'They don't care if I live or die': Saskatoon woman on SAID fighting to get furnace replaced

Laura Edna Lacey has been without a working furnace since Dec. 13 and has been struggling to get it replaced by emergency social programs.

Lacey has lived in her bungalow in Saskatoon for more than 20 years, but due to disabilities like chronic pain, she's been unable to work for the last 10 years and survives off Saskatchewan Assured Income for Disability (SAID).

She said buying a new furnace is out of the question because she lives cheque to cheque.

"I might have $30 or $100 left at the end of the month or some months I don't. Some months I'm even using the overdraft in my bank account," Lacey said.

In the meantime, she is heating her home with a collection of portable heaters donated by a friend. Saskatoon's temperature has averaged -15 C since mid-December and has dipped as low as -33 C.

"I have the smaller heaters on the main floor, although I have to be careful to not use them too much because if you plug in like two in the living room and dining room at the same time, it blows the breaker."

There are two paths Lacey can take to get the funding. One is the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation's (SHC) emergency repair program and the other is directly through SAID.

Lacey said the SHC denied her claim because in 2017 she applied and got money from an emergency program to fix structural supports in her basement.

Nicholas Blenkinsop, a lawyer at CLASSIC Law — which does free legal work for people experiencing poverty or injustice and represents Lacey — argues the emergency program Lacey applied to in 2017 and the current one are two separate programs.

"What the housing program said is that, 'because you got this within the past 15 years, we can't give you any more money,'" said Blenkinsop.

"My concern about that is that I've looked at the information about the program and number one, it looks to be a new program, number two … nothing in the law that creates the program appears to say anything about you can only get one grant every 15 years."

The other route is to go through SAID, which Blenkinsop said has an emergency benefit specifically for issues like Lacey's. He said she qualifies for it, but has been waiting for close to a month for a definitive answer.

"Rather than provide a response as to the benefit, the SAID program has sought to have my client go out to see if she can find financing that will allow her to pay for the repairs to the furnace," Blenkinsop said.

"They made this request in a situation where they know Ms. Lacey's financial situation, that she has no income and relies on social assistance for support."