Albertans will once again be asked to take part in discussions on social policy, this time focusing on improving child development, government responsibilities for children and poverty reduction.
Last summer over 31,000 Albertans participated online, in community conversations, and through surveys, in the creation of Alberta’s Social Policy Framework.
They identified four main goals — reduce inequality, protect vulnerable people, create a person-centered system of high-quality services, and enable collaboration and partnerships.
Alberta Human Services Minister Dave Hancock said it’s not just about continuing community consultation — it’s about community engagement.
He was in Red Deer on Tuesday, speaking at a meeting of the Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance.
“Social issues have to be owned by community. We all have to work collaboratively together. Absolutely there is to be a role for government.
“We’re not abdicating that role. But if we want to solve social issues, they have to be solved community by community. They have to be owned in community and we have to bring our community resources to it,” said Hancock.
He said opposition parties like to point out there’s no line in the provincial budget to specifically reduce poverty.
“I’d rather look at what are our priorities, what are the highest priority things we can do, and how do we allocate resources to do it and how do we re-allocate resources because in some cases it’s about shifting what we’re doing.
“We have to be willing to examine everything we’re doing.
“The good things will survive scrutiny so we don’t have to be concerned about shutting down good things. We look at what we’re doing and see if we’re achieving the results we want.”
In March, Central Alberta Poverty Reduction Alliance met with 150 people for a one-day poverty reduction conference to come up with local strategies.
Eight priorities came out of the discussion:
• Define and creatively show the face of poverty in Red Deer to Red Deer
• Research, determine and publish Red Deer’s living wage
• Convene a conversation on affordable transportation
• Multi-sector recruitment to address poverty reduction
• Develop a working group to complete an environmental scan of financial literacy
• Explore existing employment services
• Address social isolation
• Enhance and sustain existing literacy programs
“We’re not looking at creating information that’s going to sit on a shelf. It’s going to be very practical solutions that can be implemented within our communities,” said Tricia Haggarty-Roberts, alliance co-chair.
On Wednesday, the alliance will sit down to begin formulating strategies to put its new priorities into action, some starting this year.
She said several municipalities in Alberta have already been working on poverty reduction so any provincially-led consultation should examine their ideas and plans.
“A lot has happened on social policy framework from a year ago to what we have now. A year from now, I really want to see action and less consultation.”
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com