to sign documents allowing these programs access of information to the other programs we are on, so it confuses me to the extent of paperwork we have to do to please this ministry.

Every month my partner drops off his pay stubs to be photocopied at my SAID workers office so they can decide how much I will receive from them and every month I have to call SES with the GROSS amount he made that month, plus every 3 months SES audits everything.  

This is extravagant governmental waste at its worst. Why make things difficult by making people screw around with departments within one ministry?

Is this just another ploy for the Saskatchewan Government to make things so difficult for the poor and disabled that they just give up and leave the province and find an easier province to live in?

I have it no where near as bad as some people in Saskatchewan but personally, I think it is time someone started speaking up and demanding answers as to why the waste of taxes to pay for so many people punching the same numbers into the Ministry of Social Services files. My family should have 1 file and be under 2 programs in that file. My income and my common-laws income should be entered into that file once a month by one worker. My audits should be done once a year or when my income changes to a great degree. If any income that is not taxable is not be included as income, like Child Tax Credit, then ALL income that is not taxable should not be included as income. What I receive from Canada Pension for my daughter is not taxable, but is still deducted from my SAID checks each month.

It makes it a more positive place to be when you can say there is low unemployment and high paying jobs in the province of Saskatchewan.

Not having unemployed people in your province happens when 1) you refuse to put in low income housing** where there is dire need of workers, like in Kindersley, Saskatchewan for example…and 2) the people on unemployment (whether it be from regular benefits which are A LOT longer than sick/disability benefits…which never really made sense to me), are kicked off but have not found another job yet.

**Low income housing is not $300,000 homes for the new guy in the oil patch; Low income housing is AFFORDABLE to those working those minimum paying jobs you refuse to fill with Canadian workers.

Why Have an Abortion?

Why would women want to have an abortion?

http://www.upworthy.com/a-dude-trying-to-ban-abortions-is-asked-a-question-he-never-considered-its-so-obvious-it-hurts-8?c=ufb3

Growing up and in my 20’s I never even considered the idea of abortion. It took me so long to have my son and daughter that it boggled my mind to even think about it. I would never do it, but it is a woman’s issue and if a woman felt they needed to have an abortion that was their right.

Men, I understand you may become attached to the thought or idea of having a child, but you are not the one who has to carry a fetus.

Men are not the ones who, if raped, have to endure the constant reminder of that rape if made to carry a child full term.

I do believe that a man can be raped; I do believe they would have a difficult time moving forward from that rape, but to have your body change with the growth of a child made because of that rape, you will never know that feeling. It is not joyous like it is supposed to be, it is not a miracle, it is a jail sentence for women.

Finances are another reason, not a good one, but a reason…after a one night stand, men are not the ones with the financial burden of raising a child that is carried to full term if the woman does not know who the father is. Some women will rely on social services, free money right? Not all women are that greedy or lazy.

We all know this happens and the blame game can be played on both sides of the fence. A man knows how to use a condom and a woman knows how to pop a pill or have a needle stuck in her arm every few months.

Although men, a condom does more than save you from child support, it can save your life as well. While the “pill” helps prevent pregnancy it cannot protect you from disease, remember that when you place the blame on the woman for getting pregnant in the first place.

Health reasons for abortion are always acceptable, but which health reasons? Life or death seems to be the only acceptable reason, as long as the mother’s life is at stake she is allowed to abort a fetus.

Many people are made to feel guilt for having an abortion. Guilt is a stupid feeling when it comes to abortion and making people feel this way, is cruel. 

Why do adults feel that children and teenagers can control their emotions and urges any better than we could at their age? Teaching safe sex is the best way to prevent teen pregnancy, but even then when a teenager has to deal with becoming pregnant, why do we feel the need to pressure them into either keeping a child they have no clue how to emotionally, mentally or financially support?

Each person knows their body better than any other person on this Earth. We cannot tell someone what is best for them from one day to the next. 

Looking back, as a teenager I was not responsible enough to have a child even though I desperately wanted one. A child would have suffered under my parentage while I was a teenager. 

If a teenager can make the decision that abortion would be best for her future, then no one should stand in her way, she will be the one who has to make the sacrifices in the future. 

Anyone can say a teen girl should have thought about that before she had sex, I will serve the ball back by saying that there are not many women left on this world who would be able to say they "saved" themselves for their husbands, so before you cast that stone...make sure your house has no windows.

What about mental health reasons? Are they acceptable reasons?

Most people know I am Bi-Polar; one of the symptoms is an increased sex drive when in a manic phase, euphoria is another.

After I had my daughter I was put on the birth control shot, you are only allowed to be on this shot for 5 years after that an alternative is used. I would like to point out, my children have the same father and I was married to him our marriage did not work, one of the reasons being my disease. 

When I came off the shot I was in a manic phase and I had been looking at other options but never followed through. If you know Bi-Polar, you know "follow through" is a big problem when you are in manic/depression phases.

Remember I said I would never consider abortion?

When I was in my mid-30’s, already supporting two children on a disability pension/child support and I became pregnant from a complete stranger because I was in a Bi-Polar Manic Phase, I did what was necessary for the welfare of the children I already had. The son and daughter I have were not going to go without because I made a mistake, I was going to fix the mistake and it was an easy decision for me.

I chose to do what made the most sense. Instead of making the Federal and Provincial governments pay me more money for a child that was not conceived under the best circumstances, I had an abortion. Do I have regrets? Nope.

Some will say that adoption is an alternative.

I agree, but we see the statistics on children in foster care that could be adopted…but are not, even babies because of their background/history.

No one wants the burden, people want perfect children who will be little darlings, not children who may have disabilities down the road because a mother had a mental disease or the father was an alcoholic/drug abuser. I know people who are foster parents, in their 50’s, raising babies nobody wants or people cannot care for.

Do I know anyone that would have adopted the child?

Even if I did, I would not have felt comfortable knowing that one day, those people could have come back to blame me for this child having the disease I fight with everyday. 

I already worry about my two children having this disease and helping them through it if they do, worrying about another was too great. Abortion was the solution, the best solution.

When you give a child up for adoption, it ceases to become your child, having adoptive parents come to me and blame me for a disability was not going to happen and having a child end up in foster care because a family does not want to deal with mental illness was not going to happen either, and to be honest, that child would have been their child, not mine.

I would never presume to tell a man what they have to do or not do with their reproductive organs. 

Should we castrate rapists and pedophiles? Most people would say yes to this, but we don't for humane reasons.

Should we "snip" men who keep having children with different women? Probably another yes, but it would be unethical.

There would be more yes’s to "snipping" men in 3rd world countries, easier and faster healing time then for a woman to have surgery, governments will send money over to 3rd world countries to circumcise men before they will stop them from procreating. Go figure, they will perform cosmetic surgery but won't stop over population. 

So why should men dictate whether women have the choice to have a child or not?

  

When a man can carry a child to full term after being raped or when a man can carry a child after sleeping with a woman one night, never knowing her name, then a man will know what it feels like to have to make a very difficult, or sometimes very easy, decision of abortion. 

Until then, it is a woman’s issue and should always be thought of in that way.

Religious people use their book and their God to condemn those that do not agree with them on this topic.

Hypocrisy always has a way of coming around to bite us in the ass... 

Judge Not Lest Ye Be Judged~Matthew 7:1 

Some call it Karma. 

Good Reasons for Drug Testing

I will say right now, I agree that some social assistance cases should be tested for drugs and rehabilitation would be in order if they fail. Sometimes rock bottom is where people need to hit in order to grow if rehabilitation isn't wanted. I am not saying give up on them, I am not saying don’t take care of their children; I am saying they need to do it on their own.

There are very good reasons for drug testing for people who work in high risk careers though.

Safety of the worker and others is the number one priority for the oil field and construction crews.

Talking with my son, who is looking at welding as a career, welding is very dangerous. How do you think those beams are put together in those tall buildings in major cities around the world?

We have heard how farmers have their accidents on the job, many losing limbs (my daughter was born missing her left hand, we attend War Amps Champs Camps and some of the Champs are from farming backgrounds), construction crews working on skyscrapers and oil field crews (I personally lost someone in the oilfield who had been doing drugs many years ago), the list goes on.

Safety is a very big factor when working in many high paying jobs that is why you are paid high wages and why you receive benefits. Your boss has a legal obligation to make sure his equipment is being properly operated by someone who can do it safely, you need to be alert and not under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It is only right that an employer gets to have their employees drug tested. Their employees are an investment. They pay employees huge amounts of money and they pay out a lot in benefits for employees as well.

If you want to look at it another way, if the employee screws up, who pays for it? 

Not the employee, they end up on assistance and believe me when I say Workers Compensation Board WILL throw you to the wind if you screw up. Your benefits will mean nothing if you cause the accident and that Union that you are so fond of…well, they are not going to defend a murderer are they?…because if you are doing drugs on a high risk job site, that is what you are if you kill someone isn't it? I call it as I see it.

Hard working people who make a very good living at what they do, your employers stipulate that drug testing is mandatory for good reasons.

Spilling a plate of Spaghetti on someone’s lap if you’re stoned on marijuana might burn someone and destroy a new outfit, you will end up losing your job, but it won’t kill a person. Working 20 stories in the air and not welding a beam properly, driving a semi into oncoming traffic or you doing one thing wrong on a rig…YOU could kill someone while under the influence.

Do you see the difference?

Those people that believe social assistance cases are constantly using the system or are only on the system because they do not want to work, you either haven’t met someone who is on the system and works as well or you chose not see the other side of how the system works for those who absolutely need it.

I have met and I know some very hard working people who have just been very down on their luck or this is their life. This is what their life was supposed to be like you chose to believe that way. Their life purpose. 

They did not receive the education, the experience or the hand up to get into a career that has benefits so their children can have the things they need like braces, glasses and medications. They work at dead end jobs, smiling at every customer…including you. But won’t ever be able to take those trips you enjoy. Not that they care; they do not envy your life. They are happy in theirs and really, someone still has to hand you that Whopper with Cheese.

Many people do not have children while on welfare. Like me, they try very hard to stay away from the assistance programs, but they end up on assistance AFTER they have had children. There is not much you can do about it when even with an education you still cannot afford a pill for your child when they are sick or need glasses to see.

The people collecting “welfare” are not all sitting at home with a bong between their knees giggling at Cheech and Chong and a bag of chips beside them. Not all of them are women popping out babies every year.

They work as hard as anyone climbing into a Semi, up a Rig or scaling a skyscraper. They sweat just like you. They earn money just like you and they work hard at what they CAN do to survive each day.

The only difference, 

they need help doing it, because not all jobs pay 40/50/100 thousand dollars a year and have benefits to pay for the glasses on their child's face, the tooth knocked out by a bully or the ADD medications that they need. Someone needs to hand you those Tim Horton’s coffees, bag your purchases at Wal-Mart and serve you in a restaurant.

I know many of you agree drug testing is a good thing. As I agree some Social Assistance cases should be as well. I also agree that rehabilitation should be used before “canning” someone. I believe many companies offer that as well in their benefit packages.

Some people though, believe that because they make money, work hard and pay huge amounts of taxes, which a small portion goes to helping those on social assistance, it is not “fair” that they (the workers) have to be tested for drugs and those on welfare don’t. (I would like to point out; these are the first people to say “life is not fair” to those less fortunate when the poor have to go without.)

These are the people who only see what they want,

They see that if they smoke “Pot”, they have to stop smoking it for a month so they can “pee” clean for a job while someone who needs help paying their utilities doesn't.

How fair is that right? Especially when the person peeing is building that skyscraper in downtown Calgary, they have to climb 20 stories? How dare they make you pee in a cup?

It is time people started looking at the bigger picture. It isn't always black and white there are many shades of grey in there and seeing them takes a heart, it takes compassion and it takes parents teaching their children compassion as well.