Q&A: How Does a Full-Time Worker Survive Without Income?¶
Day 2 · 1:38:07 · Dean Allison · Cameron Hitchcock · Shawn Buckley
- 🚗 Balancing home hemodialysis, a two-hour daily commute and work left him dangerously sleep-deprived until he finally took leave.
- 📉 VIAP still cannot promise income-replacement timing before EI runs out and told him to beg for LTD.
- 🏥 He also flags dialysis-clinic staffing cuts and an institutionalized intolerance of chronically ill workers.
Allison highlights the sudden loss of livelihood and the absence of timely support.
← Q&A: How Brutal Was the VISP Compensation Process? | Nathalie Barbe Sworn: Active Grandmother Forced to Vaccinate →
Transcript¶
Dean Allison · 1:38:07
I don't think what people don't understand is that you went from viably working full-time and having a life to not actually being able to have an income. And not only do you not have the income, there's no support to have that program to sustain your life. I mean, But what people don't understand is that when you can't work, you don't have income.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:38:28
I was working until— I'm on sickness EI now. I was working until June because balancing home hemodialysis and work, I was— and I have a 2-hour, 2 hours of driving a day. Yeah, I was getting like no sleep. So I was just existing to work on dialysis, you know. So I find it was getting dangerous. So I finally, I finally asked VIAP again, uh, how does this work? They told me, and then I told my boss I'm going on leave. And then finally they were like, oh, you're— we can't tell you when. She called me back after I told my boss that. She said, oh, we can't promise you we'll even look at this before the EI runs out, so we don't know when we're gonna— we're gonna actually start this income replacement. So, um, she told me I had to go beg for LTD. Um, and then, uh, basically, and then I, then I called them while I was— since I've been on leave, where's my, where's my application? What's happening with it? They said, oh, you're in the queue, you're in the queue.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:39:29
I called them twice. I called them again last week and they said, oh no, actually we need you to fill in an application. And then I said, well, can you guys promise me it'll be— can you guys tell me when it's going to be done? They're like, no, they, they still don't know when they're going to have this income replacement ready. And I mean, basically my plan is to be on it until transplant, then I'll try to find another job or go back to work, right?
Dean Allison · 1:39:51
So, so in the meantime, Cameron, so for those that don't know what LTD is, long-term disability, right?
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:39:55
Yeah.
Dean Allison · 1:39:56
And that's through the company program that you had, the insurance you had through your company. Yeah.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:39:59
And I asked them what happens if they deny my, my claim, my, my, and they said, oh, we, we don't know, we, you have to try to get on something else.
Dean Allison · 1:40:06
Right. So they're waiting for you to, to deal with that. As a, as a reason not to offer you?
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:40:11
No, they're just telling me they have no timeline.
Shawn Buckley · 1:40:13
They can't tell me when they're going to get it.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:40:15
There's no reason besides this. They don't have the manpower, right? I believe Public Health Agency of Canada had to lay off 200 people before they got this program.
Dean Allison · 1:40:22
Sure, but what I meant is that your insurance company is saying we want you to deal with this first before we'll—.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:40:28
No, my insurance company is just saying that has to do with an administrative thing, when my probation ended at work and when I'm eligible. I don't want to get into that too too much.
Dean Allison · 1:40:37
Okay, let's take it. Yeah, it's complicated a little bit. Yeah, yeah, I think people need to understand that. Yeah, it's not just an injury, it's like, how do people replace their income?
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:40:47
And it's also the medical system itself. Like, I know people have talked about it, um, but like, there's been shift changes in the dialysis clinics, at least what I'm aware of, that's affect— that's negatively affecting all dialysis patients and the morale of the nurses. You know, I've heard stories of people like having their time shortened just to manage the logistics of it. You know, Canada has a whole problem where it's not just us. Like, I've talked to people who are chronically ill, disabled, who are afraid to advance their careers because they say they feel like they found an employer that's going to accommodate them and they're afraid to go get another job. Right. Um, you know, there's an institutionalized intolerance of sick people in this country.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:41:35
I don't—.
Cameron Hitchcock · 1:41:35
You don't understand that until you're sick, right? Well, thank you.
Dean Allison · 1:41:39
Thank you for sharing, Cameron.
Shawn Buckley · 1:41:40
Thank you for coming.
Dean Allison · 1:41:44
Yeah.
Shawn Buckley · 1:41:44
So our next witness is going to be called by lawyer— or Myriam Bohémier.