Clairmont: Dying Hamilton man not sick enough for benefits

Bruce Thompson has terminal cancer and is not eligible for CPPD despite 25 years of contributions

THE THOMPSONS

Cathie Coward,The Hamilton Spectator

Betty and Bruce Thompson were married in April. Two weeks later Bruce was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.

Hamilton Spectator

By Susan Clairmont

 

His thin frame is curled into a corner of the couch, under a blanket. 

His voice is a whisper. His hair is gone. His skin grey. 

Bruce Thompson is dying. His oncologist gives him four months to live. Perhaps a little more. Or less. 

At 50, he is in for the fight of his life. But not the fight FOR his life. He will die and he accepts it as best he can. 

He is fighting the Government of Canada. The same one he worked for at 17 when he joined the military for four years as a machinist. The same one he paid pension plan contributions to for three decades. The same one he assumed would be there for him in his time of need. 

But no. The federal government has informed Bruce he is not eligible for Canada Pension Plan Disability (CPPD) benefits because he has not paid enough and he is not sick enough. 

"I am pissed off," Bruce says, with great effort. "I'm dying, but I'm not dead yet. I don't care if they hand me 20 bucks. I want them to admit that they're wrong. This may not do nothin' for us, but what about the next poor guy?" 

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"I am pissed off. I'm dying, but I'm not dead yet. I don't care if they hand me 20 bucks. I want them to admit that they're wrong."

Bruce Thompson

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Since he was a teen, Bruce has laboured in steel mills, driven trucks, moved furniture. He never earned a lot, but kept himself afloat. 

His most recent job was as an apartment superintendent in east Hamilton. In a little bungalow across the road lived Betty. They chatted while out doing chores. It progressed to coffee on her porch. 

"One night, he just got brave and he kissed me," she says. 

They married on April 4 this year. Nine days later, spots were found on Bruce's lungs. He was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer and three brain tumours.

He has smoked since he was 15. 

He worked until the end of June. A social worker at the Juravinski Cancer Centre helped him apply for CPPD. 

On Aug. 28, he received a vague rejection letter from Service Canada. It says there are two rules: 1. He must have paid into the CPP for at least four of the last six years, or have made valid CPP contributions for at least 25 years, including three of the last six years. 2. He must have a disability that is both severe and prolonged. (With "prolonged" defined as "your disability is likely to be long term and of indefinite duration or is likely to result in death.") 

The letter goes on to say he doesn't qualify under either rule. 

In an emailed response to a long list of questions, an Employment and Social Development Canada spokesperson said: "In this specific case, the client was not eligible since he only has two years of earning and contributions to CPP in the last six years. Three years are required to be eligible."

She then provided a link to the government's appeals process. 

In 2014, Bruce earned $10,825. In 2013, he earned $21,099. In 2012 he worked only part of the year following the death of his father, earning $4,207 — $723 short of the threshold earnings. In 2011, he didn't work at all while caring for his father and recovering from the death of his stepson, who died in 2010. That death caused him to miss work that year, too, and he earned just $4,204, $504 short of the threshold. 

As for the second rule: "While you may not be able to do your usual work now, we have concluded that you had a capacity to do some type of work on Dec. 31, 2011, (his last date of qualifying for CPPD on a financial basis) and continuously after that. Therefore, you do not meet the criteria of severe and prolonged."

If he qualified, Bruce would get CPPD until he died, $1,175 per month. He needs the money to pay for his own funeral. He has no life insurance, no investments. His employment insurance sick benefits, $249 weekly, end Oct. 25. 

Betty, 51, works as a senior mortgage underwriter in Oakville, with an income of $65,000. She was on short-term disability after Bruce was diagnosed due to the stress. She now works part time, from home, so she can care for him. 

Wayne Marston, MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and his staff have rallied around Bruce. They tried to work with Service Canada but were told the rules are the rules. 

"There's times when life comes in conflict with those rules," says Marston. "It breaks your heart. This gentleman has abided by the rules and paid his taxes all his life and now that the bottom is falling out, the system isn't there for him."

Tuesday, Marston hand-delivered a letter to Jason Kenney, Minister of Employment and Social Development. The letter requests an "expedited reconsideration" of Bruce's CPPD application under "humanitarian and compassionate grounds." 

So the very people who most need CPPD — those with low incomes and severe health issues — are the taxpayers least likely to meet the financial thresholds to qualify. 

Susan Clairmont’s commentary appears regularly in The Spectator. sclairmont@thespec.com
905-526-3539 | @susanclairmont

Source: http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4888936-clairmont-dying-hamilton-man-not-sick-enough-for-benefits/