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Does NDP care about rural Albertans?

In the last month the government has decided to allocate $10 million dollars to 1,000 spots for cheap day care…
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Letter to the editor

Dear editor,

In the last month the government has decided to allocate $10 million dollars to 1,000 spots for cheap day care…this means that $100,000 is being spent per spot that will affect 1,000 Alberta families, not one of whom will live in rural Alberta. Our local, rural homes and families that are trying to survive in an incredibly difficult economy and with at least one spouse out of work, are not helped at all by this funding.

However, the urban communities, of whom it’s expected to have both spouses working, are going to be the only ones who benefit. In this day and age, there is no appreciation or acknowledgment of the “working stay at home parent,” their contributions to raising a good, decent family. Not only is there a lack of appreciation for the stay at home parent, the tax deduction is less that what you can claim for a “nanny.” How ironic is that?

I want my families tax dollars to be spent wisely. That’s not happening. The $10 million allotted to daycare and raising kids by strangers is actually applauded and promoted by this government. Where is the “family” recognition and spending on departments that are falling apart, PDD, Social Services, to name just two?

We were at the Alberta gas co-op conference in Edmonton a week ago. The discussions were naturally about the carbon tax, fuel concerns and delivery, the real cost of wind/solar energy (why is there never a discussion about the huge number of birds, insects and bats killed by the huge wind mills in southern Alberta?) and the loss of jobs throughout Alberta. My husband is one of those, with over 30 years of experience he has not been able to find stable or permanent work. We know of many families now who have not been able to find work in rural Alberta anywhere from six months to over two years.

Of those members in attendance from our gas co-op (Buck Mountain), three families have a family member with special needs and had concerns in trying to get help through PDD, local agencies or just trying to help them find meaningful employment.

It’s amazing that this government does not seem to understand that raising minimum wage at this time in Alberta has created a situation where those on AISH, already working minimum hours or young and competing against adults decreases the hours for the employee or the employer cuts jobs. Our special needs 21 year old, who works at Save On Foods in Red Deer, is down to one day a week (about seven hours) and his comment to us when the announcement came about the increase in minimum wage, was that they would cut his hours. His capacity to understand this with about a Grade 4 level makes this government look pretty incompetent. How does a special needs 21 year old understand basic economics, but the government and all its staff not?

I would really like to see some realistic, common sense goals and financial decisions from this government. All I see now is economic disaster for my kids.

Christine Cripps-Woods, Winfield