Disability benefit recipients urge Saskatchewan to increase rates | 24CA News

Clients of Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID) say they’re struggling to make ends meet with the advantages they obtain by way of this system, which in accordance with the province has a purpose of providing shoppers “the dignity of greater choice of services and participation in their community.”

“I’ve heard that because of the cost of living rising, even people on SAID are going to the food bank,” mentioned Sean Hargreaves, a SAID recipient of 9 years who lives in Delisle.

“If you want to have any kind of life instead of living off ramen noodles and stuff from the food bank, I just don’t think the rates are high enough.”

SAID advantages fluctuate relying on quite a lot of components, together with the place the recipient lives, the variety of folks and dependents of their family and the precise limitations related to their incapacity.

Hargreaves says that after paying for hire and utilities with SAID and CPP funds, which the latter he says he was pressured to register for when making use of to SAID, he’s left with lower than $300 monthly for all different bills. The CPP advantages are deducted from the SAID advantages, he provides.

Hargreaves mentioned he encountered different issues when making use of for SAID, which he receives for psychological well being points, together with extreme anxiousness and melancholy.

“(The government’s) attitude towards (my mental health) was the same with a lot of people still in the general public — if people can’t see a disability, they don’t believe there’s a disability there.”

He mentioned his utility course of took about six months and concerned paying for physician’s notes and getting consultations with a counsellor and a psychologist.

“It was very tough. It depended which worker I was seeing, which team. Some were very sympathetic and were willing to guide you through and there were some who would look at you and have their doubts. And unfortunately, they have your benefits in their hands, so you can’t help but feel a little bit judged. Hopefully by now though that’s a little less of a problem.”

Lynnett Boris, who has spina bifida, can be on SAID and lives in Saskatoon. She’s unable to complement her advantages with work resulting from her situation.

She mentioned that between SAID and long-term incapacity advantages, she will get round $1,200 monthly.

After hire and utilities are paid, Boris mentioned she has little left to make life extra pleasurable.

“It is extremely hard to make ends meet on that amount of money,” she mentioned.

“It’s not enjoyable at all. It kind of takes the fun and enjoyment out of life.”

Brenda Edel is a founding member of Barrier Free Saskatchewan (BFSK), which is advocating for robust accessibility laws.

She mentioned SAID charges are a standard difficulty heard at BFSK.

“The rates have always been one of the most difficult things. If somebody works, they can only claim so much and then that money gets clawed back,” Edel mentioned.

Individuals on SAID can earn as much as $6,000 earlier than that revenue is deducted from advantages.

“And the rates aren’t going up with the costs of inflation. When you’re living on minimum wage, and below the poverty line, every little bit counts.”

Other SAID recipients have been contacted for interviews however declined remark resulting from fears about dropping their advantages.

The Saskatchewan NDP, in the meantime, says it intends to boost the difficulty within the legislature this spring.

“We have a petition we’ll be launching this spring session. It has hundreds of signatures, and it points out that SAID has not seen an increase in over seven years,” mentioned NDP MLA and social companies critic Meara Conway.

Conway mentioned that when accounting for inflation, recipients have seen a 20 per cent lower within the worth of their advantages since 2012.

“I’m hearing some really heartbreaking stories of difficulty funding housing, meeting basic needs, paying for food,” Conway mentioned.

“Living with a disability is more expensive than living as an able-bodied person and so folks are really struggling. We’re hearing a lot from family members who are needing to basically subsidize their loved ones.”

Conway mentioned single adults with disabilities dwelling alone are typically struggling essentially the most, in accordance with her consultations and analysis.

“Single people on SAID who live alone are in the deepest poverty in that subsection.”

The NDP’s petition requires a right away improve in SAID charges, to index charges to inflation shifting ahead and to “provide targeted relief to those in deepest poverty, such as single individuals paying market rent.”

The petition additionally calls on the federal government to “halt discriminatory practices and align policies with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

“We’ve been reached out to by people who are getting amounts clawed back in ways that have been found to be discriminatory in other provinces like in Manitoba,” Conway mentioned.

“The Saskatchewan government continues to force people on SAID to apply for early CPP even though that’s been found by the Manitoba Court of Appeal to be discriminatory.”

Conway reiterated, although, that her largest concern is the charges.

“People need to get enough to make ends meet, and right now they simply do not,” she mentioned.

“Would a minister in this building be willing to take a 20 per cent cut to their pay? No. I think SAID is the single most significant thing that this government has done. Unfortunately, since that time we’ve seen a sharp turn to catering to special interests like the Buffalo Party, and we’ve seen less and less of a Saskatchewan Party listening to the concerns of real people, working people and people struggling to make ends meet.”

In an emailed assertion, a Ministry of Social Services spokesperson informed Global News, “SAID benefits vary depending on a client’s specific situation and needs, and has different payment tiers for living income, disability income and shelter with no set maximum monthly benefit.”

“SAID also offers clients annual earned income exemptions, which allows clients who work to earn more money.

“In 2022-23, we increased SAID funding by $16.7 million to ensure that all people in Saskatchewan who qualify for the program are supported,” the assertion continues.

“In the Maytree Report on ‘Welfare in Canada, 2021,’ Saskatchewan ranked among the top four Canadian provinces in providing income assistance benefits for single people with disabilities.”

The authorities of Manitoba introduced a brand new incapacity revenue assist program final December. It permits recipients to earn as much as $12,000 earlier than decreasing advantages. In Saskatchewan, as famous within the picture above, the exemption tops out at $6,000 for a person.