I don’t like to moan and whine, but the two issues I am talking about to day got my back up. I had sent most of this in an email to The mayor of my city and, I wasn’t going to post this here. However, I changed my mind and so, here goes.
First of all, today I went to get my rental lease renewed, as I live in a subsidized housing building and I was surprised to find out, that it is now mandatory to provide the income tax assessment. Is there a reason behind this? Could there be some raising of rents in the future, or having everybody pay market rent no matter how much they have in their bank accounts? Because of this, I think that something could be afoot and this bothers me, because as someone who is blind, I have to go through everything and feel all envelopes, in the hope that I find my assessment from 2020, which is what they want. Preferably, I would like this reversed because this is causing anxiety and also making me think that what I had mentioned above, could be coming. If that is true, I think my suspicion could be correct. I certainly hope not and until now, nobody asked for it and I appreciate that.
On a similar note, I tried to book an appointment with an income tax clinic and their proviso is that we have everything ready, before they will even talk. This comes after a year where all appointments were virtual and tax returns were probably sent to us as a pdf. To clarify things, some cities have income tax clinics for those of us who are on lower income and they certainly help a lot. Anyway, I digress.
In my case, the pdf is password-protected and I was told last year, that I could come in and get it printed out from my phone. I probably could have come to the community centre back in the summer, but my guess is that it probably wasn’t open and even though most of us were vaccinated, the rate wasn’t high enough at the time. I tried to get my return printed out today in my building, but I was stonewalled, because of a number of factors. I’m working on it, but I shouldn’t have to be going through all of this trouble and upset, in order to get both of these matters resolved and out of the way for another year.
If I was paranoid or a conspiracy nut, I would think that something smells fishy about this and I don’t like what could be coming in the future, with either a sharp increase in rents or mass-evictions because of it. Most of us are on ODSP (Ontario Disability Support Program) including myself and this could be a sign that a lot of people could become homeless and especially those of us on ODSP and… some of us are disabled, whether we are blind or have some other disability which makes life challenging to live sometimes.
I had been going to the same income tax clinic since 2000 and I had my income tax appointment virtually, which was not a walk in the park. Having this other wrinkle (Namely having everything ready or nothing) this year makes this less attractive to me and I think that should also be looked at. Not everyone has easy access to a printer and because of public health restrictions (including physical distancing) I refuse to be walking around begging for a printer, like a bum begging for change. I’ve never had to get a pdf printed (from my iPhone before) and this begs the question, how am I supposed to go about getting this done, when we have had to do all we have had to do, for 2 years? Plus, I’ve never done this before and I may as well be asked to drive a car, to the other side of town, without any direction. What I’m saying is I feel like I’m being asked to do the impossible, or something which is completely foreign to me.
Something else which complicates things is that we have new management in my building and of course, new people who don’t know us from a whole in the ground. This gives the housing corporation another layer of protection, from those who have complaints. Unless, those who are on the other end of the stick have access to people who can speak on our behalf. I do, but others may not and others still may be aggressive and irrational. I am neither aggressive or irrational and I feel that my complaint is reasonable, because I may good tenant who has lived in the same place for 20 years and I keep to myself. I’m an easy-going soul, but when something like this happens I speak up. However, I choose to speak up through my blog and not face-to-face, because I don’t like confrontation.
Both of these unwelcome surprises are unfair and I hope that someone will talk to those who make the decisions and (as somebody who is blind) hopefully, I can be accommodated. As it stands now, the idea is that I give them what they want, or they obstruct. I feel strongly about this and this affects me greatly! I wouldn’t be saying this, if what has happened could be potentially something bad, in years to come. I feel that decisions were made, without thought to those who are homebound and not of their own choosing. I chose to stay home, because I didn’t want Covid, but now I feel I’m being punished for obeying public health rules, because of these two matters and shortsighted thinking, among those at the top. How is that fair? Why are those who live in subsidized housing being treated like they are nothing more than names and numbers and where they go and what happens to them is irrelevant? The last time I checked, everyone who lives in subsidized housing buildings are people with flesh and blood and do the same things people at the top do, except that we have to deal with occasional pests and each other. As for the income tax clinic, that’s a whole different kettle of fish and whether they change their minds and become more flexible, is their decision. If not, I won’t be able to get my taxes done on time and get into trouble, for something which is not my fault.
If media wish to contact me, I have no problem with it, unless it is only about persons who are blind. What I am saying covers more than just myself and others like me and if what I am afraid of does come to pass, there could be a lot of people who are disabled, who could be potentially homeless. Why? Because they happen to be born imperfect and disability could be frowned on, by those who are out to lunch and this is something that we all should be looking out for in the future. I don’t want to be the poster boy for blind people if media happen to contact me. However, I will talk to anyone in Toronto media, if they message me on Twitter, or something. Remember, it’s not just about me, but other people who may have run into similar issues, through no fault of their own. If the idea is to get rid of people who have lived here for a long time, it depends on the situation because, not everybody is able to work. Some of us are literate, but we may not have other portable skills, such as writing training manuals and bulletins. .
In the case of where I live and the corporation who keeps myself and others from being homeless, listen up. By changing management in some buildings, you are doing those who live in them a disservice. How? By simply changing from old to new and because some residents may have issues (i-e) psychological, emotional, or dew to older age, this is making it hard for not just the workers, but also people who have lived in certain buildings for more than 10 years. Also, if you are going to change management, or put in social workers, why isn’t the news about such things available in all forms? Just because the majority of residence who may live in subsidized housing buildings are born with sight, it doesn’t mean that you should only deliver paper notifications. What about those who are blind and who may not have alternative ways of reading them? That’s where email comes in and my super has decided to start this practice, thanks to my own email to my city counselor, but others aren’t so lucky. In the case of Toronto, not everyone knows which ward they live in and who their City counsellor is. I know who mine is, because of a mistake and that will be for another blog post.
Also, those who live in subsidized housing may have to book an appointment, to see somebody about an issue (face-to-face) and this is probably because of the pandemic and I don’t see this going back to the way it was, before March 2020. Before Covid, there were people in the office every day and the Super actually lived in the building and because this has changed, any problems that may arise can only be delt with the same day, or the next day, depending on what it is.
In summary, please stop repelling and go back to attracting people to your business, or housing. Please be accommodating and the income tax assessment from the previous year, could be a sign that something bad is going to happen. I hope that we don’t get a sharp raise and rents, or a whole bunch of evictions because of this. Also, if you are an income tax clinic, please accommodate those who aren’t able to get everything ready (i-e) getting last year’s tax return printed out. After all, this was done over Zoom last year and the fact that these people are being told to be inflexible is totally uncalled for. I want to get my taxes done on time and at this rate, I won’t be able to do so. I hope that because I have posted this on two social media platforms, someone will read this and speak up with me, or on mine and others behalf.
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