Opposition leader raps social services crisis

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Leader of the Official Opposition

The response of the minister of Social Services and the government to the crisis in social assistance is severely inadequate. It will make this holiday season and the New Year one of the grimmest in recent history for next six per cent of Alberta's population.

While the minister has asked 64,000 families to wait for a special warrant to accommodate their growing numbers, these people are being forced to rely on the goodwill of Albertans to provide services that are unquestionably the responsibility of the Social Services Department.

The statistics speak for themselves. The ranks of those receiving asocial allowance are swelling at the rate of 600 families each month. More and more Albertans are faced with social allowance and shelter rates that have them short every month and unable to purchase the necessary food to feed their families. More Albertans are receiving social allowance for the first time. They are facing social workers who can't meet their needs due to staggering case loads.

In January two years (January 1985) rates for social allowance haven't increased. This, despite the fact that we have experienced inflation in each year. The last time the government adjusted shelter allowance rates was in 1983, when it actually cut the maximum payment by eliminating utility rates resulting in a reduction of from 10-25%.

Social assistance recipients are faced with a situation where their rent and utility costs on average are 10 - 20% above the shelter ceiling. Combined clothing, household and personal allowances are $11 per week per person for a family of four - today's typical social assistance family. After paying rent and utilities, buying children's clothing and household good there are substantial cuts into a food budget that is already inadequate.

Is it any wonder that one of the fastest growing industries in Alberta is the food banks?

Albertans have always been great supporters of relief agencies, especially at Christmas. They have made the holiday season brighter for thousands. I urge you to encourage the government to increase social allowance rates to match inflation and reintroduce the government to increase social allowance rates to match inflation and reintroduce utilities to the allowance for shelter. That, along with the minister's just announced increase in the number of caseworkers to meet the overwhelming demand are the minimum requirements for a caring society.