With a looming election, Premier Rachel Notley’s plan to boost assistance payments for Albertans with disabilities who are unable to work might be seen by cynics as a ploy to garner favour with voters.
But the 60,000 residents – including many St. Albertans – who qualify for the province’s Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) program aren’t likely to worry about what’s behind the move. They’re just ecstatic their benefits will go up after a long wait. So are advocates who have been lobbying hard on their behalf, pushing the government to raise benefits for residents who have a permanent disability that prevents them from earning a living.
AISH recipients haven’t seen an increase in their monthly benefits in a staggering six years.
The premier said the NDP wanted to move quickly on the issue when it was elected in 2015, but “significant fiscal issues,” including the oil price drop, hampered its plans. Given the still-floundering state of our resource sector, that seems more like a convenient excuse than an acceptable explanation.
Under Bill 26, introduced Nov. 8 by Community and Social Services Minister Irfan Sabir, a single person on AISH would see monthly payments rise from $1,588 to $1,685. A single person with two children would receive $1,985 per month, up from the current $1,788.
The NDP bill will also ensure benefits are increased as the cost of living rises, making Alberta the fourth Canadian jurisdiction to index disability payments with inflation, following the lead of Manitoba, Quebec and the Yukon.
“For too long, Albertans with disabilities have struggled to pay rent and put food on the table,” Sabir said.
It’s about time the vulnerable in Alberta, struggling to make ends meet, didn’t have to cope with the erosion of sporadic benefit increases due to the rising prices of goods and services. However, some of the province's most dependent citizens should not be a legislative afterthought to this government, which waited until the last minute to make its move.
A group of seniors at the Tim Hortons on Hebert Road last week were quick to share their views with the Gazette.
“Great move. Long time coming. Anybody with disabilities who can’t work deserves to have more in their pockets,” said Henry Armstrong, 77, who lives in Akinsdale.
Sixty-eight-year-old Mike Palmer, a Forest Lawn resident, said, “It’s unbelievable that it’s taking that long to get a bump-up. Must have been really frustrating for anyone dealing with that program.”
The proposed legislation, if passed, will take effect on Jan. 1, 2019, which also happens to be the first day of an important year for the governing New Democrats.
They are inching toward a spring vote, facing a major challenge from Jason Kenney and the United Conservative Party.
Implementing much-needed reforms to a government program that has caused major frustration for thousands with disabilities would be a feather in the NDP’s cap heading into an election.
But whether it will be enough to counter the political fallout from the halt in the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion remains to be seen.
