I used to work for the City of New York as a stock handler. It was a good paying job, and we were unionized. One day, I was working underneath a shelf, and a 35 pound box tipped over and fell about 15 feet and landed on me. It crushed my wrist. They couldn’t keep a space open for me at work after I got hurt. I had family in Ontario, so I came up here. As a Status Indian, it was not a problem. Here I also found an orthopedic micro surgeon. I have had 16 or 17 surgeries in the last 20 years. I don’t think I have anything in my wrist left to fuse! After each surgery, there would be a one and a half year recovery period. I didn’t plan on staying here, but surgeries, as well as other health issues, have required it. I am currently on ODSP. When money became tight, a friend had informed us about the food bank. The food bank is great, as it covered the basics of what we needed. The food is often starchy, but when you’re low on cash, it helps out enormously. I am concerned, though, that things are going to get worse and we’ll see more people using food banks. The economic situation isn’t looking good, and food prices are rising. People need to organize, and demand that basic needs get met. Ontario is not getting its fair share back from the Federal government. I think political action is very important. I sense a lack of political participation here in Canada. People are more apathetic, but they don’t realize how easily they can lose things if they don’t fight for them. I did political work in 1972 when I lived in New York City. At that time, the welfare administration wanted to take away money from recipients who were getting student grants. But we fought, and made sure that didn’t happen. It took two years but they stopped the policy from being implemented. I think it helped that right after the Vietnam War more people were ready and willing to participate politically. Even today there are a lot more people organizing and protesting in the States than many would think, but you don’t hear about them. I still enjoy political work, and would like to be involved more. But my lack of mobility prevents it.