The Alberta NDP caucus recently held a Town Hall on Zoom for an open discussion about changes to the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program and the pending Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP) Program that is due to come into effect in July 2026.
“People are worried that they might be placed in a position where they’re expected to work, and the nature of their ability is such that they are unable to work or they’re unable to work full time, or they can only work intermittently, and people were genuinely worried about what could happen with themselves, and there were also guardians and parents that were worried about what’s going to happen with the people that are under their care,” said MLA Miyashiro. “The big problem with this whole thing is it’s another example of this government’s lack of understanding of what some of the people with disabilities are undergoing.”
This government, MLA Miyashiro states, does not appear to prioritize people who are typically minimized in society.
MLA Miyashiro states that there are 77,000 people on AISH in Alberta, but questions who exactly the government consulted when making the changes to AISH and creating the ADAP program. That, MLA Miyashiro states, is one of the big concerns that was raised during the Town Hall and other concerns include who will assess who is qualified for AISH vs. who is qualified for ADAP, the criteria that will be associated with said assessments, and what becomes of those who suddenly find themselves unable to work – will they lose assistance?
“I talked to some people in the disability sector after that Town Hall, and they said that that the government could have made some of the changes to AISH through regulation and not develop a whole new program,” said MLA Miyashiro.
MLA Miyashiro further explained that he worked in the disability sector for approximately seven years as a program manager for one of the larger agencies, and when the government at the time wanted to apply changes to programs, they spoke to the staff and to the people with disabilities about those changes. However, MLA Miyashiro stated, it does not appear that this scenario happened when it came to the ADAP rollout.
“If this government had more respect for the people that are receiving that kind of assistance, they would’ve indexed it to inflation or cost of living somehow,” said MLA Miyashiro.
MLA Miyashiro states that AISH should be indexed so that people receiving it are able pay their rent, food, medications, and other essentials, and not have to make a choice between those things.
“I think the biggest part of the problem is not getting the perspective of people that are receiving AISH about how any of this affects them,” said MLA Miyashiro. “I think it’s contingent upon all of us to continue to talk, especially people out there with disabilities, to your MLA’s about this and speak to the people in the NDP caucus about how you would like to see this work. We will advocate for people on AISH, and we need the UCP to understand how their decisions are affecting people’s lives because it seems a lot of decisions that the UCP makes, they make without regard for people’s lives.”
At the Town Hall, the NDP caucus stated that those who are unsure of who their MLA is can visit: https://www.elections.ab.ca/voters/members-of-the-legislative-assembly/ to find that information.
The NDP caucus also encourages people with concerns to call or email the Disability Advocate of Alberta at Advocate.Disability@gov.ab.ca or call them at 780-422-1095 or 1-800-272-8841, Premier Danielle Smith at 780-427-2251 (Edmonton), Toll free 310-000 or premier@gov.ab.ca, or they can reach out to the Minister of Seniors Community and Social Services Jason Nixon at 780-644-9992 or toll free at 1-877-644- 9992 or by email at Jason.nixon@assembly.ab.ca or SCSS.Minister@gov.ab.ca.
More information about the ADAP program can be found at: https://www.alberta.ca/alberta-disability-assistance-program.
Heather Cameron,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
The Taber Times
