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Frustrated senior grapples with fuel subsidy program 78-year-old retiree claims government has cut off his fuel subsidy
Cody Punter
Northern News Services
Published Saturday, June 8, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Hanging side by side on a wall in Rene Triadou's home are two pictures: one of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange and another of George Bush, framed by the words 'international terrorist'. Triadou's apparent mistrust of the government is understandable, based upon his belief he is being ignored by the people whose job it is to help him.
Rene Triadou claims that the government has stopped paying his Senior Home Heating Subsidy. He has been trying to get to the bottom of the issue for the past two years, but so far has been unsuccessful. - Cody Punter/NNSL photo
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Triadou, 78, used to work as a carpenter. Now retired, he depends on a government pension to survive. He said he has not received the Senior Home Heating Subsidy for the past two winters from the Department of Education, Culture and Employment (ECE), leaving him to pay for the cost of heating his home out of his own pocket.
The heating subsidy is part of the ECE's income assistance program, which provides seniors over the age of 60 with fuel, electricity or wood to heat their homes.
Triadou began receiving the subsidy upon turning 65 years old, but in the winter of 2012, he said the payments stopped. He has been trying to get answers from the government for the past two years. So far they have been unable to resolve the issue for him.
He recently approached Yellowknifer with his story, as a last resort. "Everybody else has done nothing," he said.
One of the problems is that Triadou, who was born in France, does not speak English. All the correspondence he has received from the government, however, has been in English. Privacy rules prevent department officials from answering Yellowknifer's questions on his behalf.
Prosperous Lake property
Yellowknifer went to visit Triadou at his property near Prosperous Lake, where he lives on his own, in a house without electricity or running water. He showed Yellowknifer a collection of correspondence from the government dating back to 2010, including one letter saying that Triadou's 2103 application for a home Senior Home Heating Subsidy had been approved.
However, he also points to a receipt for 5 tonnes of wood, which he purchased this past winter, and cost him $2,000. "They still haven't paid me back."
Triadou's attempt to get answers from the ECE has been frustrating, and at one point, he said he was told to go and see the NWT Human Rights Commission, who told him that their "hands were tied".
So frustrated with the government was he that he approached the RCMP regarding his case.
Triadou has also approached the NWT Senior's Society, an NGO that, amongst other things, helps seniors who have questions or concerns related to their well-being.
The society's executive director, Barb Hood, said she has been trying to help Triadou for a number of years. While she cannot speak about specific details regarding his case due to its confidential nature, she acknowledges she has seen documentation that says he has received the benefits.
"He received paper on his T5, saying that he had gotten a fuel subsidy," said Hood, "but his contention is that he did not get the actual product."
Hood said that she has tried to advocate on his behalf, but has not heard from from in a few months, after Triadou told her that he would explore other means of help.
Hood said Triadou's problems are not caused by the any language barriers. "It's not really an issue of English and French," said Hood, who doesn't speak French. "It's really an issue of understanding how he approaches and articulates what the issue is. What concerns me is that people (ECE officials) often don't take the time."
The government recently vowed to fix problems with the ECE's income assistance program, under which the Senior Home Heating Subsidy is provided, after a report by the auditor general of Canada criticized the organization's provision of the program.
"We need to know the $30 million we spend on these programs is reaching the people who really need it," stated Deh Cho MLA, Michael Nadli, in a recent news release.
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