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Free Services For a Year to All Apartment Residents Offer Denied Based on Status Card

Victorian1
Friendly Neighbour

I have a friend who lives at the building 288/292 East Hastings which has been offered free Telus service for a year, through a deal with the apartment building. Unfortunately, because my friend's identification is a status card - he has told me that he has been denied service on this basis. Are they misinformed or is this truly the case? He told me without a BC ID, you are refusing him service? This seems like racism.

7 REPLIES 7

NFtoBC
Community Power User
Community Power User

This Neighbourhood is inhabited by customers, just like you. We have no insight to Telus business plans, and no connection to the internal workings of Telus. We volunteer to share knowledge about Telus products and services which we have gained by experience or surmise.  You will need to connect with Telus staff more directly through a phone call, chat, Facebook or Twitter, as described in the Contact Us section at the bottom of the page.

 

However, from your description, it is not clear if it is the building management refusing to accept the ID or Telus. In addition, a BC ID indicates address information, which may be a necessary part of the application process. To my knowledge, a Status Card lacks this information. You need to provide more details, and gather more information before making accusations.

 

NFtoBC
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Victorian1
Friendly Neighbour

"Are they misinformed or is this truly the case?"

No accusations made here, why so defensive?

Nighthawk
Community Power User
Community Power User

@Victorian1 wrote:


No accusations made here...


Odd, I could have sworn you made an accusation of racism in your first post: 

 


@Victorian1 wrote:

... Unfortunately, because my friend's identification is a status card - he has told me that he has been denied service on this basis. Are they misinformed or is this truly the case? He told me without a BC ID, you are refusing him service? This seems like racism.


You may want to re-verify with your friend about exactly what happened.

 

Also, proof of residency (utility bill, ID etc) is not an uncommon requirement for many services. For certain services, including telecoms, they are required to be able to identify the customer. Even getting a cell plan typically requires valid ID.

 

I can't find a clear list of ID requirements for Telus, but Bell has a list, at least for wireless services. I would assume all of the telecom companies have a nearly identical list for other services as well:

 

Identification requirements

The following information must be provided to complete a new wireless activation.

  1. Legal name(full first name, middle initial and last name)
  2. Date of birth (must be the age of majority)
  3. Current Canadian address
  4. Valid contact phone number
  5. One of the following :
    • Canadian driver's license
    • Social insurance number + valid government-issued photo ID
    • Major Canadian credit card + valid government-issued photo ID

Valid government-issued photo ID consists of the following:

  • Canadian passport
  • Canadian citizenship card
  • Indian status identity card
  • British Columbia's combined driver's license and services card
  • Provincial photo ID (excluding Nunavut and Québec)
  • Foreign passport
  • Permanent resident card

 

That's a discriminatory policy, and anyone who says otherwise is blind to the racism that pervades Canada today.
Status card may not have enough information for proper ID. Most places require multiple forms.

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Victorian1
Friendly Neighbour

"Barb Dawson tried to use her status card as identification in Kelowna, B.C., at a Telus location and was told by the worker that Telus didn't accept status cards as ID."

https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/cjf-status-card-hassles-1.4845828/

"according to Telus representative Liz Sauvé, their locations do accept status cards as identification."

That's a discriminatory policy, and anyone who says otherwise is blind to the racism that pervades Canada today.

 

"'While a status card is accepted as identification and it's one of the accepted IDs that we take, it has to be accompanied by another piece of ID that can then be used as a credit card assessment, so like a SIN card or a driver's licence or a passport or something like that,' said Sauvé."

This is unacceptable discrimination against low income, and first nations individuals.

The idea of Telus giving the building 1 year free service was to help low income residents.

Not refuse them on discriminatory grounds that target First Nations and low income citizens. 

Many First Nations refuse to get a BC ID, as they regard themselves as separate nations - that have land unceded by any treaty.




They have stated they are now contemplating taking legal action against Telus for this discrimination.

Stop playing the race card already. You're not doing it right. This has nothing do to with income or race. If ANYONE, regardless of race / culture / income / etc., wants services, they ALL have to provide sufficient valid ID like everyone else is required to. Allowing one group of individuals to circumvent that system would be a racist policy.

 

"Legal action against Telus for this discrimination"? FFS. The majority of First Nations people don't have this issue. None of my FN friends have ever had this problem either because they all have valid ID to go with their status cards. It doesn't mean they have to give up anything. It's not hard to do / get a second form of ID.

 

Causing a rift between FN and the rest of Canada never benefits anyone. It just propogates the mistrust. I would love to see FN join with Canadians instead. Embrace the FN culture and share it with the rest of Canada rather than just fighting. I think there is a wealth of possible opportunity and learning for everyone to benefit from.