Esther,
You may want to contact Council of Canadians with disabilities,
294Portage Ave Winnipeg.Mb. Canadas disability right group.
Esther Shannon wrote:
> hello all, i am a canadian woman taking on the british columbia
> government
> and an insurance company in a disability human rights case because of
> a
> denial of long term disability coverage. the case is quite complex
> (it's
> coming up for year five & we have yet to get to the actual hearing).
> i'm
> going to brutally summarize two of the key issues: length of
> employment
> service and pre-existing conditions.
>
> re: length of service: the gov't alleges i don't meet the mandatory
> length
> of employment service requirement while i argue, first, that i do have
> meet
> the requirement, and that, in the alternative, if the tribunel finds
> that i
> don't meet the requirement, the requirement itself constitutes
> discrimination against people with disabilities. the tribunel has
> already
> accepted our position as one meriting argument at my upcoming hearing.
>
> the issue of pre-existing condition is one that the government has
> added to
> the case arguing that, even if i do meet the length of service, my
> condition was pre-existing and therefore i am ineligible for long term
>
> disability. we are arguing firstly that, my condition was not
> pre-existing
> and, in the alternative, that the pre-existing condition policy is
> discriminatory on its face.
>
> as you may imagine, both of these arguments go to the core of long
> term
> disability benefit coverage. if we are successful, many canadians with
>
> disabilities could very well find their access to workplace benefit
> coverage greatly expanded.
>
> in the course of the research for the case we have been trying to
> discover
> if these issues have come forward in any other jurisdiction either in
> a
> legal process or elsewhere (eg. a government policy process) so it's
> wide
> open, do you have any knowledge of these issues/ arguments coming up
> anywhere.
>
> (we are also looking for what we are calling a "disability policy
> expert"
> living/working in canada, preferably in BC. this person could be a
> potential expert witness at the hearing. we would be able to pay for
> this
> person's time which would likely consist of meeting with my lawyers,
> preparing a written submission and, as i said, possibly testifying at
> the
> hearing. probably an unlikely request to this listserve but any
> suggestions
> would be greatfully accepted.)
>
> so, i'll leave this with you with my thanks.
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