A beg, plead and cry for help, from my parents.

A few of you that talk to me on a regular basis are well aware of the ongoing struggles my parents are having with health care, financial assistance and doctors in northern Alberta. They live in the woods, live off the land, and that’s where they should be as far as I’m concerned. These are people I have come to greatly admire, people who value our planet, and enjoy living in harmony with God’s creations. (Yes, my parents are religious, is it ironic considering my second last post?). But now the problems have simply gone too far, something must be done, and as two people with no money, few friends, and few that can fully understand how they live; they are quickly realizing what a cruel place Alberta can be. The following is a letter that my father painstakingly dictated to me over the phone, a phone that I must add has been paid for by an extremely generous and understanding neighbor for over 4 years. He has seen the problems, I have seen the problems, and now I hope you will too. Please remember that I have worked very hard on taking this down, correcting spelling, and editing for clarity. Now all I ask is that you do me a small favor and read it.

DICTATED LETTER:

I am writing to you today, in hopes you can help my wife and I. We are suffering, severely, and are being treated very wrongfully by Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry (most will know this as Welfare) in Grand Prairie.

In September 2007, they placed impossible expectations on us, and wrongfully cut our funds. On December 11, 2007 I wrote a 17 page appeal letter, with exhibits A through T, describing in detail about all the injustices that were committed against us — with proof — to the Appeals Secretariat; they cut our health care and closed our file that very day. My main complaint was that they were preventing me from proper medical care in a number of ways, including refusing to pay for — or provide — medical transportation over a very long period of time. It’s obvious they interfered with the relationship of our doctor, to the point he refused to treat us or to see us as patients. It was impossible for us to travel to another doctor to establish a relationship with him so that he may fill out forms for us. In September 2004 my doctor wrote a note stating my wife cannot work, and signed one for me stating I was permanently disabled and unable to work due to epilepsy.

Many, many notes have been signed since then, but we have been cut off twice; 4 in total. The first of those times we were unable to get back on assistance for 13 months, and we suffered tremendously. The MD got us back on, but they wrongfully held our funds 3 days later, even though I had a note from our doctor stating I was unable to work.
I appealed and wrote letters, and eventually they released our funds. Although the amount was $148 less than we received when last on assistance, because they did not put us in the “not expected to work” category. I wrote letters but still they refused to put us in the proper category or give us our proper funds. I cannot prove to them in a more complete way that they were wrong to cut our funds, than I did with the 17 page appeal letter. They have broken many laws, have been — and are currently — violating human rights laws by doing what they are doing. In a court of law the government would have little or no defense against my many, many documented examples against them.

Cutting my health care and preventing me from proving myself to them — yet again — with a different doctor, was the dirtiest move yet. It was a horrible thing to do to us, especially because my health was quickly deteriorating and they knew it. By December 20 I had become very ill, and could barely walk. A friend, in which I am in great debt to, drove us to the University of Alberta hospital in Edmonton. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive for us. They did a ton of tests over the next 30 hours but couldn’t find the cause. At 1 AM I was discharged even though I was incoherent and couldn’t walk, the hospital social worker was also dumbfounded that I was being released in -21C weather, with no ride home, no money or food, and in such poor physical health.

She explained in detail our situation to Samantha at Alberta Works emergency services. A room in the outpatient residence was arranged. At 3 AM I was pushed in a wheelchair by an orderly to the outpatient residence; waiting there were two police officers who then ordered us to leave Capital Health property. Eventually, after much pleading on the part of myself and my wife, one of the officers checked the computer and saw that a room had been reserved.

I received two letters post marked January 02, 2008, from Employment, Immigration and Industry; in them were two months receipts for $1 each and medical services cards with a date of December 24, 2007. One of those receipts stated the office would be closed on December 24. I also received a letter from Health and Wellness dated December 26, 2007 stating Employment, Immigration and Industry has requested that they pay for health care for my wife and I. We were at the hospital from Thursday, December 20 to Sunday, December 23. December 24 is when they activated my health care and gave me $2.

Why do you think Employment, Immigration and Industry was now strangely paying for health care?

I was still very ill, and in a lot of pain, so the friend drove us to the High Prairie hospital on January 05, 2008, to visit a Dr. Vu, who my friend thought was a good doctor. Dr. Vu spent nearly an hour listening to all my ailments; he ordered an MRI and referred me to a neurologist at the University of Alberta. He ordered blood tests and full spinal x-rays. We sat down with him and looked at the results of the x-rays on his computer and he was as shocked as we were. I have a broken neck. There are 7 vertebrae in the neck, and the vertebrae that is broken is the 6th one down from the top, and probably the worst one to break. Dr. Vu said there was nothing they could do about it, because it had been left for too long. It’s no wonder I’m so disabled, have all the serious symptoms of MS, and feel I’m not far away from a wheel chair. For over 4 years I’ve been telling the Government that I can’t manage on my own, and need my wife at home to help me.

Every time we’ve been cut off, they have said my wife can go out and support me. We live off the land, in a small trailer, and have no utilities. Life is especially hard with no drivers license for over 3 years, and not a penny to our name. The one dollar a month they give us doesn’t even come close to the $10 monthly bank fee. Soon we will lose that too, due to delinquency.

I don’t have the answer, so I’ll ask you, what are we to do?

If you want more information, or have a suggestion or comment, we’d appreciate hearing from you. You can contact us through my sons email address (see below) he will phone me with any responses.

Contact Email:

People who have received a copy of this letter via email have been given my (distatica) contact email. To cut back on spam, I would like readers here to leave a comment instead. If you require contacting me via email, please list that in your comment and make sure to enter a correct email address. I will contact you back as soon as possible.