I'm not trying to say that people with disabilities shouldn't be offered compassion, understanding, and support. What I am saying is that it is a harmful argument that Boardwalk is low BECAUSE she was on AISH. The judge didn't even mention AISH. He mentioned that she was disabled and had little money- as in she doesn't have the means to make more cash - not as in she's on AISH. The JOURNAL is the one that mentioned that she's on AISH.
This was low of Boardwalk because they asked for nearly double the amount she owed to begin with to pay for lawyers we know were already paid in full... especially since they knew that the cash would be coming from the government at the expense of someone who can't afford to lose a dollar.
They're low for not showing compassion to a HUMAN BEING... not just an AISH recipient.
When AISH gets dragged in to it, we put another nail in their coffin- it's another premise added to the arguments in the pockets of people who would see the program restricted further. Remember that post about whether AISH payments need to be higher? How many people argued that the $1680 AISH payment was enough because people on AISH get subsidies for rent and other support that working people don't get?? That was a repeated argument that I actively argued against.
Seriously. You guys have me all sorts of fucked up. Hahah.
I remember back about a decade ago when PDD - the government body that pays for daily life/employment supports for people with developmental disabilities whether or not they're on AISH - were slashed because they decided that they weren't responsible for offering recreational access to the community. In other words, grouphomes had their staffing slashed to the bare minimums and outreach was limited to employment or volunteer supports except for in rare instances that had to be fought for yearly when contracts went under review. My brother went from being active in the community to getting out for a short walk maybe every second day and going out twice a week maximum since he lived in a house with 3 people and their agency were only given staffing dollars for 2 people on at a time during the day. Wanna know what they said when we screamed INJUSTICE at PDD? "Why can't you take him out?" "Why doesn't he have community connections to take him out? Obviously he wasn't that active in the community anyway if he doesn't have friends."
We live in ALBERTA where our government passes the buck anytime they can - especially when it comes to our most vulnerable. Excuse me for reminding people that we cannot demand special treatment from private companies who have no interest in charity in this province. We can support those who do. We can even admonish those who don't. But maybe leave AISH out of the argument.