Category: Blog: Miscellaneous

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Written by Sung Min Jo, ESPC Research Assistant

Introduction

At the beginning of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic—arguably the biggest public health crisis of our time—transformed the prospects of Alberta’s economic climate. In response to these historic events, the government responded with surplus funding to meet public health mandates including mobilizing efforts to purchase protective personal equipment, fund emergency isolation procedures and precautions, and ensure health care facilities were adequately supplied with equipment and staff to manage the uptake of COVID-19 related precautions, procedures, and patient admissions. In total, the Alberta government reportedly allocated $5.8 billion to the COVID-19 response in 2020. It is now 2021, and the provincial vaccination program has placed a considerable damper on the surge of COVID-19 cases, which proceeds the government’s economic recovery plan: aggressive cuts to social sectors including health care and public services in an effort to reduce the estimated $18.2 billion provincial deficit for 2021–2022.

However, the pandemic is not exclusively responsible for the economic turmoil that Alberta is currently in. Alberta has had deficits in the past: $12.2 billion in 2019–2020, $20.2 billion in 2020–2021, followed by our current estimated deficit of $18.2 billion (see Figure 1). What does this mean for Albertans? A growing deficit and debt mean that more tax dollars are spent on paying back interest. According to the 2019 Report and Recommendations by the Blue Ribbon Panel on Alberta’s Finances (also known as the MacKinnon Report), if present trends continue, the government will spend an estimated 5.9% of its budget on interest in 2022–2023, which can translate to the cost of more than 30,000 teachers or 35,000 long-term care beds. The 2021 Budget Highlights released by the City of Edmonton estimates that 10.1% of municipal tax dollars go straight into debt repayment. In response to these alarming numbers, the government’s agenda to cut costs is justified, but may be executed in an inefficient manner by cutting costs in all the wrong areas.

The Problem with Alberta’s Health Care System

Prior to the pandemic, the Blue Ribbon Panel, an independent group of finance experts, examined government spending and recommended areas for savings. Though controversial, the panel’s report produced 26 recommendations to reduce costs based on previous budget spending. The report thoroughly detailed health care spending in Alberta, as health care costs make up 42% of Alberta’s current budget. Alberta spends more money on health care costs per capita compared to other provinces, as displayed in Figure 2.

In Alberta, a standard hospital stay per person is estimated to average around $7,992, compared to the national average at $6,349. The McKinnon Report noted that longer and costlier hospital stays can be attributed to a shortage of alternative care options (i.e., primary care clinics) and increased barriers to discharge and support service resources. The panel recommended that the government “make greater use of alternative service delivery for day procedures and other services that do not have to be delivered in hospitals” (MacKinnon Report, p. 33).  In response, the government enforced the Alberta Health Care Insurance Amendment Act under Bill 30 in July 2020. A notable highlight of Bill 30 introduces private contractors in the public health care system, creating a two-tiered health care system. This would allow for-profit corporations to bill the government directly, which could drive up costs to health care. The Parkland Institute reports that although privatization could arguably gratify cost-cutting measures in short term settings, a two-tiered health care system would “set the stage for eroded pay and working conditions, infrastructure gaps, and inequitable access to health care” which increases long-term systemic issues in access and quality of health care (Privatization Pressures in Alberta Health Care, p. 35).

Short-Term Cuts: Not Sustainable to Fix the Problem

The cuts to Alberta’s health care and social sectors all share a common theme: short-term potential and a lack of commitment to the long-term prosperity for Albertans. Cutting corners on costs such as COVID-19 related public health measures, cutting nursing wages, and closing valuable social services (such as safe consumption sites) simply act more as short-term “Band-Aid” solutions that will send this province into further financial burden. In addition, cutting back on public health measures, such as reduced COVID-19 testing services and isolation requirements, will only burden the health care system in the long-run. Thus, investing in public health measures and investing in social services that are committed to vulnerable populations (i.e., those struggling with poverty, addictions, and/or homelessness) is of value in long-term cost saving measures. Cuts to essential social services that are often preventative in nature will worsen the health outcomes and well-being of vulnerable communities, which will translate into increased costs in primary acute care services.

Moving Forward

There is no question that Alberta’s current economic landscape requires significant spending cuts, concurrent alongside diversification in revenue sources to ensure future prosperity for Albertans. To see that Alberta’s fiscal concerns are addressed, the government must collaborate with public health experts to promote sustainable actions and that won’t jeopardize Alberta health care services.

About Sung Min (Amy) Jo

Sung Min (Amy) Jo is a nursing student at the University of Alberta. Following previous work experience with community non-profits, she is excited to pursue a career in public health pertaining to policy and program development in response to barriers experienced by vulnerable/marginalized communities. She is currently working with ESPC in a student placement through Canada Summer Jobs.

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Written by Luis Murcia, ESPC volunteer

A reality for most parents is the need for child care—whether it is care for an infant, pre-schooler, or an older child. In Canada, both the federal and provincial governments are responsible for establishing programs to create and sustain quality child care. Therefore, every province tackles this matter in a different way. This blog post will dive into the current status of child care in Alberta by summarising recent regulations the UCP government has introduced and reviewing recent funding efforts of the provincial government.

The Government of Alberta has made controversial decisions regarding child care regulations on several occasions in recent years. In early 2020, the government announced the termination of the Accreditation Funding Program effective April 1, 2020. This program ensured quality standards that child care providers had to pursue and provided wage top-ups for centres that met those standards. It was removed in favour of the provincial Child Care Licensing Act since, according to the Minister of Children’s Services Rebecca Schulz, “[the accreditation program] was a duplicate program over and above basic licensing.” Minister Schulz supported the removal of accreditation stating that “childcare workers can focus their time supporting kids and families, as opposed to filling out government paperwork.” However, with the removal of the accreditation program, Alberta was left with only provincial licensing (under the Child Care Licensing Act) which simply lays out minimum standards and not standards for higher quality child care and education.

More recently, in February, 2021, the new Early Learning and Child Care Act and Regulation came into effect. The new regulations have led to many changes. Some were minor, such as changing the name of the Act and clarifying certain terms. Other changes were much larger, such as strengthening licensed home-based child care options by allowing home-based child care providers to care for up to 6 children (not including their own) and expanding the use of outdoor spaces by allowing applications for exemptions to fencing requirements. Many of these changes are likely to have positive effects—especially to streamline some aspects of the licensing process and allowing greater flexibility for the types of care that can be provided. However, critics worry that some of the changes run the risk of creating loopholes that allow facilities to hide conflicts or disputes from the public through private appeals.

Alberta has also encountered some challenges with funding for early learning and child care (ELCC) centres. In 2017, the NDP provincial government pushed forward a pilot plan that comprised 22 child care centres offering $25-a-day child care to help many Albertan families economically. The subsidy essentially ensured that parents would not spend more than $25 per day for child care at these facilities. After its first year in operation, the government published the Evaluation of Early Learning and Child Care Centres to assess the effectiveness of the program, inform potential investment, and highlight the social impact and sustainability of ELCC centres. One of the recommendations from this report was that Children’s Services should “continue to support ELCC centres to implement the ELCC curriculum” due to the enormous positive impact the program had. In 2018 the program was expanded by the federal government, which added 100 more federally funded ELCC centres throughout the province. However, after an initial extension, the provincially funded program was discontinued by the (recently elected) UCP government on July 31, 2020, leaving many families scrambling for affordable child care in the midst of a global pandemic. The federally funded program for ELCC centres—arranged by the previous NDP government—came to an end on March 31, 2021, as the UCP worked out a new deal for child care subsidies.

A renewal of the Canada–Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement was signed in July 2021. The agreement provides “over $290 million in [federal] funding over 4 years” and is considered by the UCP as an integral step in “provincial and federal governments coming together to negotiate a longer-term strategy”. However, as of August 2021, the governments have not signed a deal for a new federal program, which aims to reduce the cost of child care by half before next year and further reduce child care fees to an average of $10-a-day by 2026. The NDP Opposition argued that for every day this agreement is delayed, Albertans lose about $800 a month in savings per child.

The UCP claims that they are victims of “dishonest, bad-faith negotiating” after the federal government approved a subsidy agreement with Quebec but rejected an Albertan proposal that had similar arrangements. Ottawa argues that Alberta is not willing to meet federal funding standards for ELCC centres, specifically regarding the requirement to support non-profit facilities. To compare: Quebec currently runs a program that provides affordable child care outside of the federal arrangement with fixed fees at $8.25/day, whereas Alberta has a large disparity between facilities, with for-profit centre fees exceeding not-for-profit fees by up to 85%. The federal government is requesting increased support of not-for-profit facilities, among other conditions, and has yet to come to an arrangement with the Alberta government. Regardless, now that the election writs have dropped, Albertans must wait until late September for any conclusion on the matter.

For more information on this topic:

• Changes to Alberta’s Child Care System. https://www.alberta.ca/changes-to-albertas-child-care-system.aspx
• Canada-Alberta Early Learning and Child Care Agreement, 2020–2021. https://www.canada.ca/en/early-learning-child-care-agreement/agreements-provinces-territories/alberta-2020.html
• Child Care Subsidy. https://www.alberta.ca/child-care-subsidy.aspx
• Canadian Survey on the Provision of Child Care Services, January 2021. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/210615/dq210615c-eng.htm?CMP=mstatcan
• Child Care Workers in Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2021001/article/00005-eng.htm#a9
• What is “the Quebec Model” of Early Learning and Child Care? https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2021/what-is-the-quebec-model-of-early-learning-and-child-care/
• Canada’s Child Care Sector Struggling Under Weight of COVID-19. https://www.policyalternatives.ca/newsroom/news-releases/canada%E2%80%99s-child-care-sector-struggling-under-weight-covid-19
• Alberta Lost One in Five Licensed Early Childhood Educators During 1st Year of Pandemic, Data Shows. https://aecea.ca/alberta-lost-one-five-licensed-early-childhood-educators-during-1st-year-pandemic-data-shows

Thank you to members of the Edmonton Council for Early Learning & Care for their contributions to the development of this post. Stay tuned for the next post in this series, focusing on child care in a municipal context.

About the volunteer

Luis Murcia’s goal and passion is the pursuit of knowledge for the betterment of society. In 2013, he came to the University of Alberta from El Salvador and graduated with a BA in psychology and a minor in philosophy. He is striving to develop into a person that can help others become their best self.

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Written by Nicole Sobus, ESPC Volunteer

Introduction

COVID-19 has impacted all Albertans in devastating and widely different ways, but people with disabilities have pre-existing, unique, and complex concerns that have been exacerbated by the crisis.

People with disabilities are more likely to experience poverty, isolation, unemployment, and child welfare intervention. Other factors such as ableism, discrimination, and human rights violations also contribute to the struggle. As the pandemic unfolded, other concerns developed, such as access to personal protective equipment and increased susceptibility to adverse outcomes and death from COVID-19. Response to these challenges has come in many forms from the federal and provincial governments as well as through social agencies, but the impact these services have on each individual varies, with many people voicing concerns that it is not enough. Inclusion Canada (formerly the Canadian Association for Community Living) and a coalition of 34 national disability organizations have put out a call to action to address concerns and create changes in order to protect the lives and well-being of people with disabilities—but challenges are still going unaddressed.

Challenges

People with disabilities have been more vulnerable to COVID-19 for numerous reasons. Some disabilities occur with overarching medical conditions that contribute to more severe outcomes and death. Individuals living in group homes or other facilities have been at greater risk of coming into contact with COVID-19. As well, individuals who are unable to perform hygienic practices, such as hand-washing, are more susceptible to catching the virus. There have also been concerns about inadequate access to personal protective equipment, particularly in group homes and private residences.

According to children’s rights advocates, “The COVID-19 pandemic has created a catastrophic crisis for children and youth with disabilities and their families.” One of the major implications has been an increase in child welfare cases in which parents cannot meet the needs of their children. Families are scared to reach out for help due to stigma and as a result go without accessing supports.

Financial challenges for people with disabilities are widespread across the province due to a lack of employment opportunities and low wages. Yet the government of Alberta has cut funding to income support programs geared towards people who have disabilities, who do not qualify for Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH), and who cannot work. The government cited COVID-19 as the reason for the cuts. What’s more, people with disabilities did not qualify for the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), which would have increased their monthly living allowance from $1,685 to $2,000. CERB was considered an adequate monthly living amount for those experiencing employment loss or interruption, and critics argue it should be a minimum living wage for people with disabilities.

Access to services inside and outside of the home have changed or stopped completely, sometimes leaving people isolated.  This has been devastating for people who rely on others outside of their home for daily living supports and social interaction. Access to hospital care and appointments have also been impacted, with cases of people denied care or unable to attend appointments without a caregiver or support person.

Response and Supports

Government response to COVID-19 and its impact on people with disabilities has been less than adequate, but some steps have been taken to support people with disabilities, their families, and their caregivers. The federal government developed protocols such as infection prevention and control measures, as well as guidelines for personal protective equipment use for those supporting disabled individuals. There was also a one-time federal disability grant, but recipients were only eligible if they also qualified for the Disability Tax Credit. The Alberta government compiled information for caregivers on how to care for people with disabilities and added people with certain disabilities to Phase 2B of the vaccine rollout. However, neither provincial nor federal governments have set forth any specific enforcement measures to hold caregivers accountable in providing COVID-19 care and ensuring people have access to the daily living services they need. Most supports for individuals are provided by non-profit agencies. Edmonton has a large number of organizations serving those with disabilities, but access to services during COVID-19 has been inconsistent between agencies, and qualification requirements differ.

The Bigger Picture

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted systemic problems that have impacted disabled individuals for generations. The rights of individuals with disabilities are consistently ignored, individuals experience a disproportionate amount of hardship compared to those without disabilities, and there is very little monitoring or enforcement to protect vulnerable people. Though supports are available, their impact is limited due to qualification barriers, challenges to apply, and service delivery. The spotlight on employment during the pandemic has also been revealing due to work from home mandates. This shows that there is flexibility in work environments and process. However, people with disabilities are often refused such accommodations despite a duty to accommodate outlined in the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

The call to action by Inclusion Canada upholds the human rights of people with disabilities, which is necessary for the changes that are required to end inequities between abled and disabled people. COVID-19 has opened people’s minds to see that there are alternative ways to function in a society where more people are now experiencing illness and associated hardships. Perhaps this crisis could be a catalyst for these changes if our systemic status-quo is challenged enough? Unfortunately, the future for people with disabilities remains uncertain.

About the Volunteer

Nicole Sobus is a mom of two courageous, independent kiddos and an advocate for neurodiversity awareness and disability rights. Her vision is to create barrier-free schools, work environments, and public spaces for marginalized individuals.  As a neurodiverse individual, Nicole is compassionate yet fierce, striving for equity and understanding along her journey.  

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