Disability rights groups in Alberta criticize province’s move on supports

Disability rights groups in Alberta and some of the people they help say they feel targeted by the provincial government.

Three advocacy groups—the Southern Alberta Individualized Planning Association in Lethbridge, the Self Advocacy Federation in Edmonton and the Disability Action Hall in Calgary—had their funding contracts cancelled this month.

The non-profits support Albertans with intellectual and physical disabilities by connecting them with peers and helping them develop skills to advocate for themselves.

The political decision to back out of the support contracts was done with a funding retool in mind, but those affected say the entire scenario is misguided.

“(Our community group) is such a small investment to really give a voice to a group that sometimes struggles to have a voice in this busy world where there is a lot of competing interest,” Calgary’s Ryan Geake said.

“We appreciate government has difficult financial decisions, but this voice is critical.”

Collectively, Geake estimates the three organizations receive just under $425,000 per year in funding.

Impactful changes

Those who utilize Calgary’s Disability Action Hall say they’re heartbroken.

“It feels like you are taking away my voice and my happy life because you choose to eliminate something so important for adults with disabilities,” Amber Cutter wrote.

“There are many disabled individuals who will not know what to do with their lives if these services are taken away, and they will be scared. This decision will have a horrible impact on them. I urge (the province) to reconsider what (it is) doing.”

“We heard about it last week and cried our hearts out (and) got a little ticked off,” Hilary Chapple added.

“I just can’t believe (the province) targets people with disabilities, mental and physical.”

Chapple says the cancellation reminds her of other recent provincial funding change proposals.

The UCP government was previously criticized for scrapping the AISH indexing program and cutting its share of funding for low-income transit passes in Calgary and Edmonton.

Both instances saw a backpedal after public outcry.

More recent proposals will see changes to the way funding reaches homeless organizations and legal aid—both scenarios that have received negative feedback from those on the ground.

The province says it is currently looking at its options to help those in need in the latter instance.

Provincial response

The province insists the contract cancellation will, in fact, make service enrolment smoother.

“Alberta’s government is ensuring that resources are allocated directly to connecting individuals and families to supports and services as quickly as possible. The contracts being concluded do not provide front-line services to persons with disabilities, and no front-line services are affected by this decision,” it said.

That’s a point those at the hall dispute.

They acknowledge there’s a long waitlist for disability services across Alberta, but also wonder how shutting a community hub will help.

“I think (the disabled community) will lose its voice; I think many will get depressed and kind of lose so much that they gained,” Geake said.

“And it’s the voice that speaks to those other things: it can say maybe AISH isn’t enough, and we could look at increases; affordable housing is really hard to find, and accessible transportation continues to be an issue.

“Without those voices, it’s really hard for people to know, because most of us aren’t living with those experiences.”