The Alberta government is encouraging those on the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped (AISH) to get a job. A government press release states that work will help them “connect with the community, develop new friendships and increase their self-confidence.” Looking a little beneath the surface, though, this feel-good policy is just a bunch of sweet nothings and actually quite sinister.
In Alberta, there are about 36,000 people receiving AISH from the Alberta government. Only those who are deemed to have a permanent disability that severely limits their ability to earn a living can receive AISH. Though Alberta is one of the richest places on earth, AISH pays the most vulnerable people in our society only $1,088 per month, leaving them 29 per cent below the poverty line, as determined by the low income cut-off after-tax rate.
After the Conservatives gave themselves and opposition MLAs pay raises of 30 per cent, they seemed to be in a pretty giving mood. AISH recipients could already earn $400 per month and not be taxed. On July 21, the government proudly announced that only 50 per cent of any money earned over $400, and up to a limit of $1,500 per month, would be taxed.
In that same press release, Ed Stelmach is quoted as saying “Many AISH clients want to work to the extent that they are able, and this change helps support that drive.” The problem is that only 19 per cent of those on AISH have a part-time job. One wonders how many of these people actually earn or can earn more than $400 a month. Probably not many. They are on AISH for a reason: their income-earning ability is severely limited. If one could earn $1,500 a month, they wouldn’t be on AISH. The additional income exemption for the remaining 81 per cent on AISH who do not work is meaningless, because they don’t work. Clearly, this policy is public relations spin that won’t cost the government much, and the public gets the impression that the government is bending over backwards to help AISH recipients.
The government’s press release further states that “more than 30 pilot projects are underway across the province to connect clients seeking work with employers filling job vacancies.” You almost get the impression that the worker shortage is due to AISH recipients not working. One gets the sense that if the government provides just enough incentives it can encourage significantly more people on AISH to work.
What the Alberta government is really saying is that people on AISH should get off their butts and start working like the rest of us. This policy is really just fuelling the stereotype of capable people sitting at home watching TV, collecting paycheques and living the good life, while the rest of us poor working chumps bust our humps for an honest day’s pay. The insinuation is that those on AISH can work, but choose not to.
While reading the new policy announcement, I got flashbacks of Ralph Klein’s rants about creeps and bums mooching off hard-working Alberta taxpayers. That night, I woke up in a sweat remembering that Stelmach was a Conservative MLA during the Klein years. Stelmach is not brash like Klein was. He is more of the wrap-it-up-in-a-pretty-package kind of New Age Alberta Conservative. He is a nice guy, his PR people tell us. Though subtle, his government’s AISH income exemption policy is just good old-fashioned Conservative poor-bashing.
After applause for the policy died down, people on AISH are still mired in poverty. A man on AISH who was born blind with physical and mental health problems asked me why he has to continue to live in poverty. I would like to ask the government whether it was his fault that he was born this way. Is he not working enough hours? When I realize that I am living in a province with a predicted surplus this year of $10 billion, it does seem crazy. Actually, it seems criminal.
There is hope, though. An energetic group of AISH recipients meets every week at the Disability Action Hall in Calgary. It is an opportunity to be with friends, to discuss what it is like living in poverty and what people can do about it. The group has been meeting MLAs throughout the province to advocate that AISH rates be raised to at least the poverty line. For them to be successful, more citizens need to call their MLAs to support this noble effort.
The root of the problem for people on AISH is not income exemption, but lack of income. Therefore, the time has come for the Alberta government to lift all AISH recipients out of poverty by paying them significantly more money. It is time that the Conservatives release their inner red Tories. For the sake of people on AISH, just let it out.
David Wilson is an activist working for a more equitable and sustainable Calgary and has worked in the not-for-profit sector.
