A sea of neon T-shirts filled the square outside the Alberta Legislature for the third time on Friday in protest of provincial funding cuts to programming for persons with developmental disabilities (PDD).
The St. Albert based Lo-Se-Ca Foundation organized the rally, which has run for its third consecutive week. Despite government officials stating that the implementation deadline for roughly $42 million in cuts to funding for PDD community access programs is not firm, PDD clients, their caregivers and families, still want to be heard.
In a letter addressed to those affected, Human Services Minister Dave Hancock and Associate Minister for Persons with Disabilities Frank Oberle said, “While concerns have been raised about the July 1 implementation date, we want to ensure you that this is only the beginning of the process.”
People who work with vulnerable Albertans every day aren’t sold.
“We are not reassured,” said Kristi Hall-Busque, seniors day program manager at Lo-Se-Ca. “There’s no plan. They’re saying postponing, delaying, but that’s not stopping. They have said they have a plan in place and yet the plan hasn’t been presented to us. We’re in limbo.”
Busque worries about the future of her clients as well as her four-and-a-half-year-old son Ben. Ben was born with an underdeveloped cerebellum, the part of the brain that is important for motor function.
His rare condition results in him being completely dependent on others for the necessities of life.
“This is a direct precedent of what we can expect for his future,” added Busque. “If we’re cutting (funds) now it’s just showing us what we can expect when Ben is an adult.”
Like Busque, Dawn Dixon also fears for the safety and well-being of her disabled daughter Jodie. Although Jodie is 30 years old and lives independently through a residential housing program provided by the Skills Society, Dixon describes her daughter as an “adult child” that needs to be constantly supervised.
At a protest outside MLA Dave Hancock’s constituency office in Edmonton earlier Friday morning, Dixon told the small crowd that Jodie was raped in 2002 when she accepted a ride from a stranger while waiting for disability transit services.
The incident could have been prevented with better supervision, she said. She stated funding cuts, program eliminations and staff changes over the last 10 years have made it difficult for Jodie to receive the care she needs.
Service providers have also expressed their concerns about the quality of life vulnerable Albertans will have if the funding cuts go through.
A reduction of $42 million to community access programs – which help people with disabilities find employment, participate in volunteer opportunities, fitness, and leisure and life skills programs – ultimately translates to staff hours.
Lo-Se-Ca expects to cut around $600,000 or 12 per cent, from its operating budget over the next nine months. Other St. Albert service providers such as Transitions and the Skills Society expect to see similar setbacks.
Executive director of Lo-Se-Ca, Marie Renaud, said even though the province has said preliminary changes will only start in July, protesters will not give up the fight.
“Nothing has changed. A wholesale system change with a $42 million cut is not okay,” she said.
“We’re not stopping. At some point they’re going to listen.”
Lo-Se-Ca plans to hold rallies at the offices of local MLAs every Friday.
