As Wildrose Alliance party leader, Danielle Smith toured across southeast Alberta last week to express harsh words for the Conservative Party and how she would correct the errors made by Stelmach and company, the Alberta government was making announcements that it would be cutting payments made to welfare recipients.
On Friday, the Stelmach government announced a $12.5 million reduction in payments made to welfare recipients who are trying to upgrade their education and get back into the workforce. Once again, it is the weakest and most vulnerable citizens of the province who are getting kicked the hardest.
For people who are struggling through tough times and trying to better themselves, to make themselves more marketable, Ed Stelmach's government has decided that the government would rather continue doling out the dole, rather than encouraging betterment of its people and having a more trained workforce as a result.
As the Alberta government attempts to reduce its $4.7 billion deficit, Stelmach also announced the cuts would likely not be the last. Expect more to come.
Non-profit organizations that serve the mentally ill, such as the Schizophrenia Society, have already been on the receiving end of the cuts when the government previously announced changes to how it would hand out grant dollars. Kick 'em when they're down is a term that resonates repeatedly with this government.
For the welfare recipients who are enthusiastic about making a better life for themselves and their families, the announcement surely comes as welcomely as a kick in the teeth. It makes one wonder how a person down and out on his luck is supposed to get back on his feet if his own government turns their back on them.
Soup kitchens and food banks across the province are scrounging to meet the demand of their clients, which have increased significantly over the past year and a half. Couple that with a decrease in donations because individuals and businesses are also pinching their pennies and these services are struggling to provide the basic right of all Albertans...the right to eat.
Why is he doing this? He said it is to reduce the deficit, but why the most vulnerable? Because they are not able to contribute through taxes back to province. I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine.
Recently, the provincial government gave the energy energy a $750-million break on royalties to get the industry back on its feet. Fine. Getting the oil patch workers back on the job is important too. This industry pays back to province handsomely, so Stelmach had no problem reneging on his on previous errors regarding royalties. But, help those who need it most seems to be something Stelmach and his cohorts have no interest in.
While Stelmach continues hurting the people of this province, he is providing more fuel than needed for Danielle Smith as she picks up the political torch and runs with it.

The date Alberta Pharmaceutical Strategy Phase 2 is to be fully implemented, April 1, is fast approaching and although thousands have added their voices cautioning the government on what will happen to rural pharmacies because of this strategy, the policy change still has the green light.
The wonderfully worded press releases that have accompanied this planned change have all been positive, reflecting on the fact that Albertans will save money because of APS-2. The detrimental side effects have not been publicly explored.
It goes without saying that the money being saved has to be coming out of someone’s pocket, and in this case it comes out of the white lab coat pocket of our local pharmacists. City pharmacies may not feel the pinch right away since most have front-end businesses where the greater part of their profits are made. In fact, in some cases, the pharmacy really isn’t expected to turn a buck - it is just a small component of a much larger store installed to draw customers into the establishment which is likely why it is located way at the back and patrons have to walk through isles of prettily encased sale tagged goods before ever finding the drug store counter.
However, rural and independent pharmacies as well as those which specialize in medical equipment will be the first to feel the sting.
The question is: Will they survive until a plan emerges which pays pharmacists for all the work they do beyond filling prescriptions, and will that payment schedule be enough to replace what the government is taking away.
The way pharmacies make profits currently is obviously imperfect, however it is precipitous to implement cuts without having the way you are going to reimburse those cuts completely figured out. The logic of proceeding on such a pathway is faulty to say the least. So why not stop, take a second look at the strategy, then go ahead when all the components of the plan are in actually in place?
Rural Albertan towns have suffered enough. Many factors combine making it more and more difficult for businesses to survive in these areas. Because of the wonderful quality of life offered in these small towns, some business people decide to face all the challenges and establish themselves locally in spite of them. Rural residents cherish these businesses whether they be car dealerships, grocery stores or pharmacies. If the government truly supports rural Alberta, as it says it does, then it needs to show it by carefully considering the impact any strategy it decides to put forward will have on these already beleaguered areas.
Albertans can ensure this happens by keeping their objections to strategies like APS-2 on the forefront of the minds of all our representatives - and that means if the April 1 deadline passes and nothing is done to alleviate the problems APS - 2 will cause, then perhaps more letters need to be sent in and more people need to sign those petitions.
If that doesn’t work, perhaps people need to show their ire over being ignored by marking their ‘X’ in a different spot during the next election.