Living on less than $20,000/year in Canada

It is transparency time. My disability is mental; I was diagnosed with Bi-polar disease when I was 28 years old. I worked off and on up until going on disability, which is why I am capable of receiving Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled. I would not be able to receive CPPD if I had not worked.

Here is the breakdown,

From the Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled on my T4A (P) slip my taxable income from them (what I receive for myself) was $6,345.24 for the year 2014.  From CPPD I receive non-taxable income (what I received for my daughter) $2,768.69 for the year 2014.

 In total I received $9,113.88 from the federal government Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled.

On my T5007 slip from the Saskatchewan government box 11 for Social Assistance Payments, which is used for their Disability as well as their Employment Supplement, is a grand total of $2,124.48 for the 2014 year.

The breakdown was $1,556.08 for the year from Saskatchewan Assured Income for the Disabled and $568.40 for the year from Saskatchewan Employment Supplement.

Even though anyone between certain income brackets receive GST/HST and Child Tax Credit, I am going to add the amounts that I receive for them here to give you all the information of what I lived on in 2014 from the governmental offices in Canada as a Mentally Disabled person with one child living with them.

I receive a little more for Child Tax Credit because my daughter was born missing her left hand. She is 13 years old and while she gets along pretty well in life there are daily struggles that can cause extra expenses. As all parents with children who have disabilities are able to receive and qualify for.

Each month from January to May of 2014 I received $523.32, in June it went up to $523.48 and in July I started receiving $528.08. So I received just about as much from Child Tax Credit for my daughter as I did from my taxable income from CPPD. Child Tax Credit grand total for the year 2014 was $6308.56.

Each of us “poor” people gets a check back quarterly called GST checks. Some are GST/HST.

My grand total GST/HST checks each year come to $1,155.00.

We are now receiving the Saskatchewan Employment Supplement because my common law returned to work. Which was difficult for someone with a back that has broken disks, but you take what you can get, so he works a job part time at just above minimum wage; we survive. His wages just cover his expenses, including getting to and from work which is a 1 ½ drive each day, insurance for the vehicle, his bills, etc.

So Taxpayers of Canada my grand total, unless my addition is whacked, comes to $18,701.92 of your hard earned dollars I have had to use to live off of for the year of 2014.

In total, $11,238.36 came from Canada Pension Plan for the Disabled, from Saskatchewan’s Disability program and from the Employment Supplement in Saskatchewan.

I work hard at figuring out which brain altering drugs the doctors put me on which will help me feel “normal” and I work hard at building my self esteem/self worth enough to feel comfortable putting on a smile and greeting you each day at a Wal-Mart, McDonald's, Tim Horton’s or Salvation Army when I am able to return to work.

In the mean time I would like you to know we are also working hard at supplying our own food by growing a garden during the summer, we can and freeze fruits and vegetables so that the funds we do receive can go to purchases we need for my daughters school lunches, purchase ever increasing meat and travel once in a while to see my sons, daughter and grandchildren.

I do not live off the government to “get rich” nor to “stay lazy”. It is not a lifestyle I choose.

I am not just demeaned by strangers but by family members as well, which can make it even harder to build up that self esteem and self worth when chemicals in your brain are not working properly and you start to believe they are right because they are better than you. They are doing better than you, they are successful and they are happy, so why not just listen to them?

What “they” do not understand is that the lack of chemicals won’t allow you to listen to reason; the chemicals only allow you to hear that you are a failure, especially to those who are supposed to be there for you the most.

So when you do start to see a light at the end of the tunnel and someone pulls the carpet out from under you, the fall can be devastating.

While changes have been made in my life and I am back on the tracks I cannot guarantee the wheels will not fall off again, but I can only hope that they will stay on the tracks and while I keep plugging away and gain a forward motion I can only hope and pray I can become self sufficient once again. It would be nice to be able to buy something new without feeling guilt.

It is a struggle trying to live on less than $20,000 a year and much of the time I rely on my credit to get me through the month. 

I thank you for your understanding.

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.

Saskpower Start Doing Your Jobs!

We all know Saskatchewan does not want people who cannot afford to replace appliances that break down, BUT we are here and I am tired of listening to Brad Wall tell the people of Saskatchewan AND the World that this province is prosperous when people are literally breaking their backs trying to replace things like refrigerators, freezers, stoves, dryers, washers and microwaves by going to the dumps to pick parts out of garbaged ones.

I have severely had enough with Saskpower not doing anything about the power surges in our area...and as far as I know across the province, anywhere oil and gas wells are going and more people are building new housing and businesses while older infrastructure is in dire need of replacement.

With the new infrastructure Saskpower is not taking into account the damage it is causing on the older infrastructure and because they are so big and a publicly owned company NO ONE will speak out about the damage that it is causing.

It took them a YEAR to replace the lightening arrestor coming to our house, even then it took them several days to get someone out here to do the work and it took us complaining it was sparking in a severe rain storm.

The times I have been told of refrigerators, deep freezers, ovens, microwaves, radios…the list goes on…going on the fritz and need replacing or a repairman to come work on them because of the power flickering constantly is too often to count.

We personally cannot afford to replace the appliances that have broken down on numerous occasions, but have gone to the Salvation Army to beg for discounted dryers, who have been generous enough to replace two in the last 2 years, it is degrading.

Our refrigerator has been pieced back together by parts from the dumps by fridges that others have gotten rid of because they too have had to replace caused by the constant flickering of power. The Sally Anne doesn't carry fridges. 

In July I bought a cheaper microwave with my GST/HST check as we had been going without for about a month, it crashed and burned after the power flickered on and off several times within a few minutes time, not a serious inconvenience but it was an inconvenience all the same.

I treated us to a newer under the counter radio that cost me around $30 on sale last year and have been waiting for the old one to die. The old one was on its last leg because of the power surging that keeps happening. I put the new one up on Thursday night, last night it was working wonderfully, this morning (Sunday) the power surged once and it is now dead; what a waste. Power bars with surge protectors cost money that those of us who live on limited incomes cannot afford and do not always work for major appliances.

As I said, we are not the only one that has had issues. Extra Foods in Kindersley has had constant issues with their coolers and freezers going on the fritz. The grocery store close to us in Plenty, Saskatchewan has had many issues with their freezers and coolers breaking down and many people have had to replace their appliances in the area…check the dumps across the province and you can see for yourself how many...at least until the government cleans the appliances out of all the dumps to prove a lowly pee-on like me wrong.

These issues constantly happen after the power surging. The power surges and flickering are happening because Saskatchewan is NOT updating the older infrastructure as they build the new or allow more and more wells for oil and gas to be put in all over the area.

You don’t want the poor and disabled in your province. We cannot give you anything, only take, right?

We cannot afford thousands of dollars like oil and gas workers or government workers to replace our older homes or the old appliances they came with and the piddly rebates you offer are just that...dinky rebates that do not help those of us that cannot afford to buy new furnaces, hot water tanks or appliances in the first place. 

We cannot afford to live on the minimum wages and your Saskatchewan Employment Supplement when we have to keep putting out exorbitant amounts of money out for appliances that are needed to keep our food from spoiling or to cook it or to clean our cloths so our children are not teased at school for being filthy. 

When your province is doing so well like you say it is it should be replacing the old infrastructure as it builds new, especially when that new infrastructure is supposed to be bringing in a lot of money…those oil and gas wells along with the people that build and take care of them should be bringing in the big bucks to pay for improving the old and bringing in the new.

You want me to leave like the rest of the disabled, but I think what needs to be done Mr. Wall is someone needs to start speaking out on how the disabled and poor of your province are being treated. 

I am sick of hearing you tell the world how great your province is when there are those in your province suffering worse then myself.

This is not my only issue with your province, I have blogged about your roads and the damage my car has received because of them, from cracks and chips in the windshield that I cannot afford to fix to a dent in the radiator pan from the ruts. How about the exorbitant prices of the internet here in Saskatchewan because Sasktel is publicly owned and decides who is also allowed to offer services to rural customers...who then are also allowed to gouge customers...

But I digress...

My point is Brad Wall and his government need to start making SaskPower update the old infrastructure so these power surges and power flickers STOP happening so people stop having to replace appliances, hot water tanks and furnaces that they cannot afford to replace.