Opinion: Governments should lead by example

By Medicine Hat News Opinion on January 31, 2020.

gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade

Change is seldom pleasant but perhaps people are getting ticked off because of the implementation by government.

Taking something away from people is never a good place to start.

The UCP government decided to make changes to the seniors Blue Cross coverage by removing coverage for dependants of seniors. The change would save $36.5 million a year.

To be fair, the government ensured that those dependants could “buy” their own coverage for about $63.50 a month with no waiting period. For many people that monthly fee may not be onerous but for some it could be.

Perhaps the government could have grandfathered this in. They’d still have achieved the savings but it would have taken a little longer. Dependants of seniors currently registered could have been covered but no new ones registered. Slowly the dependants become seniors themselves.

This week’s announcement that people on AISH will be getting their monthly payment on the first day of the month, rather than a few days earlier, may not seem like a huge change to those affected but it has created a storm.

Paying rent on time is one of the biggest concerns. The only way they would still be able to pay rent on the first of the month would be to enrol in direct deposit. Many people think that would be a no-brainer but the high cost of bank fees may be one of the obstacles.

Nobody living on AISH has a reserve of funds to draw on so that rent could be paid in March before their cheque arrives and then manage for the future without depending on a cheque at the beginning of the month.

Perhaps the real storm was created when the government announced in its fall budget that it was de-indexing AISH payments. That hit some of the most vulnerable people really hard. Perhaps they are now feeling targeted and any announcement has them in a panic before all the implications are even understood.

It would help if Albertans could see government leading by example.

There was a time when one deputy minster and one assistant deputy minister was enough for a ministry. That is no longer the case and the salaries are high. We have not heard of staff at that level, instead of union workers, being reduced or taking wage reductions.

You can see then why those on AISH are feeling picked on.

These examples are not unique to the UCP government.

A couple of examples from the NDP come to mind. Remember when they announced they were no longer going to send renewal notices for vehicle licences and drivers licences because of the mailing costs?

A number of people ended up with fines because they’d forgotten. The NDP could have asked people to sign up for email notification. Not everyone would have been willing or able to do that but perhaps half would have. That would have chopped the mailing costs in half and Albertans would not have been ticked off.

There was also the environment tax that the NDP made no mention of in the election that swept them into power. That tax was introduced without a mandate and should have been part of their election platform.

Governments often have difficult and unpopular decisions to make. They could be made more palatable and less offensive and they should also be leading by example.

(Gillian Slade is a News reporter. To comment on this and other editorials, go to https://www.medicinehatnews.com/opinions, email her at gslade@medicinehatnews.com or call her at 403-528-8635.)

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