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UCP must act now to help Albertans facing food insecurity, says NDP

‘Nearly a million people in this province who are struggling to make ends meet’
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FILE - A new report on Household Insecurity in Canada shows Alberta has the highest rate of food insecurity among all Canadian provinces. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

A new report shows that Alberta — the richest province in Canada — has the highest prevalence of food insecurity in the country.

Alberta’s NDP said a report out of the University of Toronto on Household Insecurity in Canada shows Alberta has the highest rate of food insecurity among all Canadian provinces. At 20.3 per cent, there are 853,000 people in Alberta who live in food-insecure households.

The report comes as Alberta’s 107 food banks report seeing an alarming increase in the need for their services.

“No one living in the richest province in Canada should be having to choose whether to pay their bills or put food on the table,” said Marie Renaud, NDP community and social services critic, in a statement.

“For months we have been calling on the UCP to focus on helping Albertans rather than their own internal drama. There are nearly a million people in this province who are struggling to make ends meet and all the UCP has done is make a bad situation worse.”

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The NDP say UCP policies have led Albertans to pay more in income taxes, property taxes, utility costs, school fees, tuition, interest on student debt and park fees. The UCP also cut the Child and Family Benefit, the Seniors Benefit, Income Support and AISH.

The NDP is once again calling on the UCP to immediately return to the legislature and work with the opposition to reverse these bad decisions and increase support for families.

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The Consumer Debt Index showed that in April half of Albertans were just $200 away from not being able to pay their bills at the end of the month — the highest level in the country.

The NDP say data released by the province last month showed the retail price of beef was up anywhere from 11 to 43 per cent over the same time last year, depending on the cut, far outpacing the rate of inflation.

“Today, I am again calling on the federal and provincial government to take action and investigate the rising price of beef and who is benefiting from it,” said Heather Sweet, NDP critic for agriculture, forestry, and rural economic development.

“Alberta beef is an important part of many families’ diets and it’s an important part of our province’s economy. We need to get to the bottom of why it’s not working properly and we need the provincial and federal governments to bring their authority to bear on this problem.”



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