L embi Buchanan is the founder of Nickel-a-Drink for Addictions and Mental Health Research Foundation, a national, grass-roots charity raising money for education and research into mental disorders and addictive behaviours. An advocate for some of the most vulnerable people in our society, Lembi began working on behalf of persons with serious psychiatric disorders in 2001 to ensure that they are not discriminated against by government programs and policies. She launched her “Fighting for Fairness” campaign in March 2001 to reform the Income Tax Act when her husband Jim was denied the federal Disability Tax Credit (DTC). The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) did not recognize bipolar disorder as being severe enough to qualify for the tax credit.
Lembi appealed successfully to the Tax Court of Canada and subsequently spearheaded the lobbying efforts by a national coalition of health charities for fair treatment in the tax system for all Canadians with disabilities. Her website www.disabilitytaxcredit.com continues to provide information about the DTC and how to appeal when CRA has denied a claim for the tax credit.
When the federal government recognized the need to broaden the eligibility criteria for the DTC, Lembi was appointed to the newly formed Technical Advisory Committee to advise the government on tax measures for persons with disabilities. Virtually all of the Committee’s recommendations were accepted by the government in its February 2005 budget.
In July 2005, Lembi launched a “Best Practices” campaign on a new website www.whychoicematters.com to help ensure timely access in public drug programs to all psychotropic drugs approved by Health Canada for persons with mental illnesses. She was actively involved with the Bill 102 consultations in Ontario and continues to lobby the provincial government to ensure that the approval process for new medications does not discriminate against persons with serious mental illnesses.
In May 2007, Lembi launched the Nickel-a-Drink for Addictions and Mental Health Research Foundation www.nickeladrink.com, not only to raise much-needed funds for research and education, but also to lobby provincial and federal governments to increase their contribution for research into these chronic diseases.
Lembi has received several awards for her advocacy work including the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal recognizing her as a “crusader for Canadians who are often marginalized in Canada’s political system.”
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