Today, I was paid a surprise visit by Calgary Housing’s property manager and a staff member named Raymond — despite my clearly documented request that all communication be conducted by email due to my disabilities, and for transparency. Instead of addressing my concerns in writing, they showed up at my door.

Raymond brought a letter from Sean Brown regarding my annual rent recertification. My rent is jumping from $235 to $321/month — even though I was on AISH last year, too. When I questioned it, Raymond acknowledged he didn’t know whether AISH and Alberta Works were still supposed to be under a flat-rate rent scale. So why the increase? Last year it only went up $10. This year — after I spoke out publicly and pushed for answers — it suddenly jumps almost $100?

This feels like targeted retaliation.

During that same visit, I had to repeatedly show both of them the inconsistencies between CHC’s tenant notices and their own public-facing website. I told them that tenants across Calgary are being told they will be evicted for smoking on property, without ever being properly informed that the rules supposedly changed. I told them that their “clarifications” to the MLA’s office and the media haven’t reached the tenants the policy affects.

Their response? I was told the higher-ups are not going to talk to me.

Instead, they asked if I’d like to join TAG (Tenant Advisory Group) — a group that was allegedly consulted face-to-face to justify this policy. I said yes. But let’s be real: tenants shouldn’t have to join a committee to be heard.

Bill also informed me that I must now reapply for my cannabis exemption, provide updated medical documentation, and pay for tenant insurance — something that, up until now, CHC has never enforced. Despite their own policy stating that cannabis smokers in non-smoking buildings are eligible for transfer — not silent permission to stay — I was told there’s now the implication that tenants will be allowed to stay in those units if they ask for an exemption and provide insurance.

But here’s something that affects all of us: my property manager clearly told me that if someone knows to ask, they’ll be granting exemptions.

So if you’re a smoker in Calgary subsidized housing — it doesn’t matter what your reason is, whether you’re a senior, a person with disabilities, a single parent, Indigenous, or simply someone who can’t always leave the property — contact your property manager and ask for an accommodation. Ask for an exemption to smoke on the property under the city bylaw.

They asked me to spread the word, but I only have access to the people in my complex. So now I’m asking you — please share this, because tenants across the city are still in the dark.

This isn’t policy. This is power. And this is how systemic discrimination hides behind vague paperwork and “miscommunication.”