The NDP bombarded cabinet last week with questions and statements critical of the province’s treatment of persons with disabilities.
The onslaught by more than a dozen members of the Opposition caucus challenged the UCP on Alberta’s lack of accessibility legislation, its dollar support for people with disabilities, and its approach to housing, health care and home care.
Also on the hit list were wait times for services and programs, access to sports and recreation facilities, transportation in rural areas to and from appointments, and the evacuation of persons with disabilities during wildfires.
The torrent came the same day that demonstrators with disabilities, their advocates and their allies rallied outside the legislature building. The ACT Now rally on May 6 called for immediate action on accessibility legislation and income support, along with ”meaningful consultation” with the community.
For its part, the UCP accused the Opposition of ignoring its own record on the disability file while in power. Jason Nixon, the minister of seniors, community and social services, said he’ll commit to “continuing to fix the NDP mess in the disability space.”
His government was accused of being opaque, cruel and non-inclusive in its processes under the Persons with Developmental Disabilities program.
“You want to talk about cruelty?” Nixon responded. “That was (the NDP) continuing to bring forth consecutive budgets with no indexation, no increases to the major disability allowance, and completely abandoning the disability community and, more shockingly, continuing to force those who are on AISH that want to participate in employment to be punished, to have their wages clawed back for their hard work.”
AISH stands for Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped, a monthly personal allowance in Alberta of up to $1,901.
Nixon, the member for Rimbey-Rocky Mountain House-Sundre, continued that “on this side of the House we’re proud to stand with the disability community, and we’re proud to make programs that work for them and are the most generous and beneficial programs anywhere in this country.”
Of the provinces, only Alberta and Prince Edward Island have no accessibility legislation. Through the Accessible Canada Act of 2019, the federal government is pushing for a barrier-free Canada by 2040.
Legislation of this type typically paves the way for further actions over time, like the creation of standards and regulations, planning and strategic documents, reporting and monitoring structures, and even new bodies.
In 2018 without accessibility legislation in place — federal or provincial — the NDP under Rachel Notley created the Advocate for Persons with Disabilities.
Christina Gray, the NDP’s leader in the assembly, said a lack of accessibility legislation locks “hundreds of thousands of disabled Albertans” out of workplaces, schools and safe housing. Effects include poverty, isolation, unemployment and difficulty achieving basic levels of participation in society, she said.
“These should be priority issues for this premier,” said Gray, who characterized Danielle Smith as preoccupied with airing grievances with Ottawa. The premier also wants to distract Albertans from charges of corruption involving services procurement, she claimed.
“When will this government finally bring forward legislation?”
Smith said a comprehensive review of programs involving persons with disabilities is underway through Seniors, Community and Social Services. A new assistance program is giving people with disabilities more options, she said.
The province has increased money going to caregivers and is digging into what’s behind waitlists in the Persons with Developmental Disabilities program.
“There are a lot of issues that have to be dealt with in (Nixon’s) department, and he’s working through them one at a time,” said the premier.
One issue the NDP raised multiple times is that those receiving AISH won’t be getting a further $200 through a federal disability benefit that starts in July. That’s because “this Premier believes AISH is enough,” said Marie Renaud, the NDP’s shadow minister for community and social services.
“This premier gave her MLAs a housing allowance increase, citing affordability, but AISH recipients, nothing for you. Why?” asked Renaud, the member for St. Albert.
But Nixon said AISH is $500 more than the allowance in comparable provinces and is the highest in Canada. “To be very clear, the AISH benefit in our province is not changing,” he said, noting that the government is committed to keeping it indexed for inflation.
Nixon added that spending continues to increase though the UCP putting “more than the NDP government every dreamed of” towards disability services. Nixon repeatedly pegged UCP disabilities spending at $3.6 billion this year.
Statistics Canada defines a person with a disability as someone “whose daily activities are limited as a result of an impairment or difficulty with particular tasks.”
In 2022 the agency found that about eight million Canadians, or 27 per cent of the population aged 15 or older, reported having at least one disability. That’s about twice the percentage reported 10 years earlier.
The province has said that in 2022 the percentage for Alberta was more than 21 per cent, which works out to more than one million people.
Luanne Metz, the NDP member for Calgary-Varsity, said people with disabilities in Alberta have reduced access to health care that “the rest of us take for granted.”
Noting that the province’s own disability advocate recommends legislation, she pointed to diagnostics equipment access, rural transportation for medical appointments and emergency room treatment as especially difficult for people with disabilities.
Said Metz, a medical researcher and physician: “For those of you who think the health system is not meeting their needs, let me assure you that it’s even worse for people with disabilities.”
Sharif Haji, the NDP member for Edmonton-Decore, mentioned a family “collapsing under the pressure of unmet needs” as they wait for support through one program. Despite having a profoundly disabled daughter, the family have been waiting a year for a contract under Family Support for Children with Disabilities and have been told it could take another three years, he said.
The UCP has “essentially stopped FSCD intake,” Haji charged.
Nixon responded that the FSCD budget is up about $30 million this year, saying intake does continue. “We also acknowledge that a multi-decades-old program like FSCD has challenges (and) that we’re working through a process to change.”
The program was created when about one in 10,000 kids were diagnosed with autism, he said, while today the rate is one in 10. “The difference between us and the NDP, though, is that we have the courage to fix these things,” said Nixon.
Lethbridge-West MLA Rob Miyashiro of the NDP singled out funding cuts to three organizations providing community services for people with disabilities. Miyashiro said the groups in Lethbridge, Edmonton and Calgary lost a combined $420,000 in provincial money.
Later cautioned by the speaker for insinuating that the UCP would intentionally harm Albertans, Miyashiro said: “Will this minister just admit that these cruel cuts to services suggest that this government is obsessed with bullying our most vulnerable citizens?”
Nixon said, however, that the organizations still receive $33 million “to do their work” and that the province is being strategic about where it puts its money. Decisions are about “making sure every one of the dollars. . .goes directly to helping people.”
Samir Kayande, the NDP’s chair of analytics and part of the leader’s senior advisory team, said improving accessibility is the right thing to do as a caring society.
There’s also an economic case for disability legislation, he said. Research shows that GDP increases with the rising employment of people with disabilities.
Kayande, the member for Calgary-Elbow, criticized research from what he called “hard-right think tanks” that cherry-pick data and blame people with disabilities for the challenges they face.
Persons with disabilities deserve fulfilled lives of dignity, he said. “Our values as Albertans who care for each other demand it. Any of us could end up with a disability at any point in our lives.”
