Alberta pro golfer – now on disability – on high cost of living: ‘a real hardship’ | Globalnews.ca

over a period of six weeks, as part of Out of pocket seriesGlobal News investigates how inflation is affecting Canadians from coast to coast.

Cathy Burton worked in the golf industry for 37 years. He played professionally and then coached in Manitoba and Alberta.

She didn’t expect to be out of work and on disability at age 61.

Burton said, “Three years without work has been a real hardship for me.” “I’ve had to sell my car.”

Burton had a kidney transplant in 2020, after five years as a dialysis patient. However, his recovery did not go according to plan. She suffered from several infections and was given various medicines.

She ended up in the emergency room of a Calgary hospital on New Year’s Eve. She was losing sight in her right eye. Just two months later, he lost the sight in his left eye.

“Getting used to not seeing much has been transformative for me.”

That’s not the only adjustment Burton has had to make. She is also learning to live on a fixed income.

“With the federal disability I receive – cpp disability – I make $1,180 a month and my mortgage payment is $1,200.

Last year, Burton was the recipient of philanthropic funds from the PGA Canada Foundation, which covered most of her household expenses.

“It was extremely helpful. I don’t think I would have been able to keep my house. I think that would have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“After the transplant I was so immunocompromised and so close, I couldn’t see a way forward if I didn’t get that.”

Burton doesn’t deserve this AISH (Assured Income for Severely Handicapped) and it doesn’t meet the criteria Alberta’s recently announced affordability payments,

She had to use her line of credit to cover basic expenses.

cost cutting measures

Faced with a trifecta of challenges – the pandemic, job losses and health issues – Burton is also facing inflation At the highest level it has been in a generation.

Since he does not have the option of increasing the amount of money coming in, he is forced to reduce the amount of money going out. For Burton, that means careful budgeting, using flyers and tracking sales, and making sacrifices when it comes to grocery shopping.

“I haven’t eaten a salad in probably two years,” she told Global News.

grocery prices were up Statistics Canada said 11 per cent in December 2022 compared to a year ago. Overall, grocery prices are expected to rise 9.8 percent in 2022 compared to a year earlier — the fastest pace since 1981.

Burton is trying to get creative — buying food that lasts longer and costs less, like frozen vegetables and starches.

“For example, I’ll make a shepherd’s pie but I’ll add other ingredients to make it more filling. Making a hamburger, I’ll add rice or mashed potatoes to the hamburger to make it go further. I try just about anything.” I am doing.

She is also looking for ways to reduce other household expenses.

“Around the house, I keep the temperature around 15 Celsius.

“I also have battery-operated sensor lights on my stairs so they light up when I go up and down at night. I also have them under my counters.

Burton boils water in a kettle to wash her dishes at the sink and takes a short shower.

But there are some things which are beyond his control.

“I expect my taxes to go up,” Burton said. “My property has grown in value by $113,000 in two years. this is too much.

“How do I figure all this out? Insurance for the house has gone up. It’s overwhelming when I’m saying all this but I’m trying to do my best.

An Ipsos survey of 1,004 adult Canadians conducted exclusively for Global News between December 14 and December 16, 2022, found that 36 per cent of respondents had reduced spending on non-essentials such as entertainment and travel, while 27 Percent cut spending. Essential things like food or clothing to pay for other basic needs.

community support

Social programs that provide support to Albertans are seeing a high demand.

“We are talking about families that are on the brink right now,” Murtaza Jamali said. “They are barely making ends meet.

“Well, this is the time we’re seeing those people being pushed over the edge.”

Jamali, who is based in Westlock, is the chairman of the board. Family and Community Support Services Alberta Union.

“We have seen a huge influx of people through the doors for a variety of reasons,” he said. “We know that programs have been oversubscribed in recent years and we know that donations are lower in some of the programs that are donation-driven because there is less to give.”

FCSS has been providing preventive programs in Alberta for over 50 years – such as homelessness prevention, poverty reduction and aging.

In an informal survey, 90 percent of FCSS offices said their community has seen an increase in demand for programming by people on fixed incomes as a result of inflation.

Staff said the programs seeing the biggest admissions growth included Alberta support or other income support, subsidized transit and subsidized recreation programs, referrals to food banks, information and referrals to affordable, low-income housing options, free children’s activities , Includes help applying for seniors. Outreach, counseling or mental health support.

Many FCSS workers said they are seeing more crisis and emergency cases than prevention, which is their official mandate.

“We need to make sure we protect prevention as a service because when we see a huge need in intervention services – when we see homeless shelters, when we see food banks don’t have enough food or There isn’t enough money — it’s a result of a lack of prevention or a lack of being able to offer these types of services long term, Jamali said.

And those on fixed incomes are even more vulnerable.

“Is the check you get enough to pay for rent, transportation, clothing, food?”

These are the kinds of questions Burton hopes policy makers are asking themselves.

“I think both the federal and provincial government really need to look at: who are we helping? Are we really helping the people who need the money or are we just painting a broad brush?” Have been and are saying, ‘It should involve a group of people.’

“I don’t think they’re really in touch with what’s going on. Running a home is so expensive.

“They need to come and sit in my shoes and then tell me how I’m going to pay my bills.”