AUPE members invited to protest PDD cuts at ‘bottle drive’ tonight
EDMONTON – AUPE members are invited to join other concerned Albertans at a “bottle drive” rally tonight to protest the provincial government’s unnecessary cuts to programs and services for adults with developmental disabilities.
Bring your signs, noisemakers – and bottles, complete with messages inside for Ed Stelmach and the provincial government – to help raise $2.8 million for some of the province’s most vulnerable citizens.
The event will be hosted by people with disabilities and their families, community organizations and other Albertans who care.
The event runs from 7 to 8 p.m. at the McDougall United Church, 10025 – 101 St., Edmonton.
Organizers of the protest note that Premier Ed Stelmach made the decision last July to cut $180 million in potential revenue from increased liquor taxes (which worked out to a 10 cent savings on a bottle of beer), “so we think it is appropriate to have a bottle drive to make up the funds the government has announced they are cutting immediately from programs for adults with developmental disabilities.”
Community agencies in Edmonton have received letters saying the Edmonton Region of Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) plans to give back $2.8 million dollars to the provincial government, so agencies must immediately revise their contracts and cut their budgets.
Organizations and individuals are asked to join the “Albertans Who Care” campaign to call upon the Alberta government to invest in human services, rather than cutting programs and supports for some of our most vulnerable citizens.