The Government of Alberta is currently seeking the input of Albertans as it prepares Budget 2022. You can participate by filling in the survey online at Budget 2022 Survey by the January 15^th deadline and/or by attending a telephone townhall meetings with Finance Minister Travis Toews in January, details of which will be announced soon.

While the provinces finances are improving and the circumstances of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families are not, the survey still includes questions that would cut funding for supports and services and/or reduce funding to be in line with provinces with vastly insufficient supports and services. Thousands are still waiting for FCSD (Family Support for Children with Disabilities) or PDD (Persons with Developmental Disabilities) funding while others have less support than they need or experience reductions.

We are asking for all of you who believe that individuals with developmental disabilities and their families should enjoy a life comparable to Albertans without disabilities to complete the survey and, where the survey allows, to recommend that funding to support to children and adults with developmental and their families be increased and not reduced. Be wary of any questions that give the government permission to reduce services to individuals with disabilities and their families.

In question 9 we suggest not including “tax payer supported debt” as one of the provinces top challenges as this can easily translate into reducing government funding and supports for persons with disabilities and their families.

Question 10 is open-ended allowing you to indicate the need to ensure the province provides adequate funding and supports for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Question 11 asks if the province should reduce spending and then in Question 12 where funding should be cut. In the interests of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families we suggest you notsupport reducing spending. If you support reducing spending, there is no way to ensure the government won’t do this by cutting supports and services to persons with developmental disabilities and their families. In Question 12 we suggest you not choose Health Care, K-12 Education, Post-secondary education or social services as an area for reducing spending as these will impact individuals with developmental disabilities and their families more than any of the other areas listed.

In Question 12 we suggest you strongly disagree with government increasing fees for services as this could translate to government asking families to cover more of the costs of raising their children with disabilities.

For Question 16 we suggest not including “Balancing the budget and paying back debt” or “Aligning spending levels with other provinces” as top priorities as again these can be readily translated into reducing funding for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Again, for Question 17 you can once again indicate the need to ensure the province provide adequate funding and supports for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families.

Thank you for taking the interests of children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families into account. When the dates of townhall meetings are announced we will share those.

You can take the survey here by the January 15^th deadline.