New Brunswick Man Discusses Struggles with Unemployment and Costs of Medication

The NB Media Co-op has been holding a series of media production workshops for people involved with the NB Common Front for Social Justice, a grassroots anti-poverty and social justice organization. 

Five sessions have taken place at the Moncton public library since the beginning of February, focussing on some basics of DIY journalism and video production.

One of the people taking part is Marty Bourgeois, one of the co-creators of this series. 

Throughout two interviews, he described his experience of being unemployed for several months and searching for work. 

Some good news: he recently landed a job. 

But by mid-February, he had been out of work for about seven months, after applying for jobs flipping burgers everywhere he could. In his words, he's handed out résumés from "halfway to Scoudouc to a pretty much-abandoned zoo." 

Bourgeois, 40, struggles with what he describes as undiagnosed high-functioning autism. He said that everything about him, from his tall six-foot-two-inch height to his general demeanour and "personhood," seems to set off alarm bells for potential employers.

"They consider you too intelligent, or too stupid, or too much, or too little, or too whatever." 

Bourgeois described how, at a previous employer, he suffered workplace bullying at a time when he was "deep in the throes of depression."

During one intense moment, he stated: "I seek only to maintain a degree of quality of life that I would dare share with others if only given a chance."

He also detailed the difficulties affording the medication and equipment needed for his Type 2 diabetes. 

These interviews are part of a bigger project looking at issues including mental illness and poverty in New Brunswick, told from the perspectives of people with lived experiences of poverty.

Some participants with lived experience of poverty received a small honorarium from the NB Media Co-op to offset ancillary costs associated with participation (e.g. childcare, time away from paid work, etc.) that could act as a barrier to engagement. 

These honoraria also served as thank you for sharing knowledge, experience and expertise and for helping to produce this content. We gratefully acknowledge these contributions.