A member of New Brunswick’s official opposition is going to bat for a disabled Moncton man who has been turned down for a provincial disability pension.

CBC News – On Wednesday, Tory critic Jack Carr called on Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock to intervene and use his power to give Mike Kennedy the provincial disability supplement.

It is somewhat ironic that Liberal NB Premier Graham got elected on poverty reform and has essentially repudiated his promises. The Liberal Premier of PEI, Robert Ghiz, has essentially done the same thing.

Kennedy recently found out he wasn’t eligible for the $1,000 per year supplement because he gets too much in a federal pension. His federal disability pension is $619.70 per month — just $1.70 over the limit to be eligible for the provincial supplement.

Carr said that Lamrock recently held up Kennedy’s situation as an example of how the system isn’t working and it sounded like the minister was going to intervene.

But 10 days later, Kennedy received a letter saying his appeal had been denied.

Carr, critic for issues that affect disabled people, said that if Lamrock recognizes the problem, then he should step in and do something about it.
‘Needed to be fixed’

“Well, the minister is in charge, or is he? That’s the question because he had recognized that this was a problem, that it needed to be fixed, and the minister does have ministerial discretion to be able to take individual cases and say yes on this one,” he said.

Carr, who plans to meet with Kennedy this week, said the government should exercise some common sense when it comes to helping citizens.

Kennedy, who has multiple sclerosis, is happy a politician is finally paying attention to him.

“I hope this is going to be mean justice for me and for all disabled people in New Brunswick that are in poverty, I really do,” he said.

“I’ve yet to receive any comment from Kelly Lamrock. Nobody from the provincial government has been in touch with me. They just give me a flat denial and they deny my appeal, and that’s it.”

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

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