Let’s be honest most people don't care about the struggles of those with disabilities. See I didn't choose to have Becker Muscular Dystrophy, I didn't choose to reach a point in my life where a work-related injury would end my ability to earn an income. As if I want to be a person who struggles financially.
In all honesty I wish I didn't have to rely on the Ontario Disability Supports Program but I truly have no other options. It was after getting married while receiving ODSP I learned the reality of the punishment many with disabilities face just for being married. This is currently my reality and sadly while everyone is working hard to expose discrimination no one seems to care about a system with rules in place that are designed to hold those with disabilities back.
Sadly we are used to getting left out of the conversation just look at the most recent Canadian election. It’s obvious people don’t care. Maybe some even view it as acceptable to discourage people from starting relationships or even considering getting married to someone with a disability - especially if they are receiving income support from ODSP.
See in the province of Ontario when someone on ODSP gets married the government says it now becomes the full responsibility of the working non-disabled spouse to support their disabled spouse financially. In a way the second they say I do, the person with the disability instantly becomes a financial burden. This since they will see their income support clawed back taking away their ability to contribute to the household financially. A practice that punishes those who marry someone with a disability by placing them under constant financial stress.
They do this by instantly clawing back the income support of the person receiving ODSP by basing their monthly support on the working spouses income. So the more they make, the less the person on ODSP receives. Again reducing their ability to contribute to the household. In some situations these rules have even led to the breakdown of marriages and sadly has also resulted in some with disabilities being the victims of physical and even emotional abuse. All the result of a system set up to punish those who fall in love or marry someone with a disability.
As it stands today the Ontario government is sending a clear message to those with disabilities that if you are receiving ODSP then you don't deserve equality in marriage. What they are doing is treating us like second class citizens and still this is a subject that receives no coverage. But isn’t it our right to be treated fairly? After all, isn't there supposed to be equality in marriage or does that just apply to everyone else except those with disabilities? Do they actually take pride in removing any possibility of us being able to fully and equally participate in marriage especially when it comes to finances?
Something really needs to change as this is long overdue, it’s simply not right for those who truly have no other option but to rely on ODSP to be required to suffer financially just because they have a disability.
In the times we live in today I have to ask - when will people with disabilities start to matter?
In BC the same problem affects children whose parents have a disability with the earnings exemptions for families, which I consider child slave labour. My 16 year old moved out with significant other which I also see as problematic because now our children are at risk of pregnancy, STD, abuse, and homelessness as their parents may be forced to downsize to a smaller home. Don't get me started how the system is failing.
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