Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Mar 20/02) - A Richmond, B.C. man has followed through on a promise to starve himself until his demands are met by the Workers' Compensation Board.

"It's kind of hard to think now. All I'm thinking about is food," said Glenn Hall.

Hall wants the board to put him back into physiotherapy, pay him for the time he was off therapy since last July, provide him with vocational training and give him a scooter, which his doctor is recommending.

Hall stopped eating last Friday at 5:30 p.m. His last meal was a sub sandwich. Since then, he has been drinking "lots of water" and swallowing vitamin and mineral tablets.

"My wife doesn't like it all, but she knows I'm a strong-willed person. She knows I'm doing this for my family," Hall said.

He spoke with the WCB last Friday, and was told he would be put back on physiotherapy. However, he still wants to make sure he is on the proper program.

But calling the WCB on Monday morning, his predicament received a new wrinkle: his caseworker, pension specialist Randy Corbett, was sick. The fill-in caseworker is off on vacation for two weeks. The fill-in for the fill-in was away when he called.

"This is what four-and-a-half years is all about. As far as I know, no one's even looking after my case," he said.

That's not true, said Teresa Sanderson, spokesperson for the WCB. "If he calls in with problems on his case, there is someone else covering it. It's not like we'd leave him high and dry," she said.

For Hall, though, one thing is not changing.

"I'm hungry," he said.