TAIT: Death highlights fear, uncertainty in disability community over move to ADAP |
Newspapers don’t typically report suicides. But this is no ordinary story.
Bruce Johnson was found dead in a house fire in Empress, about 456 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, last week. Local RCMP responded to the fire several hours after Johnson made a 1,481-word social media post on his intent to take his own life. The post was copied to Premier Danielle Smith and to media outlets.
TAIT: Death highlights fear, uncertainty in disability community over move to ADAP Back to video
The post contained passages such as “there is no point in trying anymore,” … “it wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back — it was an anvil,” … “I take nine pills a day which costs the government a lot of money. It is wasted on me.”
The letter detailed Johnson’s mental anguish at being transferred from the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped to the Alberta Disability Assistance Program, which starts July 1.
He was 57. Depression. Anxiety. Diabetes. Glaucoma. Neuropathy. Chronic pain. For years, illness made steady work impossible.
He wrote Alberta’s switch from AISH to ADAP — smaller cheques, harder job-seeking........