Empty bottles and raised voices flooded Edmonton's McDougall United Church this week as more than one thousand people gathered to protest cuts to disability services.
About 1,200 people packed the downtown Edmonton church Thursday night for the Big Bottle Drive Rally, protesting proposed cuts to the province's Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) program.
Outside, piles of donated bottles spilled down the church's front steps — a reference to Premier Ed Stelmach's decision to reverse a proposed liquor tax. Inside, protestors from as far away as Drayton Valley shook the air and floor as they stomped their feet to shouts of "Stop the cuts!"
The province recently said that it would cut about $11 million from the PDD fund this year, about $2.8 million of which would come from the Edmonton area. The fund, worth about $600 million, helps about 9,200 adults with developmental disabilities live independently.
These cuts came without any warning and in the last part of the fiscal year, said Wendy McDonald, president of the Alberta Association for Community Living. "These cuts are already going to devastate families and individuals," she said. "If they're going to do this in the fourth quarter … what does that mean for the upcoming budget?"
Stelmach promised not to create new taxes McDonald told the crowd, and kept his word by rescinding the liquor tax. He also promised to protect the province's most vulnerable.
"We are asking that you keep your promise."
Cuts unneeded
These cuts would not have been necessary if the province had made better decisions, McDonald said, noting the PPD department returned about $10 million earlier in the year to the treasury. She rejected government claims that social agencies could cut back on administration to absorb the cuts.
"The government is asking [PPD clients] to put their lives on hold while [they] get their act together," she said.
The government had no problem finding $3 billion to support the oil and gas industry this year, said Bill Moore-Kilgannon of Public Interest Alberta, or $2 billion for carbon-capture and storage. It also could have had $180 million if it had implemented its recent liquor tax.
"We do not have a revenue problem in this province," he said. "We have a caring deficit in this province."
Regular folks at risk
Wayne Allchin, who works with disabled persons in St. Albert, railed against the cuts and has written to MLA Doug Horner about them. "It's not right," he said. "That's picking on the weakest link."
These funds let people with autism, Down's Syndrome and other disorders get education and jobs, he said. "I work with a guy who's learning to read and take college courses," he said, and another who's training to interpret sign language. "This is money that allows these guys to be part of this community."
St. Albert resident Anita Ferri says her son, Nicholas Steblyk, could also be affected. Steblyk cannot speak, and has diabetes, autism and epilepsy, but is currently living in a group home thanks to staff funded through PPD. "Our son needs support. Without it, because of his medical issues he could be very seriously at risk."
If the cuts go through, Ferri says she'll likely have to quit her job to take care of her son. "I don't think he really wants to spend his life hanging out with me." Many others won't have families to go home to if their funds are cut, she added.
She said she knew many other families that were in similar situations. "We're standing here not only for our son, but because we think it's morally wrong to not support people who can't take care of themselves through no fault of their own."
