By Terry Inigo-Jones, Communications Staff
We’ve seen harsh cuts from Alberta governments before, but depriving cancer kids of popsicles earlier this month was a new low.
“The level of cruelty of this government is astounding,” says Sandra Azocar, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
“Who comes up with the idea that a child getting chemotherapy should be told they can’t have a popsicle or a juice box?”
Announced on April 1, the new policy from Alberta Health Services (AHS) meant that almost all outpatients, including kids being treated for cancer and patients stuck in hospital ER corridors, would be denied comfort treats and meals.
“The level of cruelty of this government is astounding. Who comes up with the idea that a child getting chemotherapy should be told they can’t have a popsicle or a juice box?”
Public shaming forced the government to reverse the policy. Andre Tremblay, the man appointed by the government to run AHS, claimed that denial of snacks was due to a misunderstanding of the new policy. However, the intent of the original memo was clear.
This isn’t the only example of a complete lack of compassion. The list of recent attacks on Alberta’s most vulnerable people is long.
On March 31, Assistant Deputy Minister David Wheeler wrote to families to tell them he was axing the Child and Youth Support Program (CYSP).
The program currently helps about 1,000 children, providing a little financial support to extended families who take over guardianship to raise them in safety, away from the risk of family violence and sexual violence.
“Imagine being the family making huge sacrifices to help provide a stable home for an at-risk kid and you get this letter,” says Azocar. “Do you tell the children they can’t stay now because you can’t afford it?”
Cutting the program will cost more in the long run. Some extended families will no longer be able to afford to care for these children. They may end up back in the government system as wards of the province, which is far more costly and has negative impacts on the children.
Alberta seems to have money for all kinds of pet projects, just not for people in need.
“Using taxpayer money to send our premier to a fundraiser for an extremist right-wing group in the U.S. that downplayed the harms of slavery, among other things? Why not?” says Azocar.
“Got some Turkish Tylenol that can’t be used in Canada? No problem. Here’s $70 million.
“Can’t figure out what to do with expired and unused Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and that unused Turkish medicine? Throw another $5 million at that,” she adds.
Not satisfied with targeting at-risk and sick children, the government has also turned its cost-cutting attention towards Albertans with disabilities.
There are 12,000 families with severely disabled family members on a waiting list to have their applications for support processed. Some have been waiting for more than two years.
“They are going to have to keep waiting, because the government decided it didn’t need to process their applications and cut dozens of jobs in the Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) and Persons with Developmental Disabilities (PDD) programs,” says Azocar.
“It’s time for this province to get its priorities straight. We have a responsibility to care for the most vulnerable.”
At the same time, the government cut funding to four disability advocacy groups in the middle of their contracts, a decision that some experts said would be “a devastating blow to people with disabilities in our communities.”
“This is not what Albertans want or need,” says Azocar. “It’s time for this province to get its priorities straight. We have a responsibility to care for the most vulnerable. We need to invest in important public services. That includes tackling a global shortage of workers by improving recruitment and retention of staff.”