Lawyer blasts rollout of AISH changes in omnibus bill

By ZOE MASON on November 29, 2025.

A Calgary-based lawyer is calling on the government to pause the progress of Bill 12, which includes a sweeping set of changes to the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program.

Gordon VanderLeek is the founder and managing lawyer at VanderLeek Law, a wills and estates law firm with a disability advocacy division. He has procedural concerns about the inclusion of the AISH changes in an omnibus bill.

“Other changes to AISH have been part of omnibus bills, which I think makes it difficult to focus attention on it. I think it’s stifling debate if you’re looking at the position of the opposition party, because now they would have to defeat the whole bill for this specific provision,” said VanderLeek.

He also sees it as indication of the government’s priorities.

“From my perspective, I think it’s telling that they put it in a bill that is entitled ‘Financial Statutes Amendment Act.’ It tells me that really the concern here is about finances. It’s not about supporting disabled Albertans or reforming the AISH system.”

Disability advocate Zachary Weeks also objects to the inclusion of AISH changes in Bill 12.

“I find it interesting how it’s buried in a financial statutes act that most people would expect to be a routine finance bill, but instead it sneakily introduced one of the largest restructurings of their disability income supports in decades,” he said.

VanderLeek says he was surprised to see the legislation does not include any more details regarding criteria that will distinguish Albertans who will be eligible to return to AISH from those who will remain on the newly formed Alberta Disability Assistance Program.

“When you look at the definition section in the bill, it simply references the regulations, which we don’t have yet. So it did surprise me that there wouldn’t have been in the bill a more precise definition of those standards. From a legal perspective, these tests are going to be important in terms of determining who’s going to be eligible for what program, or any supports whatsoever.”

VanderLeek is also concerned about the information contained in the bill about appeals.

While it was already clear there would be no appeal process for current AISH recipients who will automatically be moved to ADAP after the legislation is implemented in July 2026, the bill indicates the ability to appeal several other decisions will be dictated by regulation.

“I’m worried that they are also going to retain for themselves the ability to make a decision which is without scrutiny. As a lawyer, that is very concerning, because there should always be the right to appeal a wrong decision, or for people to feel they had a fair and fulsome hearing. When there are no appeal options, then that’s very disconcerting.”

VanderLeek says this power could be exercised to determine whether an appeal is available for decisions made by AISH case workers regarding things like medical eligibility and eligibility based on assets and income.

“It is leaving so much unknown to be determined by regulation. There’s over 90 references to regulation in the bill, meaning that the essential rules, definitions, governing eligibility, benefits, those are all going to be set later by cabinet, and so they’re not going to be debated by MLAs,” agreed Philip Ney, director of public engagement and community affairs at Inclusion Alberta.

VanderLeek feels items like these should be subject to debate, but since they are not outlined in the act, there is no opportunity to discuss them in the legislature.

While VanderLeek says it’s not uncommon for a government to introduce an act with details to follow, he expected more details to be offered in this case.

“After the announcement in February, by introducing it in August and having the town halls – people have been worried about this for a long time and they’re very anxious about it,” he said. “The absence of details and assurances of what the program will be is not putting the government in a positive light. People are assuming the worst in terms of the government’s intention and feeling anxious about the supports that they can rely on moving forward.”

Critics have also been quick to object to the elimination of mandated annual adjustments for inflation, which are removed by the changes made in Bill 12.

“It creates a lot of fear and uncertainty for people who rely on AISH, because without those increases, the value of their benefits is going to erode over time and their poverty will deepen,” said Ney.

An open letter signed by 19 former leaders of Alberta’s disability programs, including many former members of the Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities across several provincial administrations, shares VanderLeek’s concerns.

The letter describes the change as “undo(ing) decades of progress in supporting Albertans with disabilities” and requests the government cancel ADAP and preserve AISH.

VanderLeek is also calling on the government to pause on Bill 12, which passed second reading Thursday night.

“Let’s encourage the government to stop what they’re doing, and let’s get a better version of age through consultation and involvement of the disability community in a meaningful way.”

Minister of Assisted Living and Social Services Jason Nixon did not respond to a request for comment.