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Marcel Watier’s life sounds pretty cushy, if you don’t know him well.

He’s 39, living on his own east of downtown Toronto. He earns a good salary, thanks to one full-time job as a sports facility supervisor and a part-time job on the side.

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Watier says people think he must be spending his money on stereotypical urban luxuries — dinners out, craft cocktails, a condominium with a pool and a rock-climbing wall — since he doesn’t have a partner or children.

They just see a single guy working two jobs and think I must be rolling in money. If I was rolling in money, would I be working two jobs?

But Watier actually rents a basement apartment. In addition to supporting himself, he helps his two sisters, who have eight children between them and a ninth on the way.

If those were his children and Watier were married, he would be eligible for a long list of tax breaks, benefits and programs. As a single person, he’s on his own.

“It drives me up the wall to hear the whole ‘selfish single’ term,” he says. “They just see a single guy working two jobs and think I must be rolling in money. If I was rolling in money, would I be working two jobs?”