April 22 – Frustration

I am feeling quite frustrated dealing with officialdom. This past week I discovered that to access my Alberta Health records online, I needed a current driver’s license or an Alberta Identity Card. I had neither of these and so the saga of paper work and online frustration began.

Let me backtrack. When because of my diminished sight I was no longer able to drive, I let my driver’s license lapse. At the time, I knew that I could apply for an official Alberta identity card, but of course there was a cost to this. As I already had several pieces of documentation proving my identity, I tended to see this as just another Government money grab and so I didn’t apply. Until last week, and over the past thirty years, I haven’t encountered any problems with this decision.

Now we come to last week. The only documentation that I could use to access my health records online was the driver’s license or the identity card. There was no allowance made for people who didn’t have either of these. Obviously I still don’t have a driver’s license, so the only option was to apply for the identity card. I gave in at last and arrived at the registry with several pieces of documentation.

The first piece that I produced was my Citizenship Card. This plastic card has my picture and was issued by the Federal Government. I couldn’t believe my ears when I was told that it wasn’t acceptable. I would need a passport.

It’s hard to believe the reason that was given for this official statement - my Citizenship Card didn’t have an expiry date! Well, I would hope not! I am a Canadian citizen and I hope that this status won’t expire until I do myself. As for the passport – well I needed my Citizenship Card in order to apply for this travel document in the first place.

Now for the crazy part. Once I had produced my passport, bank statement with current address, etc. and of course paid my fee, the agent said that now she could update and confirm my information on her computer! What? I was already in the system! What was all this other nonsense? Sure enough, my name, date of birth, phone number and address was all there. Even my height was the same. Unfortunately my weight did need to be updated!

After all of this, I was given a receipt but I still can’t access my health records for another thirty days or so. I must wait for my new little plastic identity card with a code number on the back. This will hopefully arrive in the mail.

I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person and between the two of us, Lyle and I can manage basic technology. However, these days a person needs a PhD to negotiate the ins and outs of all these new rules and regulations. I am still feeling frustrated!