Shawn Graham Liberal Premier of New Brunswick and Minister responsible for the Premier's Council on the Status of Disabled Persons photo: Andrew Meade / The Brunswickan

File under: bureaucratic abuse of the disabled

From CBC Moncton A Moncton man has lost his $1,000 disability supplement from the New Brunswick government because his federal disability pension is $1.76 a month above the provincial cut-off.

Mike Kennedy, who has multiple sclerosis, said he offered to give back the extra federal money every month.

‘It sort of makes you feel like a second-class citizen.’— Mike Kennedy

“But no, there’s nothing they can do, they say,” Kennedy said. “So I’m just one of those persons that they just hide beneath the paperwork and everything and just get shuffled through.

“It sort of makes you feel like a second-class citizen, you know — just somebody that’s been overlooked, a small sector of society that’s been overlooked, you know, the disabled.”

Officials with the provincial Department of Social Development were unavailable for comment Friday.

Kennedy said the province should try to be more compassionate with disabled people.

Tight budget

He lives on $619 a month from his federal disability pension.

Every fall, for the past three years, he’s also received a $1,000 disability supplement from the provincial government.

Kennedy usually uses that money to pay his heating bills.

But this year, he was told he doesn’t qualify because his monthly disability cheque is $1.76 above the provincial cut-off.

“That $1,000 was part of my year,” he said. “It’s hard enough to survive on a fixed income like that, but then when some of that is taken away from you, oh man, you have to make quick adjustments to compensate for it, you know?”

The disability supplement was introduced in 2000 to help disabled people on social assistance.

Editor: You can contact Premier Shawn Graham to express your concern at:

Premier’s Council on the Status of Disabled Persons pcsdp@gnb.ca

Premier Shawn Graham premier@gnb.ca