Recession is blamed on first budget cuts aimed at disabled Albertans with developmental disabilities

Alberta Minister Mary Anne Jablonski

CBC Calgary is reporting a CP story that Mary Anne Jablonski, minister of seniors and community supports, plans to cut $12 million from the budget for NGOs.

While the Minister is calling on six groups who support the developmentally disabled to cut overheads, cuts to services are expected to happen.

“People who are depending on these supports are very important to us,” Jablonski said Wednesday. “I am asking for savings that will least impact individuals.”

These assurances didn’t ring true for those on the front line of support for Albertans living with disabilities. It reminds us of Dilbert’s boss who assured them people were the most important asset of the company. Of course, they were not.

“Wendy McDonald, president of the association, said Premier Ed Stelmach’s government is going after the most vulnerable people in Alberta and their families.”

“McDonald noted that just last month Stelmach promised to look after such groups. She called on the government to reconsider.”

Paul Hinman of the Wild Rose Party, considered more conservative than the Conservatives didn’t agree with the cuts to the disabled. “They have chosen to cut front-line services for people with developmental disabilities — the most vulnerable people possible. For the Tories to make their first concrete cuts here is repulsive and disgraceful.”

“On behalf of the almost 10,000 individuals with developmental disabilities and their families whose lives are being jeopardized, we call upon the premier to keep his word,” McDonald said in a statement. “We should be celebrating the holidays and enjoying family rather than living in fear.” CBC

It’s hard to believe the government needs to cut these services; however, people with disabilities are vulnerable and often the first to feel cuts when budgets are cut.