Ailing couple told to sell house
Could the Quebec government give Garry Belair and his wife, Lisa Beausoleil, a break? The young couple needs one really badly.
The province’s social service bureaucrats could start by coming up with better ideas to help bridge them financially until they are healthy to work again. They made the cold-hearted suggestion that the couple sell assets such as their Quyon home.
Belair has a more humane solution that would allow them to keep the house and not force them to “start all over again.” Let them collect some form of social assistance, he says, and they would repay the government once they are back at work. Regardless of the rules, the Quebec government needs to find a way to help Belair and Beausoleil, and others who find themselves in similar situations through no fault of their own.
The couple, both of whom are 31, met in high school in 1998 and got married in 2000. Belair says they worked hard to buy their house in 2005.
Their troubles started in 2011. Beausoleil, already suffering from knee bone displacement and ligament problems in both legs, was laid off from her job at a sandwich-processing plant in Gatineau. She collected employment insurance for about 35 weeks, and, in the meantime, was put on a waiting list for knee operations. One operation was carried out in October 2012 and the other last April. She continues to convalesce at home, having to spend long periods lying down.
Beausoleil says she still feels considerable discomfort as a result of the surgeries, especially from the most recent one, and painkillers do little. She wakes up frequently “in the middle of the night.”
Belair, a school-bus driv- er for 14 years, made up for some of his wife’s lost income by working extra hours to drive other types of buses for Bigras Transport, his employer. They were making ends meet, he says. But late last summer, he, too, was stricken by a serious health problem that still hasn’t been fully diagnosed. Belair, a diabetic, woke up on Aug. 11, with blurred vision. At first, he thought it was nothing more than dirt in his eyes and kept washing them with water. That afternoon, Beausoleil insisted they go to hospital.
Growths were eventually found behind his right eye, which were detaching his retina. His left eye was being compromised. He was sent to an Ottawa ophthalmologist and underwent surgery, which went well, he says.
But then a cyst was discovered behind the right eye. His left eye was hemorrhaging. The cyst is now being treated with drugs that are administered into his eye with needles.
Belair, too, was on employment insurance, but the benefits ended after 15 weeks.
When he turned to Quebec social services for welfare assistance, he was told he didn’t qualify because he and his wife own a house and two old vehicles. They could sell those assets, he says he was told, live off the proceeds and reapply for welfare if that money ran out before they were able to work again.
Belair says he contacted his Pontiac MNA and MP for help. An assistant to NDP MP Mathieu Ravignat suggested Belair look at jobs such as shovelling snow or telemarketing to bring in some income. Belair was taken aback, given his serious eye problems. He walks around his house with a makeshift cane to help guide himself. Contacted by The Public Citizen, the assistant says she did not mean to be rude to Belair, and was merely offering suggestions so he could help himself financially.
The constituency office for Liberal MNA Charlotte L’Écuyer is also aware of the couple’s plight. An assistant declined to comment because of privacy laws.
Much of the couple’s financial angst is the result of having to pay for prescription drugs that aren’t covered by insurance or the government. Belair figures they are out of pocket about $500-$600 monthly. And he still doesn’t know if the cost of drugs being used to fight the cyst behind his right eye — $1,600 per treatment — will be covered by Quebec. Beausoleil’s mother has been lending them money, and the couple has received some financial support from residents and organizations in the Pontiac. They also rely on the Quyon food bank.
Belair says he cannot believe there isn’t a government plan in place to help people in dire circumstances such as his wife and him. “I’m sick and tired of this. When I was working, they were always at my door collecting income taxes. But where is the government now? If it doesn’t help, we could lose everything.”
Rev. Mavis Brownlee, a priest with the Anglican Parish of Clarendon, drops by their home to give them communion when they miss Sunday services at St. Paul’s Church in Shawville. She, too, is upset with the lack of government help for Belair and Beausoleil. “We live in Canada. You shouldn’t be in financial straits if you get sick.” On Thursday, a residents’ group and the parish council agreed to hold a fundraising dance for the couple in January.
Belair says selling their house, which they scrimped and saved for and might be worth about $150,000, is not an option — at least not now. Luckily, the couple had their mortgage insured against lost income due to illness.
The couple is thinking of renting the house to bring in some income, and moving into their camper trailer. They are that desperate to keep their home, even if that means they won’t be living in it for some time.
He says they cannot fathom the idea of selling the house and then having to rebuild their lives completely after they return to work. Hopefully, he says, that will be next spring, for both of them. Beausoleil would likely need retraining to find other work, and so might Belair if his eyesight hinders his ability to drive. His employer would miss him. Belair was a hit with the students on his school bus. He always had small gifts for them at this time of the year.
Belair is also going through the house, collecting items that he might be able to sell and bring in some money. Their old pickup is already for sale, but people who have come around to kick the tires know the couple is a tight spot and have made insulting offers. Quebec social services noted another asset — an eight-year-old Ford Escape — when he applied for welfare. They would like to keep that vehicle if possible. And then there’s Heather, their fouryear-old cocker spaniel. They are looking at having the dog adopted.
Belair says he is not looking forward to Christmas. Not to be able have his own money to buy a turkey or ham for Christmas dinner or a gift for his wife has him in knots. They recently put up their Christmas tree. It did not lighten their mood. “When I look at the tree, it makes me feel sad,” Belair says.