The plight of children under the care of the Government of Alberta is now front page news. It is part of the continuing saga of the social infrastructure deficit in the province that is impacting children, seniors, and those with developmental disabilities, amongst others.
We created an obvious capital and environmental infrastructure deficit in Alberta that is now being addressed with new capital investments and an emerging awareness about reclamation, wetlands, climate change and biodiversity issues, to name a few.
We caused these deficits by paying off the debt and deficit too fast. We applied every loose nickel to debt and deficit and ignored the growth demands of the booming economy as well as the maintenance issues of the as-built infrastructure facilities. We deferred the need to address the environmental implications of our overheated, expanding and accelerating economy as well.
The social infrastructure deficit was caused by the same rush to repayment but it was hidden because those who are harmed by it are the most vulnerable in our society and their over-extended advocates. It was too easy to ignore and the powers that be did!
The last two years has seen more attention being paid to the damage caused to vulnerable Albertans by this neglect – or at least the lack of timely, appropriate and required attention by the powers that be. Recruitment of staff into the Alberta social services sector has been a major challenge because wages, benefits and working conditions are so bad that people rationally take other jobs.
Full disclosure, I am working with the social service sector in the area of supports for Albertans with developmental disabilities. That is a bias but it also provides me with knowledge and facts about the plight of these people and those who support them. I know what I am talking about.
The social infrastructure deficit has been ignored and deferred for far too long. People are being unnecessarily and irreparably harmed as a result. Premier Stelmach needs to get personally engaged in responding to the social infrastructure deficit and investigate what happened and what is happening and then get it fixed.
The first place to start is to start paying the staff who are working in the not-for-profit community based social services sector the same as the unionized provincial employees are paid for doing the same work. Stabilizing the workforce in the sector then enabling the recruitment ands retention of trained staff is foundational to solving the problems of the social infrastructure deficit.
If the social infrastructure deficit is not fixed than Premier Stelmach better stop telling people that Alberta is a “great place to live, work, invest and raise a family.” It is not true for too many Albertans who are at-risk and vulnerable.
I would be happy if Stelmach stopped giving the bitumen away and processed it here in Alberta.
ReplyDeleteThe PC Party has a lot of deficits it needs to fix.
Stelmach's government is turning into a radicly neoconservative machine.
ReplyDeleteAnon #1: I take it you're a big Harper fan and his proposed restrictions on bitumen exports. Did Parkland and others give him any support over that?
ReplyDeleteTo Anon #2, do you have any idea what a real neo-con is and how this would compare to recent Alberta spending? David Frum would not think they are very radicle.
Ken do you agree with calling for the Minister's head over this?
I'm concerned with the suppression of the annual reports; isn't that illegal? Wouldn't calling out the DM be more appropriate?
No I don't agree with calling for the Minister's head over this. I would rather someone fix the problem first-then fix the blame.
ReplyDeleteThe timing of the release of 3 years of Annual Reports on the opening of the Legislature and on an election day is suspicious but that is a side-bar issue.
We need the political will to be expressed forcefully that Alberta will deal with the needs of vulnerable citizens seriously. Our past commitment and focus on the issues has ranged from mediocre to shameful.
With the slowdown of the economy in Alberta we will be in positive and reasonable gowth. That invites the opportunity to look beyond the issues of pace and size of growth into the reasons for growth.
I think the economy is there to serve the society not the other way around. It is time to rteturn to some sanity and sensibility about how we go forward now.
I think a paradigm shift is in order here. One that stops giving to the 'greedy', and instead helps the most 'needy' in our society.
ReplyDeleteObama is talking this language of shifting the tax burden back onto the rich in order to provide relief to the most vulnerable in our society.
In this regard, TheChronicleHerald.ca 'Income gap widens in Canada' clearly shows that the gap in recent years has widened between the haves and have-nots in Canada. This study goes on to say that 'Canada's well-to-do enjoyed a more substantial income than their counterparts in other developed countries.'
In my opinion, it is a tragedy and a shame that in recent years our province and federal government enjoyed record surplus' with little to nothing trickling down to the most needy in our society. Now, with deficits looming on the horizon, can we realistically expect them to do anything meaningful, now that the cupboards will soon be bare, without taking the measures I have advocated above? It seems to me to be the only practical solution left to us. Since trickle done economics has proven to not only be a failure, but a lie as well.