Family in Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T., says they're 'gonna go hungry' with income assistance cut

Christopher Dryneck is in Edmonton while his 12-year-old daughter, who is disabled, waits for surgery. 

While a trip like this might seem stressful, Dryneck says the real stress begins when they return home to Behchokǫ̀, N.W.T. 

Dryneck has been blind since birth. His wife Sharon faces additional challenges from being unable to read or write.

He says a series of miscommunications and misunderstandings led to his family recently being cut off income support. Dryneck said neither he nor his wife are able to work, meaning they rely completely on income assistance.

"I was shocked," he said. "I can't go out and get a job for them, I can't work and I can't go hunting."  

"We're gonna go hungry." 

Dryneck said his problems began when the N.W.T. income assistance office in Yellowknife told him he was being investigated for not declaring income for 2023.

He said he was told if he couldn't produce the proper paperwork, his support was at risk of being cut off. 

Dryneck said he's since learned more about what documents are needed for income assistance, and believes they were requesting a T4 slip. But he says he can't recall entirely, attributing his confusion to his poor education. 

"I don't know what 'declared' even means," he said, "they explained it to us but we don't know what it means, me and my wife have no education."

Dryneck said his father pulled him out of school in the third grade due to his blindness. His education, after that, was on the land.  

Dryneck said he was reminded by the income assistance office that his wife worked as a janitor for the Tłı̨chǫ government a handful of times in Behchokǫ̀ during 2023. He said even though their income assistance funding typically covers all of their costs, the family decided at the time they could use the extra money.

In order to get the needed paperwork to the income assistance office, Dryneck said his family was able to convince a friend to transport them to Yellowknife where they were able to process paperwork in a mad dash to ensure no deadlines were missed.

Upon arriving home, Dryneck said he received a call from income support saying the paperwork was incomplete.