EDMONTON — December 3 is an important day to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It’s a day to learn but also a day to act.
Because the truth is, here in Alberta, there is much work to do to ensure folks living with disabilities can live life with the full dignity and respect they deserve. The supports, health care services, and legislative frameworks needed for full participation in our province are still not in place. Below are some ways you can act in solidarity with Albertans with disabilities on this important day.
Accessibility Act
Alberta remains one of two provinces in Canada without any form of Accessibility legislation. Friends of Medicare continues to echo Barrier-Free Alberta’s call for provincial Accessibility Act.
We encourage you to take action in support of their cause today.
Home Care
People with disabilities, their loved ones, care workers, and advocates in Alberta have long called for improvements and expansions to our increasingly fragmented and underfunded home care system. Albertans in need of care deserve dignity and respect, not to be treated as commodities from which to profit.
Learn the facts about home care, read stories from Albertans, and sign the petition calling on the government to prioritize proper.
Dental Care
Over 1 million Canadians have now accessed dental care through the new Canadian Dental Care Plan and over 2.7 million have signed up to the plan! This includes seniors, children and folks living with disabilities, a massive expansion of our public health care coverage worth celebrating! Unfortunately, our Premier has said she intends to seek to opt Alberta out of the new national dental care program by 2026. Alberta should be working with the federal plan to synchronize benefits and ensure folks living with disabilities have the best possible coverage they can, not picking endless political fights with the federal government.
Take a moment to tell your representatives that Albertans deserve the same access to dental care as all Canadians.
Pharmacare
Those living with chronic illness, and all Albertans, deserve access to the medications they need when they need them. This fall, the Senate has passed Bill C-64:An Act Respecting Pharmacare without amendments, meaning it is now law and the program will move forward! The next step is the federal government negotiating with provinces to get the program in place.
Unfortunately, long before any details of the program or legislation had been publicly announced, the Alberta government had already stated they intend to opt us out of any national Pharmacare program. So we need to keep the pressure up!
Send an email to Alberta's Health Minister and your MLA tell them to implement Pharmacare in Alberta!
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