Honourable Irfan Sabir Minister of Community and Social Services
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Honourable Irfan Sabir Minister of Community and Social Services Members of Executive Council Executive Branch 224 Legislature Building 10800 - 97 Avenue Edmonton, AB T5K 2B6 October 16, 2018 Dear Minister Sabir, As your government begins to layout its agenda for the coming months, including Budget 2019, we wish to highlight for you the opportunity to meaningfully address income support for Albertans who are vulnerable. As the Alberta economy begins to recover, the time is right to address the inadequate income assistance benefits received by low-income Albertans who are struggling to make ends meet. The Calgary Social Policy Collaborative (SPC) was initiated in 2016 to facilitate a unified voice for the human service sector in advocating for effective public policies that improve social conditions. The Collaborative is comprised of a diverse group of community agencies, as well as municipal and provincial government representatives. Members of the SPC have expertise and/or experience across a wide range of professional practice areas and many offer direct service to individuals and families living in poverty. We deeply appreciate your Government’s laudable efforts to alleviate poverty in our province. The establishment of the Alberta Child Benefit and your support for the Low-Income Transit pass program stand out all the more considering they were implemented during hard times for Alberta’s economy. However, we are deeply concerned about the extremely low social assistance rates in our province. The base annual income support benefit of the ‘single employable’ recipient was just under $8,000 in 2016, which works out to $627 per month and comes to as little as 37% of the poverty line. Those deemed to have ‘barriers to work’ receive a base benefit of just under $10,000, coming up to 48% of the poverty line. The benefits are not indexed to inflation, so they have been steadily eroding over the years. In fact, the base benefit amount itself has not been increased since 2012. Individuals who qualify for the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) fare better, but AISH recipients also have incomes below the poverty line (at 94% of it in 2016), and their benefit is not indexed to inflation either. We are aware that Alberta’s economic downturn has resulted in a caseload increase and higher costs of Income Support programs to the budget. However, as many academics, practitioners and activists have argued – including economists and public health professionals – inadequate social assistance leads to increased costs spread across other support systems. An increase to the levels of social assistance in Alberta is likely to lead to tangible outcomes, such as less food insecurity, lower incidence of homelessness and improved health outcomes. Research released in April 2018 by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy (attached) indicated that most new social assistance cases were filed for single individuals. This most recent economic downturn impacted singles with no children much more than in past downturns. There is no dignity in deciding whether you should eat that day or pay your rent, and a growing body of research is highlighting not only how the stress of making such decisions impedes people in accessing additional supports and services that could help them find a path out of poverty, but as well that there exists a substantial cost savings in the reduction of shelter beds stemming from increases in monthly assistance. According to the Income and Employment Supports Act, the purpose of income support is to ensure that those who are most vulnerable have access to an adequate income to meet their basic needs. With the federal government’s recent announcement establishing an official poverty line for different regions across Canada, and their decision to base the poverty line on an absolute measure of income poverty, we are closer to having consensus on the definition of ‘adequate.’ We respectfully request that the government raise income support benefits and index them to inflation, starting in the spring of 2019. We recognize that it may require a series of incremental steps over several years for the benefit amount to meet the official poverty line. Knowing this we ask that you take the first step now – a step that would take your government closer to fulfilling its commitment to making sure all low-income Albertans can meet their needs and participate in their communities. All Albertans deserve to live a life of dignity. We thank you for your time. If you would like to discuss this issue or forthcoming research in this area further, please do not hesitate to contact us. Sincerely, Western Rocky View Family and Community Resource Centre CC: Honourable Joe Ceci President of the Treasury Board, Minister of Finance .