Last weekend I crafted an 8 page letter responding to O.W.’s refusal to confirm my identity. It’s a request for an internal review of the decision to “not respond” to my letter. I supplied them with nearly 2 dozen quotes, letters and submissions where they expressed doubt about my identity during the past two years. 

I’m hoping to hear from them soon. I wish they could just confirm the validity of my identity in writing once and for all. What I’m expecting from them however is to be forced into requesting another Social Benefits Tribunal. This would take months to resolve once again, denying me access to benefits for that whole period yet once again.

For a system who is supposed to help out the folks that are down and out, they sure show how they have mastered avoiding to help such people. All they have done for me during the past 2 years is maintain me in poverty and homelessness by denying my identity and forcing me into all sorts of bureaucratic hoops.

Everything is going according to plan. Unfortunately, it’s not my plan.

 

The more things change… You know the drill…

Sometime last December I received some damning evidence that Service Canada had failed to be diligent in updating my file and that they negligently witheld that information from me for over 18 months.

I was now armed with knowledge which basically refutes most of Ontario Works allegations about my name being invalid. So I promptly fired off a letter to O.W. revealing this new evidence and asked them to update their records.

Well… to my surprise they chose not to acknowledge this new discovery. Here’s a transcript of the voicemail they left:

“Hello

This is A.G. calling from the Ontario Works office.

I received your letter, uh, regarding questions of your identity and this office has never had a question with your identity.

Ah, so I’m not going to send out a response to this letter. I’ll just put a note on file indicating the same.

O.K.

Thanks, bye”

So  when confronted with reality, O.W. just chooses to ignore the facts wholeheartedly. Naturally, I’m filing an appeal regarding this unacceptably curt reply.

To be continued…

Poverty in our own backyard

A film by Jonathan Weiman

———

I’m mad…

———

The Man in Black  (Johnny Cash)

———

More videos like this
http://www.youtube.com/kingstonhomeless

DAY 623

It’s been quite some time since my last post. To make a long story short, my situation seemed to be so desperate there for a while, I just didn’t have the heart to write anymore.

’nuff said.

I’m back now, and I’m in full form.

Those of you who have been following my  story so far know that I can be quite sharp. You can be assured that I will be dishing out my thoughts about my misadventure with the same verbal expressions and writing style you’ve come to know me to use in the past.

Let me catch you up by revealing some of the headlines to come over the next few days.

• Homeless man circles  city hall with cryptic sign
• Legal Aid Ontario at the center of controversy
• Service Canada admits witholding information from homeless man
• On February 21st, everyone sleeps outside in solidarity with Kingston homeless
• My homeless holidays experience
• My experience with the Kingston Coalition Against Poverty
• Kingston Community Legal Clinic fails to publish its annual statistics
• Homeless in Kingston, Ontario now has a YouTube Channel

I’ll be posting these, and updating the blog shortly.

It’s good to be back.