UCP faces barrage of disability and accessibility questions after rally-goers call for action and ‘meaningful consultation'
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.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
In victory and defeat, Marc Garneau 'was Captain Canada'
OTTAWA — Meili Faille couldn't believe her ears when she heard the news. Marc Garneau, the first Canadian to have visited space, was preparing to run against her in the 2006 election. A few weeks later, she won. And Garneau never forgot it. Twenty years ago, the Bloc Québécois MP at the time held sway in Vaudreuil—Soulanges. This riding, located on the west side of the island of Montreal, near the Ontario border, had elected Faille in 2004 following the sponsorship scandal. In a riding where former NDP Jack Layton grew up, having a separatist represent a bilingual and multicultural community was an odd fit. 'We had an incredible team on the ground. We were dedicated to the community… Honestly, I didn't even count the number of events I attended at the time, it was every single day,' Faille recalled in an interview with National Post. But then, the race was shaken up by then prime minister Paul Martin. Garneau, the then-president of the Canadian Space Agency was not launching his shuttle into space, but rather into the political sphere. 'Marc Garneau, I am convinced, will be a star in the parliamentary firmament,' said Martin at the time. He was not. Faille easily beat him by more than 9,000 votes in 2006, when the Conservatives took power. Garneau was a neophyte who went so far as to predict that the Bloc would disappear, 'like dinosaur,' when he launched his political career. 'Marc Garneau was Canada, Canada, and simply Canada. It was his image. He was a Canadian figure. I mean, in the midst of the sponsorship scandal, it was a no-win situation for him,' Faille said. 'Basically, he was not able to convince people that he could prioritize Quebec positions over federal positions,' she added. 'He was captain Canada.' His relationship with Quebec was not always easy. After 14 years in the House of Commons, he resigned in 2023, before his own government passed Bill C-13, an overhaul of the Official Languages Act, which included references to Quebec's Charter of the French Language, known as Bill 96. He found this inappropriate. Garneau, a francophone, feared that the rights of Quebec's English-speaking minorities were threatened by a conflicting interpretation of federal and provincial laws. 'I've said this was a hill to die on. It is,' Garneau told the Montreal Gazette at the time. It took hours for Quebec Premier François Legault to acknowledge Garneau's death at the age of 76. Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon did not offer his condolences, relaying instead a message from one of his PQ colleagues. Meanwhile, in Ottawa, former colleagues described Garneau as a 'gentleman,' 'very serious,' 'down to earth,' who's reputation was unlike anybody else. 'He was so serious and took everything so seriously, to get him to loosen up a little bit was very difficult. Rarely did he take time to laugh and smile,' said his former liberal colleague MP Judy Sgro. Even Faille was shaken. During his first election in 2008, Garneau ran into Faille, who had just defeated another star candidate: former Conservative senator and cabinet minister Michael Fortier. The two exchanged pleasantries and ended up sitting together in opposition for three years, before Faille lost her seat in 2011. 'He was a good man. Listen, we weren't in the same political family, but we respected each other. Marc was very nice,' said Faille. In 2007, after then leader Stéphane Dion refused to allow Garneau to run in a byelection in Outremont against the NDP's Thomas Mulcair, Garneau left politics. He had previously supported Michael Ignatieff in the leadership race that Dion won and many Liberals suggested at the time that the two men weren't necessarily the best of friends. 'By land or in space, through science and democracy, Marc Garneau has moved Canada and France, Canada and Europe, forward in the same direction. His memory will inspire us in our future endeavours,' Dion, who is now Canada's ambassador to France, wrote on Wednesday night. But the former astronaut ended up running in 2008 in the general election anyway. He was so serious and took everything so seriously, to get him to loosen up a little bit was very difficult Marcel Proulx, then Dion's lieutenant in Quebec, met with Garneau to formalize his candidacy and present himself in a Montreal Liberal stronghold. 'It was a big deal that he would consider a run for us in Westmount-Ville-Marie. A huge deal. Let's not forget that the LPC was not exactly popular in Quebec at the time,' Proulx told the Post. 'Westmount was the perfect riding for him. The riding needed a candidate of his caliber, perfectly bilingual and who cared about its needs and aspiration. And it worked,' he added. The party wanted him to succeed. Marc Roy, a longtime Liberal collaborator from the Chrétien and Martin era, was sent by the party to evaluate the star candidate. 'We needed to help him,' Roy told us. As an astronaut, Garneau gave hundreds of interviews without any problem. In politics, it was different. 'Let's just say he's come a long way, like any politician, but it was a learning curve for him,' said Roy who later went on to become his director of communications and chief of staff while he was minister of Transports. In 2008, Garneau won the election and spent 14 years on the Hill. Roy saw firsthand his boss's dedication and why he would never lose another election. For example, Garneau left Montreal on a Saturday morning by train to visit Marc-Garneau School in Trenton, Ont., and returned home the same day. He also met with the residents of Lac-Mégantic at a very emotional town hall meeting following the 2013 train derailment that destroyed the town. 'He always took the time, no matter the circumstances, to give that small amount of time to answer a question because he recognized the great privilege he had and the duty to give back and share it,' Roy said. Garneau, he said, was an eternal student. He never forgot his first loss in Vaudreuil—Soulanges. It was not a regret. It was a noble experience, he thought. 'No matter the outcome, (all those who run in elections) never lose in such circumstances. Democracy is always well served,' Garneau said in his farewell speech on the floor of the House of Commons. National Post atrepanier@ Marc Garneau, first Canadian in space and former federal minister, dies at 76 In Quebec, opposition mounts against a pipeline project that doesn't exist Get more deep-dive National Post political coverage and analysis in your inbox with the Political Hack newsletter, where Ottawa bureau chief Stuart Thomson and political analyst Tasha Kheiriddin get at what's really going on behind the scenes on Parliament Hill every Wednesday and Friday, exclusively for subscribers Sign up here. Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our newsletters here.
Yahoo
13 hours ago
- Yahoo
Canadians divided on whether U.S. is an 'ally' or 'enemy' country: Poll
OTTAWA — Faced with a trade war they didn't start, Canadians are divided on whether they see the United States as an "enemy" or an "ally," a new poll suggests. The Leger poll, which was conducted online and can't be assigned a margin of error, surveyed more than 1,500 people between May 30 and June 1. Almost a third of respondents said they view the U.S. as a "neutral country," while 27 per cent said they consider it an "ally" and 26 per cent see it as an "enemy country." Just over a third of men said they consider the U.S. an ally, compared with one in five women. Almost 30 per cent of women said they view the U.S. as an enemy, compared with 22 per cent of men. Older Canadians, those at least 55 years of age, were more likely to consider the U.S. an enemy than younger Canadians. Regionally Albertans were most likely to consider the U.S. an ally while Ontarians and British Columbians were most likely to see it as an enemy. The difference is starkest between political party supporters, with 44 per cent of Conservative supporters saying they view the U.S. as an ally, compared with 17 per cent of Liberal supporters and 12 per cent of NDP supporters said the same. Comparatively 16 per cent of Conservative supporters said they view the U.S. as an enemy country, while 36 per cent of Liberal supporters and 41 per cent of NDP supporters said the same. U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to double his levies on steel and aluminum to 50 per cent. He claimed the measure will protect the country's national security and domestic industries. Prime Minister Mark Carney has said his government will need to take "some time" to craft a response to the increased U.S. tariffs. The number of Canadians that report seeing the U.S. as an enemy country has dropped by six points since mid-March. At that time, 32 per cent of survey respondents told Leger they viewed the country as an enemy. The number of Canadians that view the U.S. as an ally also decreased by two percentage points since March, from 29 to 27 per cent, while the number that view it as a neutral country increased by six percentage points, from 24 to 30 per cent. Andrew Enns, Leger's executive vice-president for Central Canada, said that, broadly speaking, the patterns haven't changed much since the organization asked the question in February — when 27 per cent of respondents said they viewed the U.S. as an enemy and 30 per cent said they viewed it as an ally. Enns said the decline in the number of people saying the U.S. is an enemy likely reflects the overall sentiment on tariffs. "It's still obviously there and, you know, clearly now we're dealing with higher steel tariffs, but the commentary coming from the White House and the Trump administration seems to have dissipated a bit and that's probably helping just tone things down," he said. Enns said Canada also has a new prime minister with a mandate that might "take the edge off things." "I think that just keeps things more at a moderate level, and I think that reflects in people maybe feeling a little less threatened by the U.S.," Enns said. Enns said political and business leaders have also sent a consistent message that the U.S. remains an important trading partner. He said that may encourage Canadians to believe there's a way to "work things out." The polling industry's professional body, the Canadian Research Insights Council, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 5, 2025. Catherine Morrison, The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Way paved for oilfield service convoys to stop less often and drive more growth, government says in announcement
Oilfield service rigs will spend less time stopped beside the highway, thanks to what the Alberta government classifies as a new reduction in red tape. An agreement announced today preclears qualifying rigs and their convoys as safety compliant for transport. Until now, the processions of trucks and equipment were required to stop at every Alberta vehicle inspection station along their routes. 'This change is about common sense,' Devin Dreeshen, the minister of transportation and economic corridors, says in a news release posted today. 'It cuts red tape, keeps our rigs moving and lets the energy service sector focus on what they do best — driving growth, creating jobs and supporting responsible energy development across Alberta.' Under a rating system of the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the province leads Canada in red tape reduction with a score of 9.5 out of 10 in its 2025 report card. The province also topped the report card in 2024 with a 9.4 rating. The news release portrays the agreement as a model for potential alignment with Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Interprovincial trade and the harmonization of regulations have become frequent talking points across the country as Canada adjusts to a changing economic climate brought on by Donald Trump's tariffs. IBISWorld, a global market research firm, estimates the market size of oil and gas services in Alberta at an annualized $33.8 billion in revenue. The industry employs more than 50,000 people at more than 9,600 businesses. The memorandum of agreement is between Alberta Transportation and Corridors and a trade association representing companies affected by the change, the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors. Mark A. Scholz, the president and CEO of the association, says in the release that the government 'listens to our needs and demonstrates a truly action-oriented approach, strengthening Alberta's energy sector and supporting our hardworking crews every step of the way.' The agreement makes use of a private company's preclearance program that allows commercial vehicles with strong safety records to bypass inspection stations. Scholz called the move 'a great example of a government showing strong leadership by reducing red tape and creating efficiencies wherever possible.' Said Energy Minister Brian Jean in the release: 'Alberta's priority is to get our reserves out of the ground sooner, to drive royalties, taxes, jobs and wealth creation. This change will help us get there without endangering the safety of Albertans in responsible resource development.' Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
