When Edna Hutchings’ mom hurt her shoulder five weeks ago, she was provided with home care for the length of her recovery.
But she found the services available in Gibbons, where her 77-year-old mother resides, so “appalling” it left Hutchings to fill the gaps.
“They’ll only bathe her once a week. They’ll help her get dressed in the morning, but they weren’t doing it at night, so someone had to be there. She broke her right shoulder so she’s in a sling and she’s right handed,” said Hutchings, a nurse in the rheumatology research department at the University of Alberta.
Hutchings believes that a lack of adequate home care is putting an unnecessary burden on the health-care system and on Albertan families who struggle to care for their loved ones while balancing work and other responsibilities.
“If you can’t take a shower on your own, if you can’t tie your shoes by yourself, if you can’t get your shirt up over your arm and you can’t put yourself to bed at night without someone helping you, then you’re in a facility of some sorts, which is a huge drain on our resources for no good reason,” she said.
Better access to home care was just one of the many issues brought up by constituents in the Spruce Grove-St. Albert riding during a budget consultation meeting hosted by MLA Trevor Horne at the Pioneer Centre in Spruce Grove on Thursday Sept. 10.
The evening was the MLA’s first constituency event since being elected in May and was an occasion for residents to share their priorities and concerns with the provincial government as it prepares to release a budget in late October.
Health care once again dominated the conversation. Constituents criticized the sector for being “top-heavy,” calling for less “suits” in management positions and more “uniformed personnel” on the front lines.
Some of the other issues identified were better public transit, better regional planning on transit projects, high-speed rail, lower tuition rates for post-secondary institutions, and smaller class sizes within elementary and secondary schools.
Three issues that came up as priorities within the constituency were the St. Albert LRT extension and the completion of Ray Gibbon Drive and business attraction to the riding.
Participants were also asked to come up with ideas for economic diversification, revenue generation and job creation. Some of the suggestions involved investing in oil refineries within the province, as well as in more clean energy and geothermal initiatives. Others called for more small business incentives and the implementation of a provincial sales tax.
Hutchings pointed out that if the province increased personal income taxes too much she would simply cut her hours and expects many would do the same.
“I’m a single person, I can’t income split. The more hours I work, the more taxes they take,” she said. “I know at one point I worked a 0.8 and I brought home the same amount of money as I did when I worked full-time, because of taxes. I will do that. Why not have more time at home?”
The NDP government came under scrutiny this weekend over its delay in releasing a provincial budget. Alberta’s last budget was passed in spring 2014 under then-premier Alison Redford.
Participants of the Stand Up for Alberta rally held on the steps of the Alberta Legislature on Sunday afternoon called for a budget within 30 days. The protest was organized to bring awareness of the effects the economic downturn and policies like the minimum wage hike and higher corporate taxes have had on small business and the oil industry.
