All of us at Disability Alliance BC are incredibly saddened by the passing of Dan Coulter, BC’s former Parliamentary Secretary for Accessibility, Minister of State for Infrastructure and Transit and MLA for Chilliwack. Dan was a tireless advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities and was always guided in his efforts by the disability community’s motto of “Nothing about us, without us.” His work on the development of the Accessible BC Act during his time in government led the way for countless sectors, municipalities and organizations to implement accessibility plans across BC. DABC is incredibly grateful for Dan’s support of our organization in ensuring that part three of the Accessible BC Act was done in a meaningful and inclusive way. We were also heartened by his efforts to highlight the work of the Right Fit program during his time as Parliamentary Secretary. Dan’s dedicated public service and passion for building a more barrier-free, inclusive, welcoming province for everyone has been an inspiration to us all. We send our deepest condolences to his family in this most difficult of times.

The DABC Board of Directors
Julia Lamb, Jake Anthony, Liss Cairns, Pam Horton, Odette Dempsey-Caputo, Elizabeth Lalonde, Sarah Cheung, Sarina Mawji and Alyssa Vincent

The ongoing postal strike may impact the delivery of benefits and services from various governmental bodies. Below, we’ve compiled information about what these governmental bodies are doing and the actions clients can take to minimize disruptions.

Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (MSDPR) Clients:

DABC has received the following information from MSDPR, regarding options for Ministry clients during the ongoing postal strike:

“Clients whose address is in the community of the ministry/Service BC office:

• The cheque can be picked up at the office with photo identification that matches the name and address on the envelope.
• If the client does not have photo identification, we can confirm identity using the in-office identity verification process.
• If a client is not able to attend an office in-person, we can arrange for the cheque to be delivered by staff (where appropriate).

Clients who are in a different community than where they have normally received their “mail” cheque, whether permanently (e.g., just moved) or temporarily, can go into any ministry/SBC office to get their monthly “mail” cheque. If the “mail” cheque is in another community, it will be cancelled and re-issued in the office that the client attends.

This is a regular process provided to clients who find themselves in a community other than their home community during the distribution of monthly payments.”

If you encounter any issues, please reach out to DABC at 604-872-1278/1-800-663-1278 or advocacy@dabc.ca.

Service Canada

Employment and Social Development Canada and Service Canada have measures in place to ensure that clients continue to receive services and benefits during a disruption of Canada Post services. More information: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/service-canada/postal-disruption.html

If you encounter any issues, please reach out to DABC at 604-872-1278/1-800-663-1278 or advocacy@dabc.ca.

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Clients:

The CRA has provided information about delays to benefit payments: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/news/newsroom/canada-post-mail-service-disruption-impact-cra.html

The CRA has also posted on its website that clients needing to get time-sensitive info to the CRA may be able to do so using drop-boxes. More information is available here: https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/corporate/contact-information/office-locations.html.

If you encounter any issues, please reach out to Tax AID DABC at 236-477-1717/1-877-940-7797 or taxaid@dabc.ca.