Letter writing

Dad was a very organized person. He kept files in a filing cabinet in the laundry room. Each file was neatly labeled “insurance”, “appliances”, “house”, etc. He had files for interesting things from his life, and another for mom, and of course one for each of us. One of my goals on this recent trip to visit mom was to sort through some of the files and take home anything that might be important.

Last weekend I discovered several letters that mom had written in 1993 and 1994 to her local MP, Revenue Canada and the federal Minister of Finance, along with the responses from the men in those positions.

She was not pleased that the government was charging GST on brassieres for women who have had mastectomies. The CRA reasoning was that women could buy one with a doctor’s prescription. Mastectomy bras are included in the list of medical devices which are exempt from GST under certain conditions, e.g. doctor’s prescription.

Mom’s argument was clear and simple—this is not an item people without surgical removal of one or both breast would purchase, therefore it’s obvious that they would not be taking advantage of any unnecessary tax relief.

By September, 1994, mastectomy brassieres could be purchased in Canada without added GST, even without a doctor’s prescription. This was one of my mother’s accomplishments!