Fort McMurray Food Bank Candidate Questionnaire-Denise Wollard
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Fort McMurray Food Bank Association – Candidate Questionnaire Denise Wollard, New Democratic Party 1. Several provinces have set in motion ambitious poverty reduction strategies. Does your party have a plan to address hunger and poverty in Alberta? The NDP has been raising in the Legislature for a long time the fact that other provinces have been developing poverty reduction strategies and Alberta has ignored the issue. PC MLAs have said the strong Alberta economy is all that is needed for a poverty reduction strategy and that anyone can get a job and then would not have to be concerned about poverty. This is a troubling misunderstanding of the realities in the province and a very different approach is needed. It is noteworthy that a significant percentage of the families struggling with all the diverse issues created by economic poverty have one or more adults in the home working full time. Much of the challenge in Alberta is to have people able to earn a better income. This begins with moving from having the lowest minimum wage in the country to moving away from the dependence on temporary foreign workers in many lower‐skilled jobs and instead paying a living wage for people who have homes and families to support in Alberta. Hunger and poverty should not be addressed as marginal problems where individuals are often blamed for their circumstances and bandages are put of deeply rooted social issues. A good poverty reduction/elimination program will be built on a cross‐ministerial understanding of how to address the social determinants of health. 2. Welfare rates in Alberta are far below the poverty line. What will you do for people with disabilities and for people in general, living on social assistance? It is commendable that there have finally been some reasonable increases in AISH payments this year, but for those depending on the income support of Alberta Works the payments do not come anywhere near what is adequate for a reasonable quality of life. Yet we know that income support programs have an important role to play to address the circumstances of some, especially those unable for temporary or longer times, to earn an adequate income for themselves. Cuts nearly 20 years ago have continued to create problems and have never been overcome. 3. What is your party’s platform on food security in Alberta? As part of an overall social determinants of health commitment, food security needs particular attention. Having an adequate income to have enough protein and fresh fruit and vegetables in a diet from the earliest years is important for health and development. Adequate housing that ensures places to prepare and store a variety of food also matters. Public transportation that makes it possible to shop properly for food makes a difference. Supplementing family challenges around food security with lunch programs in schools or good day care where children receive nutritious meals are all useful too. The NDP’s election platform makes commitments to
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Fort McMurray Food Bank Candidate Questionnaire-Denise Wollard
Transcript of Fort McMurray Food Bank Candidate Questionnaire-Denise Wollard
FortMcMurrayFoodBankAssociation–CandidateQuestionnaire
DeniseWollard,NewDemocraticParty
1. Severalprovinceshavesetinmotionambitiouspovertyreductionstrategies.DoesyourpartyhaveaplantoaddresshungerandpovertyinAlberta?
TheNDPhasbeenraisingintheLegislatureforalongtimethefactthatotherprovinceshavebeendevelopingpovertyreductionstrategiesandAlbertahasignoredtheissue.PCMLAshavesaidthestrongAlbertaeconomyisallthatisneededforapovertyreductionstrategyandthatanyonecangetajobandthenwouldnothavetobeconcernedaboutpoverty.Thisisatroublingmisunderstandingoftherealitiesintheprovinceandaverydifferentapproachisneeded.Itisnoteworthythatasignificantpercentageofthefamiliesstrugglingwithallthediverseissuescreatedbyeconomicpovertyhaveoneormoreadultsinthehomeworkingfulltime.MuchofthechallengeinAlbertaistohavepeopleabletoearnabetterincome.Thisbeginswithmovingfromhavingthelowestminimumwageinthecountrytomovingawayfromthedependenceontemporaryforeignworkersinmanylower‐skilledjobsandinsteadpayingalivingwageforpeoplewhohavehomesandfamiliestosupportinAlberta.Hungerandpovertyshouldnotbeaddressedasmarginalproblemswhereindividualsareoftenblamedfortheircircumstancesandbandagesareputofdeeplyrootedsocialissues.Agoodpovertyreduction/eliminationprogramwillbebuiltonacross‐ministerialunderstandingofhowtoaddressthesocialdeterminantsofhealth.
2. WelfareratesinAlbertaarefarbelowthepovertyline.Whatwillyoudofor
peoplewithdisabilitiesandforpeopleingeneral,livingonsocialassistance?
ItiscommendablethattherehavefinallybeensomereasonableincreasesinAISHpaymentsthisyear,butforthosedependingontheincomesupportofAlbertaWorksthepaymentsdonotcomeanywherenearwhatisadequateforareasonablequalityoflife.Yetweknowthatincomesupportprogramshaveanimportantroletoplaytoaddressthecircumstancesofsome,especiallythoseunablefortemporaryorlongertimes,toearnanadequateincomeforthemselves.Cutsnearly20yearsagohavecontinuedtocreateproblemsandhaveneverbeenovercome.
3. Whatisyourparty’splatformonfoodsecurityinAlberta?
Aspartofanoverallsocialdeterminantsofhealthcommitment,foodsecurityneedsparticularattention.Havinganadequateincometohaveenoughproteinandfreshfruitandvegetablesinadietfromtheearliestyearsisimportantforhealthanddevelopment.Adequatehousingthatensuresplacestoprepareandstoreavarietyoffoodalsomatters.Publictransportationthatmakesitpossibletoshopproperlyforfoodmakesadifference.Supplementingfamilychallengesaroundfoodsecuritywithlunchprogramsinschoolsorgooddaycarewherechildrenreceivenutritiousmealsareallusefultoo.TheNDP’selectionplatformmakescommitmentsto
alltheseissues.Thevolunteersanddonorswhosupportfoodbanksarewonderfullycaringcitizensbutfoodbanksdonotconstitutegoodpublicpolicytoensurefoodsecurityforall.
4. Whatisyourparty’splatformonaffordablehousinginourregionandin
Alberta?
Inmanyways,assuringhousingsecurityisalargerchallengethanevenfoodsecuritybecausethecostofhousingissogreatandAlbertahasbeenthrough20yearsofseverecutstospendingonallaspectsofsocialhousing.Thepopulationhasgrowngreatlyandthesupplyofavailableaffordableandappropriatehousingofallsortshasdeclined.Waitinglistsarethousandsoffamilieslongforlimitedspacesavailable.Whatisneededtostartisacomprehensivehousingpolicy—muchmorethanthecurrentlimited10YearPlantoEndHomelessness.Thisneedstoensuremorehousingofawidevarietyisbeingbuiltandalsothatissuessuchasrentsupplementsandcontrolsonthesizeofrentincreasespermittedarealsoaddressed.Notonlymusttheamountofmoneycommittedtohavingaffordablehousingofavarietyoftypesbuiltbutthecriteriaforfundingprojectsneedtobemoretransparentandfreeofpotentialabuse.GoodplansalsoneedtoaddressmakinghousingmoreaffordableandtheNDPcommitmentsaroundissuessuchasregulatedpricesforelectricityandinterest‐freeloansforretrofittinghomestoreduceenergycostswillmakeadifference.
5. Ifelected,whatwillyourpartydo(or,whatisyourpartydoing)toenablewelfarerecipientstoentertheworkforcesuccessfully?
EveryAlbertanshouldbeabletobenefitfromAlberta’sprosperityandnearlyeveryonewantstodothattoaddressmorepeopleenteringtheworkforceandmakingtheincomesofwhichtheyarecapable.Therearemanythingsknownabouthowtodothis.FormanynewerimmigrantstheinadequateavailabilityofEnglishclassessootherwisewellqualifiedpeoplecangainthelanguageproficiencytobesuccessfulandmeasurestohavemoreoftheprofessionalassociationsdomoretorecognizeforeignexperience/education/qualificationsisvital.SpecialinitiativesneedtofocusonFNMIAlbertans,olderAlbertans,andpeoplewithdisabilities.Toomanyemployersstilldonotacceptanyresponsibilitytoaccommodatesotheycanemployawiderrangeofpeople.AlbertahasalsonotbeguntoseriouslylookatthedocumentedconnectionsinCanadabetweenlowincomesandracism.Sharedfundingapproacheswithmentorshipsandinternshipswillassistthosewhohavenotgotsuccessfulrecordsinthelabourmarkettobegintotransitiontosuchsuccess.Betterchildcarewillopenupnewjobpossibilitiesthatarenowclosedbecauseoftheneedsofchildren.
6. Ithasbeencommentedthatsomepartiesmaybeplanningtoprivatizesocial
assistanceandchildwelfare?isthissomethingyourpartyplanstodo?
TheNDPisconcernedtherehasalreadybeentoomuchshiftingofprogramsinthehumanservicestotheprivate(bothfor‐profitandnot‐for‐profit)
sectorsratherthanbeingretainedasresponsibilitieswithingovernmentministries.TheNDPdoesnotsupportfurthermovementinthesedirections.
7. Ifelectedhowdoyouandyourpartyproposetoassistnonprofitsand
charitiestospendlesstimeraisingfundsandmoretimedoingtheworktheirorganizationswerecreatedtodo?
Attentionisneededtothewaylimitssetonwhatgovernmentwillfundincallsforproposalsforserviceswherethenon‐for‐profitsectorrespondsthatdonotenabletheseorganizationstopaystaffadequatelyenoughtohavegoodretentionsotheyarealwayshavingtohireandtrainnewstaffasothersmoveontobetterpayingwork.AvailablefundingneedstorecognizetherealitiesofAlberta’slabourmarkettoday.Whenasocialworkercanmakemuchbettermoneyleavinghumanservicestodriveatruckatanoilsandsprojectitwillbedifficulttoensurehighqualityservicescanbeprovided.TheNDP’smodestcallsinthiselectiontoincreasetaxesonafewofthemostwealthyindividualsandoncorporationsandtoincreasetheroyaltiespaidonbitumenextraction;alittlewillresultinmuchmorerevenueandanincreasedabilityforgovernmenttoproperlyfundnecessaryservicesforthewellbeingofallintheprovince.
