Southern Alberta family facing tough times due to AISH benefit policies
A Raymond, Alta., family of eight is struggling after their Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) was cut in half because of Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) coverage.
The family says changes to certain policies need to be made to prevent the same thing from happening to others.
It's been 10 months since Andrew Smith, a husband and father of six, re-injured his knee at work and had to go on workers' compensation while waiting for surgery.
Following a review last month of his wife's AISH, their benefits were cut by almost $1,000.
"We are a low-income family on AISH," Smith said.
"I work, or did work, until I got injured in August and this month, we woke up to find that over half our benefit was cut from AISH because I’m on WCB because I got injured at work."
They say they were informed by AISH they are unable to collect two supplementary incomes despite the current situation.
"In my mind, workers' compensation is an insurance policy," Smith told CTV News.
"Whereas, with programs like EI, you're starting new and so I don't think they should be considered the same and that's the issue with the policy."
The Office of the Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services issued the following statement to CTV News:
"A family can earn up to $2,612 per month with no deductions to an individual’s AISH benefits. Whereas, a spouse or partner receiving WCB can earn up to $875 per month without deductions. Seventy-five per cent of income earned over that amount would be deducted."
Smith says they reached out to AISH to see what could be done and were told the policies are set by the provincial and federal governments.
"They finally got back to us and told us that there's nothing they can do about the policy, however, they'll do everything they can to keep our family in our home."
Smith says they're grateful for the help and support from their friends, family and landlord, but any public fundraising effort like a GoFundMe would further cut their benefits.
"I'd like the government to actually look into these policies that haven't been changed for 20 or 30 years," Smith said.
"They need to be looked at. They need to be rewritten, and with the idea that these programs are to help Albertans."
Smith is on a waiting list for knee surgery, but it may take until the fall before he can get back to work and off WCB.
CTV News reached out to Grant Hunter, MLA for the Taber-Warner riding, but has yet to hear back.
The Smiths say they've been speaking with Hunter with hopes to meet in person early next week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Large numbers of New York City police officers begin entering Columbia University campus
Large numbers of New York City police officers began entering the Columbia University late Tuesday as dozens of pro-Palestinian protesters remained on the campus.
Poilievre kicked out of Commons after calling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 'wacko'
Testy exchanges between the prime minister and his chief opponent ended with the Opposition leader and one of his MPs being ejected from the House of Commons on Tuesday -- and the rest of Conservative caucus walking out of the chamber in protest.
Baby, grandparents among 4 people killed in wrong-way police chase on Ontario's Hwy. 401
A police chase which started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville Monday night ended in tragedy some 20 minutes later when a suspect fleeing police entered Highway 401 in the wrong direction and caused a pileup which killed an infant and the child's grandparents, as well as the suspect, investigators say.
Freeland leaves capital gains tax change out of coming budget implementation bill, here's why
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be tabling yet another omnibus bill to pass a sweeping range of measures promised in her April 16 federal budget, though left out of the legislation will be the government's proposed capital gains tax change.
Sword-wielding man attacks passersby in London, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring 4 others
A man wielding a sword attacked members of the public and police officers in a northeast London suburb Tuesday, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people, British authorities said.
Man dies after suffering cardiac arrest while waiting in ER, widow wants investigation
When an ambulance took David Lippert to the hospital in March of 2023, the 68-year-old Kitchener, Ont., executive was hoping to find out why he was feeling weak and unable to walk. Some 24 hours later, he was found unresponsive in the ER.
CSE says it shared information on Chinese hacking of parliamentarians in 2022
While several MPs and senators say they were only recently made aware of China-backed hackers targeting them, the Communications Security Establishment, one of Canada's intelligence agencies, says it shared information about the incident with parliamentary officials in June of 2022.
WATCH Arnold Schwarzenegger spotted filming in Elora, Ont.
The name of the project has not been officially released although it’s widely believed to be the Netflix series FUBAR.
Eviction for landlord's use was legitimate, despite owners' partial move, B.C. court rules
A B.C. judge has upheld the eviction of a family from their North Vancouver townhouse, finding that the landlords did not take an unreasonable amount of time to move into the home after the tenants vacated it.