For those that do not know the CLSC are the agency in Quebec, Canada that are in charge of assisting the handicapped to lead normal lives.

A very dear friend of ours who is wheelchair bound is reliant on their services to help make meals, and with house cleaning/laundry. When he lived in Gatineau, the CLSC services were excellent, "not perfect," but what he expected from this agency. Naturally when he recently moved to Montreal he assumed the levels of services and respect from them would be comparable. However, he was sadly mistaken.

In Montreal our friend found that the CLSC workers were not showing up, were frequently late, rude, would forget their keys regularly, would not clean properly etc. He told us that when he attempted to explain his concerns to a supervisor she did not listen to him or did not care, repeating bureau-jargon that meant nothing to him. Perhaps she thought he was a young punk because of his appearance, or perhaps she was put off because he was speaking in English or she is not used to people challenging the status quo at this CLSC??? Either way I find this all highly disturbing, and have offered our encouragement to our friend to go above this woman's head if necessary, and even consider legal action.

Whatever is going on with the CLSC I sincerely hope it is properly investigated, and whatever issues it may have to be resolved swiftly to the satisfaction of our friend, not only for his sake, but for all handicapped individuals who have enough stress to deal with without this type of BS from an agency whose very existence is based on helping them.