Quebec is cutting its aid because it looks

Photo courtesy
Caroline Morin (behind) is the mother of Olivier Gingras. Both want to ensure that people with limitations to employment can receive assistance if they are studying.

Yanick Fish

Tuesday, 29 August, 2017 06:30

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Tuesday, 29 August, 2017 06:30

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DRUMMONDVILLE | A quadriplegic with severe constraints to employment find abnormal that the government is cutting its grant because he made the effort to go to study rather than staying home to listen to the tv.

Olivier Gingras, 21 years old, has lost the use of his arms and his legs in 2003, after having been plunged into a shallow lake.

Paralyzed of all four limbs, he has to wear diapers and need constant help.

Since his accident, he receives help from Quebec because he has severe limitations to employment. He pays particular diapers and medical equipment.

However, since he has all his head and wishes to make his contribution to society, he decided to enroll at the college in September 2016.

Refund

Quebec is now calling for more than $ 7,000 in that it has affected under the social solidarity Program since he attended college.

“The representatives of the ministry told us that, if he wanted to continue to obtain these services, he could not register for more than one course at a time. I can’t believe it, that it is penalized because it tries to make something of his life rather than stay home to commiserate about his fate “, said Caroline Morin, the mother of Olivier Gingras.

Olivier Gingras has been directed to the RÉUSSIR program of Emploi-Québec, but he is not eligible since it is not able to receive loans and grants, because both his parents work.

“This is a non-sense. One should [encourage] those people [to] get an education. In this case, it literally puts a stick in the wheels of [her wheelchair], ” said for his part Yan Tremblay-Marcotte, a spokesperson for the common Front of persons receiving social assistance in Quebec.

Horror

“We live in a horror story. It was difficult when he had his accident, but now, it is even worse. He has lost a lot in the last two months and it wounds, ” says Ms. Morin.

Even when he was in the icu, Olivier Gingras continued to study. It has done its math heavy and, still today, in spite of his handicap, he is more successful than the average student and wants to become a computer programmer.

Throughout his high school, he received financial aid, but it may not be at college.