Thoughts on BC Politics and More

Barbara Donaldson has been waiting months, including six spent in a hospital bed, to get into a long-term care home. But this could just be the start of the 84-year-old Victoria woman’s journey, as Island Health has warned her and her family that she could be facing up to two more years on a waiting list. “I have raised my fist and shouted from the hilltop within the system to try to raise awareness and get something different for my mom, something better for my mom, and it has just been met with roadblocks,” said Laura Kyle, Donaldson’s daughter. “I know that the government has known about this influx of seniors that was going to start happening in the last couple of years, and now, I mean, we’re on the front lines of it, witnessing it, and going: ‘I can’t believe that this problem was ignored.’ ” ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

A BC Human Rights Tribunal has agreed to let a complaint proceed against BC Housing after the organization cut its subsidy for a woman who requires full-time care. Constance Howard, described in the decision as an elderly woman with disabilities, had her rent subsidy from BC Housing cut when her son moved in to become her full-time caregiver. BC Housing saw this as her son, Grant Howard, being a beneficiary of a program aimed at helping seniors on low-income assistance with rent. He did not, it ruled, meet the requirements of being a live-in caregiver. But tribunal member Andrew Robb stated in the recent decision that, while her son didn’t meet the caregiver requirements, there was no other option available to her in the program ... CLICK HERE for the full story