Impossible to live in this town

[coolwaterwave]

I wouldn't say impossible, but extremely difficult and untenable for longterm improvement of one's situation.

Does Kelowna really have 'slum lords' though? You'll find those in some of the bigger cities.

[monroe]

^^ Uuh yeah, i think we could have those.

"A slumlord is a derogatory term for a landlord, generally an absentee landlord with more than one property, who attempts to maximize profit by minimizing spending on property maintenance, often in deteriorating neighborhoods" - Wikipedia.

[Daspoot]

I'm kind of a hopeless Socialist at heart, and I have been on TTD's (Total Temperary Disability) before, but I have a tough time thinking someone on disability should expect to be able to live financially comfortably, alone in the most expensive province, in one of the most desirable areas, which has seen housing costs growing, 10, 20 and even 30% in recent years.

It sucks, but this a highly desirable area of Canada, in the most expensive province with rock bottom vacancy rates, and tough times mean that you probably will need to share rent to get by if your income is based on disability and no other sources of income or friends and family to help lodge you.

It would be nice if we could lay 2-3thousand on people every month, but that money has to come from somewhere, and even Crispy Clark's entire wage wouldn't cover many people.

I do agree that the current provincial governments budget priorities are out of wack, but even the NDPest NDP government isn't going to find $2500/month for people to live in Kelowna comfortably on disability.

The entire Valley could use more entry level housing options for low income people and young families, I'll give you that.

[mexi cali]

Five months on the street in the winter could kill you. To say it's not a long time is a gross understatement.

This may have been addressed already but I will do it myself regardless. Please read the whole post made by Piecemaker. It does not talk about living on the street for five months but rather living with friends and family or on a couch for that period while waiting to get into subsidized housing.

Don't be so quick to criticize what you haven't read.

[mexi cali]

I find it hard to believe that people are making $200 a night in non lakeside/view basement suites from Sept to April.

That's because they're not. 150 maybe. The whole point behind ABNB is so people can afford to visit and not pay 250-350-450 a night for 500 sq ft hotel rooms.

[mexi cali]

Some here won't like this but here it is anyhow. One of the problems with increasing the benefit for disability is that if the amount of money available is attractive enough, the system will see a dramatic rise in the number of people with disabilities.

If there is a loop hole in the system, they will find it and they will exploit it.

True story dude.

[CountryAtHeart]

One of the problems with increasing the benefit for disability is that if the amount of money available is attractive enough, the system will see a dramatic rise in the number of people with disabilities.

Unless you have a very crooked Dr. It isn't that easy to get on disability or stay on it for that matter. The amount of paperwork, including all the doctors reports, and all of the interviews with Social Workers is vast. Even if you have a permanent disability, you are subject to supply periodic Dr. reports.

Anyone believing that living on disability benefits is a breeze, is sadly mistaken.

[mexi cali]

Never said it was a breeze but getting doctors to support disability issues is not that difficult. These are the same doctors who dole out handicap placards to people for any manner of phantom pain.

I know people who have done it. I know people who received DBs under false pretenses.

[JollyGreenBully]

getting doctors to support disability issues is not that difficult.

Not to sound rude, but you're way way way off base. Receiving BC Disability involves a doctor proving the applicant is unable to work and needs help with daily tasks. It also involves the doctor somehow proving that no medication whatsoever will help the applicant which is difficult since if certain medications haven't been tried then the government might request they be tried first before Disability is granted. Specific appointment dates need to be cited, lots of medical history information needs to be submitted, and I think even all psychiatric records have to be submitted although that may be optional just to provide more proof.

I posted earlier in this thread about how I was told by multiple doctors that the first application is almost always denied no matter how much proof is provided. Mine was denied twice, and then a government worker actually spent an hour and a half on the phone with my doctor asking a ton of questions.

If you say you know people who somehow cheated the system, I'm not going to argue. But they must have invested a lot of time finding some careless or unscrupulous doctors.

[Daspoot]

My bet is most people would be able to recall someone they know stretching a disability claim to receive money at some point, in fact some people make a living doing just that. many "ailments" are beyond the ability of science to prove or disprove. Depression, anxiety, "pain" etc.

With a little perseverance it isn't hard to get almost any doctor to sign a paper for something that can't be dis-proven with a test.

[mexi cali]

And that is how it works.

[JollyGreenBully]

My bet is most people would be able to recall someone they know stretching a disability claim to receive money at some point

Do you have examples of people lying to obtain BC PWD status and actually getting away with it? I'm sure it's happened at some point, but if it's so common that 'most' people know someone who has fraudulently been placed on BC Disability, I'd sure like to know specifically how they accomplished this task.

Your point about how anxiety and depression can't be proven doesn't make sense to me. It's much more difficult to have a mental-health related PWD application be approved. The condition has to be so debilitating that the person needs help with daily activities. If there's any question about how debilitating the mental health issues are, government workers will phone the doctor or health professional involved and ask specific questions.

[Even Steven]

I'm still curious what sort of disability the OP is talking about.

[JollyGreenBully]

I'm still curious what sort of disability the OP is talking about.

BC PWD.

[Even Steven]

BC PWD.

No, I didn't mean what govt program. I meant what was the diagnosis. What's physically or mentally wrong the person that prevented him from finding work.