1170 – 605 Robson Street
Vancouver, BC V6M 5J3
February 20, 2007
Richard Long
105 – 5650 Oak St
Vancouver, BC V6M 2V6
Dear Sir:
Re: Richard Long v. Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance
(Case Number: 4516)
___________________________________________________________________________
The Tribunal can only accept complaints which allege facts that, if proven, could amount to a breach of the BC Human Rights Code.
In our letter dated December 5,2006 we advised you that the Tribunal required more information before it could proceed with part of your complaint. We have reviewed the Amendments which you filed on February 5, 2007.
Your complaint does not set out facts tat show that the Respondent’s conduct could be discrimination in retaliation and services based on your marital status, family status, physical disability, mental disability and sex. Therefore, I have decided not to accept your complaint.
We note that Marie Morris of the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority advised you on October 12, 2006 that you could appeal their decision to the Appeals Review Panel Secretariat.
Yours truly,
Heather MacNaughton
Chair
Dear Mr. Long,
Please be advised that in accordance with Rule 8 (1) of the Tribunal's Rules of Practice and Procedure a participant may file a communication with the Tribunal by mail, fax, hand, courier or process server. The Tribunal cannot accept communication by email and if you need to speak to your case manager you may contact them by phone.
Regards,
Stacey Wills
Inquiry Officer
BC Human Rights Tribunal
________________________________________
From: Richard Long [mailto:richardlong@telus.net]
Sent: Thu, February 22, 2007 8:29 AM
To: BC Human Rights Tribunal, AG:EX
Subject: Request
Please re-evaluate this documement:
I definitely have been singled out and treated adversely by the Government of BC and its mighty beaucrocracy and DO NOT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT.
I note, also, that 80% of the high-level administrators I am forced to deal with because of my heath problems are women.while I am a man.
______________________________________________________
As per your letter dated December 5, 2006, please find listed below the details you require to further my complaint no. 4516.
SECTION “B”
When completing Section “B” of the BC Human Rights Tribunal Form 1 Section “B” the form does not allow enough space to completely enter the Respondent(s) name. Which in my case is as follows:
Her Majesty the Queen in the Right of the Province of British Columbia as represented by the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance
SECTION “E”
1. What are the details of the alleged discrimination?
I would like you to know how I have been treated as a 63-year-old disabled man who has spent his entire life working in British Columbia but was unfortunate enough to get Multiple Sclerosis. When I first became disabled, I had in various ways accumulated about two hundred thousand dollars: that was 1995. Eleven years later, I am $100,000 in debt, fearful of not being able to pay my rent, my Hydro, my telephone, or my considerable medical expenses.
Because I am on Canada Pension disability, I was not eligible to receive ANY of the provincial medical services that other disabled people enjoy. That is what I had been told, but I believe that is wrong information as I know of many people who have more assets and cash than I do who receive full benefits for their health needs. Until recently I had received nothing and it was impossible for me to meet and fill out all the forms that are necessary for this program. However, in late December 2006 I was granted access to medical services via the Medical Benefits Only program through the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance.
My contact with the Ministry has been with worker No. 104, who works out of the Fairview Office of the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance. When she contacted me in mid-December to discuss my acceptance into the program she said “Mr. Long, I’m finally allowed to talk to you”. This in itself is discriminatory and adds substance to my complaint that services and benefits have been purposefully withheld from me.
Attached is a letter from the Ministry of Employment and Income Assistance confirming my acceptance into the program. Along with the letter were several forms which are required to be completed in order to take part in the Medical Benefits Only program, however, due to my disability I am unable to complete these forms. I believe that the ministries involved have a “duty to accommodate” me, and people like me, who are unable to complete documents because of disability. Prior to my acceptance to this program I have been responsible for all of the costs incurred in providing equipment, supplies and services necessary to maintain daily life with my disability.
The government consistently refuses to place me on the CSIL program where I would get the help that I require. I have no one to help. If I were on the CSIL program I would receive the assistance I require, but Vancouver Coastal Health Authority’s case manager for me, Laurie Webster, does not consider me “appropriate”. I appealed Laurie Webster’s letter denying me access to the program and was sent the following letter further denying me access to the CSIL program:
Vancouver Coastal Authority
October 12 2006
North Shore/Coast Garibaldi, Vancouver
Mr. Richard Long
#105—5650 Oak Street
Vancouver, BC, V6M 2V6
Dear Mr. Long:
RE: Outcome of independent review
At your request, we arranged an independent review of the following concerns:
Acceptance to CSIL 1 Program
I have carefully reviewed your file and the assessment and commendations of the independent reviewer and have had discussions with staff. My decision is that the original decision will stand. I have made this decision based on the following reasons:
• Concerns re: ability to provide a safe and harassment free work environment
• Inability to manage financial aspects of CSIL as evidence by present concerns with personal finances
I recognize that you will be disappointed, but want to assure you that your issues and concerns were thoroughly addressed and considered. I encourage you to continue to work with our staff to provide the support outlined in your service plan and keep them informed of significant changes in your health and care requirements.
Your other option at this time is to go the next level of appeal. the Appeals Review Panel. To have your appeal considered by this panel, you will need to write to:
Appeals Review Panel Secretariat
#200 — 520 West 6111 Avenue
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 41-15
With your request for this level of appeal, identify what you are dissatisfied with and any suggestions you might have for a satisfactory result. If you require help in making this request. please let me know and we can provide assistance. This request needs to made within 30 working day’s. If you have any questions about this letter, please write or call me at (604) 709-6434.
Sincerely,
Marie Morris
AOA Manager
Raven Song Community Health Centre
cc: I Fisher
In a previous response to Laurie Webster’s letter I had forwarded several letters from my Bayshore Home Health Care Aides who have voluntarily provided written reference letters as to my good conduct and continued respect for them.
“I’ve known and worked with Richard Long in Creekview before, when we are still under Para-Med Home Health. And again now when he moved to 5650 Oak St. He is a very easy to work with, a lots of sense of humour and he never complains of anything. I am so glad to work with him again”
Irene, Bayshore employee
“I am a Caire (sic) Aide providing services for Richard Long through Bayshore Home Health Services. I have been working with Richard since July of 2005. Richard has been extremely well mannered and helpful in directing his own care. There have always been two care aides on sight (sic) each shift but at not time have I experienced any concerns regarding abuse, harassment or physical danger when working with Richard. My personal experience has always been very positive and I enjoy working with Richard as he maintains a great sense of humour despite his afflictions and constant pain. Do not hesitate to contact me should you require further information.”
Pamela, CHWII
“I have known Richard Long since he lived at Creekview. I know that he can direct is care and he is very pleasant to deal with. Many workers are always glad to come here in several visits on their own time. One day a worker for a client in the building who is on the CSIL Program came in and sought Richards (sic) advice on her payroll problems. I was present during this meeting and we both advise her. Most of the other workers regard Richard as easy to work with, able to give clear instructions and very aware of any safety issues when he drive his wheelchair in close proximity to us. Contact me through Bayshore if you want more information”
Vivian, Bayshore Employee
“I find Richard easy and pleasant to deal with”
Nety Cariaga, Bayshore Employee
“I work w/ Richard and find him easy to work with and he has a caring attitude toward me, I have no problem w/ him.”
Editha, Bayshore Employee
These letters were provided by fax to Vancouver Coastal Health Authority.
Also, in regard to their denial of my CSIL application on the grounds of my current financial situation, I am in debt due to the fact that I have had to purchase at my own expense all of my medical supplies, equipment and disability aids as I had not been receiving any disability assistance from the provincial government. I would ask that that the government repay for these out of pocket expenditures as I should have been receiving financial assistance all along.
When I first met with Jan Fisher, Manager of Risk Management and Client Relations for Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, in conversation I said to her, “Jan, I should have been on this program since I left George Pearson.” She replied “Richard, we don’t have any money for that.” Then, in a later conversation, she said “I guess we all thought you had lots of money”. And in a further conversation she told me “it’s not our job to tell people about that” or words to that effect. Below is an email received from Jan Fisher telling me how I could initiate an appeal:
Hi Richard. Here is what you need to do to request the next level of appeal. Once I went back and read it, I think you can do it easily on email. Here it is.
If the client (and family and/or friend) chooses to forward their appeal to the Appeals Review Panel, the individual (family/friend) will need to state in writing (there will be support available to the client (family/friend) in expressing their concern in writing):
* With what they are dissatisfied
* Any suggestions they may have about a desired result.
It doesn't need to be a lengthy document, just a short email.
Jan Fisher
Director, Client Relations & Risk Management
Vancouver Community
Vancouver Coastal Health
520 West 6th Avenue
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4HS
Phone: (604) 730-7654
FAX: (604) 731-3847
E-mail: jan.fisher@vch.ca
Below is a series of emails between Jan Fisher and Myself regarding my CSIL appeal:
----- Original Message -----
From: Fisher, Jan [VC]
To: Richard Long
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 5:40 PM
Subject: RE: CfSIL appeal
thanks Richard. We will let you know when the appeal panel meets. J
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Long [mailto:richardlong@telus.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 5:08 PM
To: Fisher, Jan [VC]
Subject: CfSIL appeal
And: He did not speak with Dr. Mazzarella - I don't understand the rush. He did not receive my additions to the letter written by Marie. The same letter was never signed by me. It was a conflict of interest, because of my BCHR complaint He, also is employed by VCHA
The opinions he gathered from others were highly biased against me, and should not have been used whatsoever - "a fresh, independent opinion."
PS - You pay for a psychiatrist to interview me, but don't follow any of his recommendations.
Yours truly,
Richard Long
and of course you know that I no longer drink nor smoke.
Acid indigestion & just a lot of coughing so even though drinking is legal, and Maryjane has been legal for me since GPC and I have a federal exemption license, I use other methods to counter the constant pain - my ex-wife drafted the pain assessment chart for Burnaby
I survive because I am inherently good natured.. Much like you, as your assistant told me this a.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Long [mailto:richardlong@telus.net]
Sent: Tuesday, October 24, 2006 5:08 PM
To: Fisher, Jan [VC]
Subject: CfSIL appeal
And: He did not speak with Dr. Mazzarella - I don't understand the rush. He did not receive my additions to the letter written by Marie. The same letter was never signed by me.
It was a conflict of interest, because of my BCHR complaint He, also is employed by VCHA.
The opinions he gathered from others were highly biased against me, and should not have been used whatsoever - "a fresh, independent opinion."
PS - You pay for a psychiatrist to interview me, but don't follow any of his recommendations.
Yours truly,
Richard Long
You have a duty to all of us to attempt to mitigate our damages in my BCHR claim,
And to thoroughly investigate your evidence, your witnesses, their possible motives, and to misquote Winston C.,
"Talk, talk, talk"
Instead, you have chosen an adversarial role, shoving around a 63-year-old disabled gent, who is just seeking "Beauty, Truth & Justice,” to misquote Socrates.
Is you guys in the least bit interested in talking, Hmm?
I know exactly what Liberty Sales was doing when she picked up and dropped the control box for my KCI mattress overlay and so does she. I couldn’t say what functions were damaged because it is written in the manual that I’ve never been able to read. I asked Shauna to read it & she declined. Then we talked about why people never read Instruction Manuals.
I found Shauna to be an officious type of person who asked inappropriate questions in an unpleasant manner. I did not WANT to tell her what Liberty was doing. Liberty is a very warm, kindhearted woman, and a first-rate caregiver. I felt privileged to be cared for by Liberty, and I still do.
It is unfortunate that this whole issue has blown up into, for me, an unnecessary waste of our resources and time. The lawyers and bureaucrats involved are being highly paid by all of us.
I know exactly what Liberty Sales was doing when she picked up and dropped the control box for my KCI mattress overlay and so does she. I couldn’t say what functions were damaged because it is written in the manual that I’ve never been able to read. I asked Shauna to read it & she declined. Then we talked about why people never read Instruction Manuals.
I found Shauna to be an officious type of person who asked inappropriate questions in an unpleasant manner. I did not WANT to tell her what Liberty was doing. Liberty is a very warm, kindhearted woman, and a first-rate caregiver. I felt privileged to be cared for by Liberty, and I still do.
It is unfortunate that this whole issue has blown up into, for me, an unnecessary waste of our resources and time. The lawyers and bureaucrats involved are being highly paid by all of us.
The "alleged" incident at GPC was when I was punched by Sandy Wolfe-Murray. VPD attended, told me at first he tried to deny it, then he admitted it. Because there was no "criminal intent," they did not lay charges. But there were internal repercussions.
And his temper blew again later, after I had escaped, according to Guy Powley who still is in GPC..
Re: CSIL 1997
The worker did not share my bed, I bought a fold up one for her. She, then known as Priscilla Kolvin, left her husband when she "saw how (I) was being treated." We had full sexual relations, and we were a couple for 6 months. My wife, living upstairs, filed for divorce. Then she re-considered, and contingent upon Priscilla leaving, we reconciled, and stayed married until 2002. All the women were adult, and consenting.
The bum-pinch at Creekview was also consented to. "May I pinch your bum?" "Yes." I guess she didn't understand English very well. Brad Z. & Maria Franco are probably still a couple. Thought you might like to see this.
----- Original Message -----
From: Jackie Guce
To: melady@preece.com
Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 5:09 PM
Subject: Psyc 314: Thank you!
Dear Melady,
I just want to thank you for the opportunity to hear Richard speak. I was brought to tears by his attitude towards life and it inspired me to look at my situation differently. Its wonderful to know that even if everything seems to be going wrong I can still say life is great and life is precious. I know I am very lucky compared to Richard but even if the worst happens I can still appreciate all that I had with my mom and the time I have left with her. Thank you so much. Please let Richard know that I appreciate him. I spoke to him after class but I regret not giving him my name. He was truly a blessing and I thank him for that.
~Jackie
A further series of emails follows:
Paul's had it in for me ever since. (I have been a CHSS client since 1986.)
But YOU (your employer) are ultimately responsible for the actions of the
people you contract out your duties to.
I flourished under the CSIL programme. And I am perfectly capable of
managing my own care. I'm suffering here - a 63 year old gentleman going to bed at 8:00 p.m.? Behind the bus depot.
I don't break rules that are reasonable and well thought out. And I don't
assault people. But as an out-spoken disabled person, I have been hit many
times.
This is as much as I can keyboard with my left index finger until I get a
rest. Bet you're glad :-)
Richard
BTW - A lot of my debt is due to trying to back up Zelka - I didn't tell
her, but _I_ bought the large screen TV and DVD player that she envisioned
in the large room there, but the staff went to work on the other guys and
they eventually wanted the TV in the bedroom they close off for their
breaks. David H, the manic-depressive went berserk when that didn't happen.
I still have the photos nurse Wanda L. took of the bruises he left on my
arm. I spent even more on other things for 202, and the co-op as a whole.
I should have come to Bloomfield when I managed to escape Pearson Asylum,
but as CARMA used in their interview with me to justify their funding,
Creekview was not well known at the time to Pearson social worker, Sam
Greenspoon. Please call him at 321-3231 for an opinion of me, or Dr.
Borkenhaugen at GPC. I was offered Bloomfield as well.
You don't know what is actually happening from a managerial distance. Few
managers do.
Richard
Original Message -----
From: "Fisher, Jan [VC]"
To: "Richard Long"
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 1:47 PM
Subject: RE: forms
Can you go there by HandyDart?
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Long [mailto:richardlong@telus.net]
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 12:55 PM
To: Fisher, Jan [VC]
Subject: Re: forms
But my liabilities (lines of credit) far exceed any money I have. VRS saw
this, & that's why my rent is subsidized to the maximum. And all this time I
could been having many of my medical expenses paid for. And over the past
three years, they have added up to quite a lot. And they will be more as I
get older. Zelka knows all this, yet she sent me plunging further into debt.
Something funny going on..... (and I'm not laughing.)
The Coalition will NOT send someone here to collect the needed documents. I
just called them.
So what can I do know?
Regards,
Richard
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fisher, Jan [VC]"
To:
Sent: Monday, April 24, 2006 9:31 AM
Subject: forms
Richard, the Coalition has an Advocacy arm that assists people with applications. The number is 604.872.1278
Also, persons with $3000 or more in assets are not entitled to the benefits. You mentioned that you just cashed in your last RRSP. I don't know the amount but they also have rule about dispersal. You can't cash in something then apply because there are no assets left in the bank or invested. For example if you cashed in $10,000, the would permit you disperse it at $2000/month so would not be eligible for benefits for 5 months. J
Jan Fisher
Director, Client Relations & Risk Management
Vancouver Community
Vancouver Coastal Health
520 West 6th Avenue
Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4HS
Phone: (604) 730-7654
FAX: (604) 731-3847
E-mail: jan.fisher@vch.ca
The problem is that I'm trying to deal with four different BC gov ministries
at once.
Richard
But my liabilities (lines of credit) far exceed any money I have. VRS saw this, & that's why my rent is subsidized to the maximum. And all this time I could been having many of my medical expenses paid for. And over the past three years, they have added up to quite a lot. And they will be more as I get older. Zelka knows all this, yet she sent me plunging further into debt.
Something funny going on..... (and I'm not laughing.)
The Coalition will NOT send someone here to collect the needed documents. I
just called them. So what can I do know?
Regards,
Richard
When I brought up the subject with Laurie Webster and said “Laurie, what about all those years I’ve been paying for my own expenses?” She replied, “well the first thing to do is to find out if you are eligible”, that was in February of 2006. After many appeals, many phone calls, letters from my MLA, Carole Taylor, Minister of Finance, finally I was granted access to the Medical Benefits Only program.
If I had been informed of this program, as I should have been when I left George Pearson Hospital, I could have put the $85,000 I received from my ex-wife into a “non-discretionary trust account” as the government allows and would not have been paying for all of my own medical expenses.
I have now received Medical Benefits, but I need to review my records and calculate how much of my own person money I have spent on my medical care over the last several years. I left a voicemail with Marie Morris on Saturday, January 20th and she has not replied. I want that money back.
The amount of money that I have lost because I am disabled is over $500,000. I base this amount on the following:
In the year 2002, because of a freak snowfall, and my being in a wheelchair, and in a hospital, I was not able to attend my divorce proceedings. Consequently, my ex-wife's lawyer was able to get an order, which meant that I could not retrieve my belongings from the former family home.
I lost all of my disability equipment, purchased at my own expense, family heirlooms, my collections of this and that, valued at approximately $300,000. The lawyer’s name is Gary Harasym, and he had prepared two documents, one set if I did show up, and one set if I didn’t. Because I couldn’t obviously attend because of the weather, he presented before the time agreed to of 10 a.m. and when I finally reached the Judge' s chambers by telephone at 9:45 a.m. I was told the matter had already been dealt with.
I am powerless to appeal this unjust decision. I cannot sue or lodge a complaint against the judge because of the concept of "Judicial Autonomy". Any sane judge would've noticed the snow and logically realized that a wheelchair-bound individual could not attend. But that did not happen.
The following excerpt from the Criminal Code of Canada applies in regards to the government of the Province of British Columbia’s duty, under law, to ensure citizens’ rights are preserved:
Duties Tending to Preservation of Life
Duty of persons to provide necessaries
215. (1) Every one is under a legal duty
(a) as a parent, foster parent, guardian or head of a family, to provide necessaries of life for a child under the age of sixteen years;
(b) to provide necessaries of life to their spouse or common-law partner; and
(c) to provide necessaries of life to a person under his charge if that person
(i) is unable, by reason of detention, age, illness, mental disorder or other cause, to withdraw himself from that charge, and
(ii) is unable to provide himself with necessaries of life.
Offence (2) Every one commits an offence who, being under a legal duty within the meaning of subsection (1), fails without lawful excuse, the proof of which lies on him, to perform that duty, if
(a) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(a) or (b),
(i) the person to whom the duty is owed is in destitute or necessitous circumstances, or
(ii) the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed, or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be endangered permanently; or
(b) with respect to a duty imposed by paragraph (1)(c), the failure to perform the duty endangers the life of the person to whom the duty is owed or causes or is likely to cause the health of that person to be injured permanently.
The purpose of this complaint is also to address violations of sections 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d and 3e, of the Human Rights Code of British Columbia.
3. The purposes of this Code are as follows:
(a) to foster a society in British Columbia in which there are no impediments to full and free participation in the economic, social, political and cultural life of British Columbia;
(b) to promote a climate of understanding and mutual respect where all are equal in dignity and rights;
(c) to prevent discrimination prohibited by this Code;
(d) to identify and eliminate persistent patterns of inequality associated with discrimination prohibited by this Code;
(e) to provide a means of redress for those persons who are discriminated against contrary to this Code.
I have been discriminated against on the following grounds:
Marital Status: I am twice divorced, have no natural children, and badly disabled from Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I am unable to rely, as many others do, on family members and relatives to do the tasks that I am unable to do.
Physical Disability: I have a demyelization disease of unknown etiology. Well over 100 years ago it was named Multiple Sclerosis, but really the medical community has no idea what it is except that the myelin in the CNS is affected. For me, this means I am confined to an electric wheelchair, cannot work, and cannot travel, and so on. The government has not recognized my needs other than providing the necessary help for daily living in my apartment. And I receive fair PharmaCare. And that is all.
Because I receive Canada Pension Disability payments I am not eligible for ANY provincial government medical benefits. This is very unfair, discriminatory to me, because I worked as long as I could. People who have never worked a day in their life receive far better medical care from the Government of British Colombia, than I do.
Mental Disability: Both my father and mother were active alcoholics, and it is well established that adult children of alcoholics have unique personality traits, are usually very perceptive of facial expressions, and see what normal people don't take notice of. Adult children of alcoholics are that way because they were always forced to read their parents faces to determine at what stage of drunkenness they were.
I am one of those people. As well, adult children of alcoholics have a need to please their superiors, and tend to go overboard in doing so. Again, that has had a huge impact on my life. I will explain that later in this document, in so far as it relates to my human rights complaint.
In an attempt to understand my eccentric behavior, Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has had me interviewed by a number of psychiatrists, and all have found me to be superior in intellect, but Vancouver coastal only takes the bad parts, from these reports, and ignores the recommendations.
I quote from one report here:
"According to client records, he carries past diagnoses of morbid frontal lobe dementia secondary to MS,"
"Episodic Delirium, Mood disorder with possible major depression, and some narcissistic personality component."
What these words really mean are that I'm sad, and who wouldn't be sad, with all the losses that I've had in my life.
I have also had problems with some drugs that are routinely prescribed for multiple sclerosis: notably baclofen. I took it for so long that I developed an allergy to it and the last time I took it, I was in Burnaby General Hospital for four months and at one point was near death. Earlier, I had been in university hospital for a long weekend, because the baclofen creates what Dr. Hashimoto calls "thinking problems." In my earlier human rights complaint, I complained of the inane advice that I have been given by Vancouver coastal. They initially suggested baclofen for me. I'm not going through another baclofen experience. They have access to all my records, and they should've seen this.
Vancouver Coastal also decided that my spastic legs and arm would not respond to exercise. And they denied me physiotherapy. I kept a message on my telephone call answer for some time from Jan Fisher, apologizing to me that I had been missed in their physiotherapy analysis or treatment, like all the other Creekview guys got.
I feel they discriminated against me by not providing regular physiotherapy. I paid a lot of money for private service. Even now, I received no physiotherapy from Vancouver coastal: rather. My general practitioner referred me to West Boulevard, physiotherapy and a neural physiotherapist, who has been trained in multiple sclerosis therapy, Kate Hepburn, visited me here and trained some Bayshore staff and left diagrams showing how my limbs should be stretched. PharmaCare paid $23 per visit, and I gave a check for the $50 balance.
David Graham, from Pacific Spirit health unit, came for my first appeal for CSIL program and he agreed, or at least he had heard of, the "expert patient" concept. But he talked to so many third parties, whom I have alienated by my progressive ideas and values, that he failed to note in his written report that I, Richard long, and indeed, an expert patient, capable of directing my own care. Jan Fisher proceeded to direct David Graham not to speak with me any further, not to return my phone calls.
A few years ago I had my intelligence tested by Dr. Melady Preece PhD. She is a professor of psychology at UBC who I have never met before, and was referred to me by a complete stranger. Such is the power of the Internet. She determined that my I.Q. is approximately 150 or more. I am now a member of Mensa Canada. So I realize that I am an unusual person, very perceptive and very bright.
This information was previously forwarded to the Human Rights Tribunal in response to prior complaint no. 4046:
Sunday, July 09, 2006
From: Richard Long
I enclose info re my Mental Disability and Family Status.
Re: Complaint 4046
Does the Complaint raise novel issues of law, the answers to which would advance the purposes of the Code?
Mental Disability:
1. Both my parents died from alcohol and I fit the descriptions below. In my claim I said I was altruistic, and this document below describes my behaviour well. My “altruism” cost me a lot of money.
ACOA: Adult Children of Alcoholics:
“Many of us found that we had several characteristics in common as a result of being brought up in an alcoholic or other dysfunctional households.
He had come to feel isolated and uneasy with other people, especially authority figures. To protect ourselves, we became people pleasers, even though we lost our own identities in the process. All the same we would mistake any personal criticism as a threat.
We either became alcoholics ourselves married them, or both. Failing that, we found other compulsive personalities, such as a workaholic, to fulfill our sick need for abandonment.
We lived live from the standpoint of victims. Having an over developed sense of responsibility; we preferred to be concerned with others rather than ourselves. We got guilt feelings when we trusted ourselves, giving in to others. We became reactors rather than actors, letting others take the initiative.
We were dependent personalities, terrified of abandonment, willing to do almost anything to hold on to a relationship in order not to be abandoned emotionally. We keep choosing insecure relationships because they matched our childhood relationship with alcoholic or dysfunctional parents.
These symptoms of the family disease of alcoholism or other dysfunction made us 'co-victims', those who take on the characteristics of the disease without necessarily ever taking a drink. We learned to keep our feelings down as children and keep them buried as adults. As a result of this conditioning, we often confused love with pity, tending to love those we could rescue.
Even more self-defeating, we became addicted to excitement in all our affairs, preferring constant upset to workable solutions.
This is a description, not an indictment.
2. In addition, my brain functions very well:
Melady Preece, Ph.D., Registered Psychologist
B.C. College of Psychologists, #01574
809-675 W. Hastings St. Vancouver, BC V6B 1N2
W. 604-685-5961 F. 604-685-5968
melady@preece.com
April 15, 2005
Mensa Canada Society,
Suite 310
4 Cataraqui Street
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
K7K 1Z7
Dear Administrator:
I am a Registered Psychologist with a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of British Columbia. I have administered an intelligence test to Richard Long at his request for the purpose of qualifying as a member of your organization.
Mr. Long has multiple sclerosis and is confined to a wheelchair. He can only use his left arm, and even this use is limited. However, his mind is lively and active, and he is an interesting man and an engaging conversationalist.
I determined that the best way to formally assess his intellectual ability would be to administer those subscales of the WAIS-III that make up the Verbal IQ score and do not require any physical movement. I therefore administered the following subscales, which I report below along with the scaled scores he achieved.
Vocabulary 15
Similarities 18
Arithmetic 14
Digit Span 12
Information 18
Comprehension 18
Letter-Number Sequencing 12
Mr. Long achieved a Verbal IQ that places him in the Very Superior range for verbal reasoning ability (VIQ = 142, 99.7th percentile).
With the data collected, I was also able to calculate Mr. Long's scores on the Verbal Comprehension index and the Working Memory index. His score on the Verbal Comprehension index was in the Very Superior range (VCI = 143, 99.8 percentile) and his score on the Working Memory index was in the Superior range (WMI = 117, 87th percentile).
Given these exceptionally high scores, I feel confident that Mr. Long's intellectual abilities are above the 98th percentile overall. I must also note that on the day that I tested Mr. Long, he had slept poorly and was experiencing some pain, for which he had taken pain medication. Therefore, it is likely that his concentration was affected, and that the Working Memory scores provided here underestimate his true ability.
Please feel free to contact me if you need any additional information.
Sincerely,
Melady Preece, Ph.D.
3. FAMILY STATUS:
Alone, abandoned, no family to help. Both parents deceased, step-son in White Rock who I hear from seldom. My Care Workers have been my family since 2002. Two ex-wives I have no contact with.
Even now, at age 62, with two failed marriages, and no family, I must rely on myself only. This, plus my massive health problems makes me particularly vulnerable to abuse, and I have been Systematically Abused by comfortable self-serving bureaucrats.
There are many other people in similar circumstances. I'm not the only one.
Vancouver Coastal Health Authority has made me undergo probably five psychiatric assessments, and at one time had me on the wait list for the UBC mental hospital and had my GP convinced that I was paranoid.
Reading through the various psychiatric is assessments, and simplifying the verbiage, they all conclude that I am sad and afraid for my future. I ask who would not be sad and afraid for their future in my condition and circumstances.
Discrimination in accommodation, service and facility
8. A person must not, without a bona fide and reasonable justification, (a) deny to a person or class of persons any accommodation, service or facility customarily available to the public, or (b) discriminate against a person or class of persons regarding any accommodation, service or facility customarily available to the public
These have emotionally, physically and financially affected me personally, and I feel that I am speaking for a group of people who are in the same position as me.
Nearly every statute, regulation, rule, procedure and other requirements to get any service, a procedure, a benefit, available to the general public requires, of course, a certain amount of input from the person requesting the benefit.
However, for those of us, about 20% of the population, the disabled and the elderly, some form of help is required in filling out forms, meeting deadlines, and even understanding what the whole procedure is all about. There are many people like myself, who are unable to receive these benefits available to everyone else. I would like you to know how I have been treated as a 63-year-old disabled man who has a spent his entire life working in British Columbia but was unfortunate enough to get Multiple Sclerosis.
Both of my previous human rights complaints have been dismissed simply because I could not respond quickly enough, at the rate of five words per minute, I was powerless, helpless, and unable to do so.
Complaint 4046 against the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority is cited below with further information following:
Date Issued: October 20, 2006
File: 4046
Indexed as: Long v. BC (Ministry of Health) and another,
2006 BCHRT 520
IN THE MATTER OF the Human Rights Code
RSBC 1996, c. 210 (as amended)
AND IN THE MATTER of a complaint before the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
BETWEEN
Richard W. Long, COMPLAINANT
AND
Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of British Columbia as Represented by the Ministry of Health and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority
My case manager when I was discharged from George Pearson hospital was a woman named Donna MacRae, and she was incapable, or unwilling, to advise me of this fact. Instead she wanted me committed to the University Hospital psychiatric unit, as she thought I was paranoid and demented. She had a psychiatrist, a Dr. Horton, interview me and Dr. Horton concluded that I was not paranoid nor demented, but in fact had a superior intelligence.
Ms. McCrae later resigned her position as case manager for Creekview -- and I think that she's held a grudge against me and that is why I have been singled out and treated differently than other disabled people in Vancouver.
This is a legitimate complaint: my mental abilities and perceptions are very superior to the average person -- and Vancouver Coastal Health Authority, while they have been advised of this fact, continues to withhold services and privileges that other people with disabilities are freely granted. Some of these services and privileges would help me immensely:
1. The services of an occupational therapist. I asked nearly 10 times for the occupational therapist from Raven song to visit me. I have need of an occupational therapist for at least two reasons:
One: my mattress overlay, a Kin-air first step select was prescribed for me by the occupational therapist at George Pearson Hospital, it cost approximately $18,000. A worker, a community home support worker, accidentally dropped a controller for a for the mattress overlay, damaging it to the tune of $4500 in repairs. The worker, named Mrs. Liberty Sales, did not report the accident to her superiors. Consequently, I was forced to pursue pursued the matter legally.
The functions that do not work because of the accident include setting the weight of the patient and my weight has increased by approximately 25 pounds since I was discharged from hospital, where the wait was set. I am in danger of getting pressure sores from this. I wanted an occupational therapist to see if they could adjust the weight.
Two: I am driving a 12-year-old wheelchair, and my specificity is changed dramatically since I got this wheelchair. Consequently my left leg from stick straight out and has the Salk and cut off, because the left foot is close, are covered with bandages. I must go to my doctor, my ophthalmologist, and then must take the HandyDart to get to these appointments. With my legs sticking out so straight win bind the stiff up on the rant on the HandyDart. It will scrape the bumper of the vehicle. I phoned again asking for an occupational therapist to come and devise a way to tie my leg back. Again, no one has called. Whenever I phoned asking for an occupational there was. I was told, the same answer," Richard the occupational therapists are very busy."
This in my amateur reasoning is a violation of the Canadian Bill of Rights. Surely an occupational therapist for Raven Song Health unit can squeeze me in for an hour or so. I suspect that the word in Raven song regarding any request. Richard Long makes is." Deny, deny, deny."
2. Reinstatement on the CSIL program. The CSIL program, which I was on successfully in Burnaby before, would allow me to have an assistant instead of these quick visits by non-native English speaking caregivers. Although the caregivers are well meaning, and highly trained, they have broken, lost or damaged enough of my belongings, and healthcare equipment, which I roughly estimate at $20,000 to replace or repair.
Health benefits of the CSIL program to me:
Bladder problems: for nearly a year, I have been on the wait list for the bladder care Center at the Vancouver General Hospital, to undergo a rather painful procedure, where a mini camera is inserted through my penis and looks inside my bladder. (Consistently too many white cells are found in my urine, which is the reason I am still on the wait list for the bladder care Center.) The bladder care Center, requires two assistants to transfer me to the examination table. Also, my condom catheter must be removed. When the procedure is finished, a new condom catheter must be applied.
I have requested from my case manager, Laurie Webster, a person to either come with me or meet me at the hospital: her answer was an emphatic no.
Pressure sores: because of the rigid schedule that I am made to follow for my care, if a condom catheter bursts and a care assistant is not present, I am forced to sit in my own urine. The same is true, if I have a fecal accident, then I must sit in my own excrement until a care aid arrives according to the rigid schedule. This has led to pressure sores in the past, and I am lucky that they have not become infected, because that can lead to death.
Aspiration pneumonia: In order to apply for the Medical Benefits Only from the Ministry Of Employment And Income Assistance, I have needed to supply a number of documents. I requested some additional time with a care assistant to assemble the documents. Ms. Webster told me, “Okay, you can have 30 minutes.” She told Bayshore Home Health help services a different story: "No way! He can do it during his one-hour supper break." Ms. Webster has apparently not investigated my rather extensive files in her possession and noted that the number of times I have suffered from aspiration pneumonia is very large, I have been told repeatedly to not talk while I eat.
The necessary help to allow me to live is provided by Bayshore Home Health Services, a large homecare company, privately owned, that purchased a previous supplier of my home health services, ParaMed, a home health services company that abruptly closed down its British Columbia operations, citing government cutbacks, five years ago.
I believe that the government pays Bayshore, about $40 per hour, and as I receive 361 hours per month on average, because while the actual workers receive only $15-$20 per hour, when benefits and overhead and management services are included, it is indeed a costly business.
My background is that of an elementary school teacher and Vice Principal, newspaper reporter and editor, entrepreneur, and real estate branch manager for Canada Trust and RE/MAX. I was always a capable manager of people, a fair employer, a prudent manager of other people’s money, yet the government states in writing that they don't think I could handle the responsibilities.
Complete strangers have given me control of their most precious possessions: their children and their houses. And Ms. Webster doesn't think I could manage my own health care?
With my extensive experience in business, and education, I feel confident that I could find, train and manage the payroll required for the CSIL program. I am denied this service, which would lessen the cost of my care by nearly 50%. The program has provisions to hire an accountant & there are many who specialize in CSIL.
3. Providing the information that I have requested, legally, from my health files held secretly by them. Vancouver Coastal Health Authority absolutely refuses to release to me my personal medical files in an accessible format, or provide me with the helper to read and type in to my computer the data that I wish in order to confront those who have abused me, in one way or another. Jan Fisher, Manager of Risk Management and Client Relations told me on the phone "it isn’t going to happen Richard”, yet she refers all my complaints to highly paid lawyers.
4. Regular physiotherapy which is the only way to safely deal with my spasticity.
The Three Bridges Health Unit occupational therapist or physiotherapist, I can't remember who, said I should take a very small amount of Baclofen to counter my spasticity. This was inane advice that could have landed me in hospital again. Vancouver Coastal Health Authority’s expert was giving me inane advice. My General Practitioner, Dr. Mazzarella (phone no. 604 739 5615), referred me to West Boulevard Physiotherapy Service, and a Neuro-physiotherapist named Kate Hepburn came to my residence and developed a series of stretches for my legs my feet and my arm.
I paid what the government wouldn't pay for: $50 per visit, until what little the government would pay for was used up, then I had to stop. Kate left me with a series of diagrams on how the Bayshore staff could alleviate my spasticity. The Bayshore staff understands that, can do it and it works.
When I lived at Creekview, I had a massage therapist that cost me $80 per visit and he would do basically the same thing as Kate Hepburn recommended (see below).
My question is: Why am I not receiving physiotherapy from the health units. I've spent a whole lot of my own money on things that other clients receive but for some reason you fail to see my worth and denying me the benefits of old age which I've spent my life working towards.
In the responses to my first or second human rights complaints it was stated that eventually I did receive stretching exercises. But that was after I had a pressure sore on my left foot that became infected and the infection went to the bone. I was on antibiotics for six months before the infection was healed.
Vancouver Coastal’s OT, I forget her name, referred me to a foot doctor, and I had to pay for the visits, and the podiatrist got so excited that on a Friday afternoon he wanted me to somehow get to Mount St. Joseph's Hospital for intravenous antibiotics in my wheelchair.
The occupational therapist at Three Bridges, Janet Dheere, referred me to Paris Orthotics on W. 4th Ave and at a cost of $600, I had special Orthotics made. Again, the government contributed nothing; I paid out of my pocket.
When I had some money, I would hire people to organize, file my papers, write letters, pay bills, and all the things that are necessary to do in the 21st century. I have received no volunteers, no extra help, quite unlike most of Vancouver Coastal disabled clients.
Because I do not receive any assistance beyond basic daily needs of living I was not able to file my 2005 Federal Income Tax Return I was forced to hire outside assistance, at my own expense, to gather together the relevant forms and receipts. The 411 Seniors Society then sent a lady who filled out my 2005 return by hand and it was mailed in mid-December.
As a result of this late filing I have missed out on GST returns, my Fair Pharmacare will be raised from a $200 deductible to $10,000 deductible and my Canada Pension Disability payments may be stopped. At the same time I am still expected to pay for my disability equipment.
Lack of fairness and discrimination against the disabled is a chronic problem as written about in the following two articles:
Ontario plays 'cruelly insensitive waiting game' with disabled
Pocketing millions by deliberately delaying the
processing of benefit applications, ombudsman says
Toronto (4 June 2006) - The Ontario government is deliberately slowing down the processing of claims by severely disabled citizens to reduce the amount of money it pays in benefits, says provincial ombudsman Andre Marin.
In a damning report, Marin blasts the province for playing a "cruelly insensitive waiting game" that is forcing thousands of citizens to hold on months longer than necessary to learn whether they qualify for support.
Many people are waiting up to 10 months for a decision and are thus losing up to six months of benefits because retroactive payments are limited to four months, the ombudsman says.
"At least 4,630 individuals and quite possibly more than 13,000 individuals have been affected during the period from April 1, 2004, to Dec. 31, 2005, alone," Marin says. "It is nothing short of shameful when the Ontario Disability Program is responsible for thousands of vulnerable individuals losing out."
He estimates that individuals entitled to benefits missed at least $6 million in benefits during a 20-month period he examined. He recommends scrapping the four-month retroactive limit.
"I'm saying go back as far as they need to go back to try to locate individuals who were hammered by the four-month rule," he argues. NUPGE
Ombud: Pay disabled $6M Four month appeal window for process that takes eight months
May 31, 2006. 07:08 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
Ontario’s ombudsman called on the province Wednesday to pay millions of dollars to disabled people who were denied support payments because of government delays and the ``morally repugnant” enforcement of its own rules. “The gig’s up. It’s time to return the money to these people,” Andre Marin said as he released a scathing report, called “Losing the Waiting Game,” which examines delays in processing applications at the province’s Disability Support Program.
The main problem Marin found was rigid enforcement of a regulation imposing a four-month limit on retroactive benefits for disabled people, even though it can take eight to 10 months to process an application for support payments.
“What was set as an internal performance standard became a rule that you took to hammer complainants, to hammer the citizens with disabilities who were looking to get full compensation,” he said.
“It became an asinine application of the rule.”
The report describes the support program as a “bureaucratic nightmare” that leaves thousands of disabled people struggling to pay bills without the $953 a month in support payments to which they were clearly entitled.
“Thousands of Ontario’s most vulnerable citizens have become losers in a cruelly insensitive and intensely bureaucratic game,” Marin said.
“Ontario’s disabled have lost out on financial benefits to the tune of at least $6 million, and likely substantially more.”
Marin said the $6 million would be for about 4,600 people who were denied benefits from April 2004 to December 2005, but he wants the province to return benefits to as many as 13,000 people going back as far as 1997.
“I will tell you that ($6 million) is an ultra-conservative figure. It could be double. It could be triple,” he said. “It’s a bit of a mess to figure out.”
New Democrat Leader Howard Hampton accused Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Liberal government of following a double standard, defending six-figure bonuses for hydro executives while denying the disabled benefits to which they are entitled.
“Thank God the ombudsman blew the whistle on the McGuinty government after three years, otherwise I’m sure this would have continued,” Hampton told the legislature.
Community and Social Services Minister Madeleine Meilleur said the government had already enacted several of Marin’s recommendations, including scrapping the four-month cap on retroactive payments, but would not agree to pay the money back.
“We are working on reviewing the recommendations,” Meilleur said. “The ombudsman gave us six months to report back to him on what we’re going to do.”
The ombudsman’s report said some applications from disabled people had fallen into a “black hole,” forcing them to face a financial penalty through no fault of their own.
The program “systematically restricts payments to individuals as a result of its own delays,” and many disabled people are too intimidated to complain, Marin said.
“I cannot ignore the egregious impact on those who have already lost significantly because of the effect of this regulation and the ministry’s endemic delays in processing applications,” Marin writes in the report.
“I believe the only way to make this situation right is for those who have lost the waiting game to receive the benefits they would have otherwise been entitled to if not for the ministry’s delay.”
Marin said he’s not asking to give the disabled anything more than that to which they are clearly entitled.
“This is not compensation,” he said. “This is money that doesn’t belong to the government. It shouldn’t have had it in the first place.”
And if you are relying on CHSS for your info, you are not hearing an
accurate account of my behaviour while at Creekview, nor while CHSS provided services to me at 8438 Buller Avenue, Burnaby. While at the latter location, a CHSS worker left her husband & kids & moved into my home because she saw how poorly I was being treated by my second family.
Section “N”
What is the respondent’s address?
Parliament Buildings, Room 234
PO Box 9044, Station Prov Govt
Victoria, BC V8W 9E2
Phone: (250) 387-1866
Please excuse any spelling mistakes. Errors and omissions excepted.
Richard Long
