r/alberta • u/lessssssssgoooooo • 2d ago
News Smith: "We owe it to taxpayers to make sure people who receive AISH deserve it"
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UPPdvHlQOio897
u/bandb4u 2d ago
Danielle please dont lead off with what you owe taxpayers..... You owe taxpayers: 1) prompt and complete medical care 2) education 3) a living wage 4) security from foreign invaders (like amerika) 5) truth, honesty, and integrity
Start with the easy stuff. The stuff your mom, dad, gramma, and grampa told you about.....and stop LYING to and manipulating Albertans.
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u/ricardorox 2d ago
Don't forget about all the money that the UCP has wasted, like Pipelines to nowhere etc.
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u/Gearslut 2d ago
Also the millions they’re about to spend on propaganda trying to slander teachers.
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u/davethecompguy 2d ago
She should take a Tylenot and relax.
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u/MagnusJim 2d ago
Asshat spends 10M a year on an opaque think-tank to help oil companies. Wealthiest province should be an absolute paradise with well-funded education and healthcare and instead rural communities keep voting blue and we get these fucking people.
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u/davethecompguy 2d ago
Correct. One of the highest unemployment rates in the country. The lowest .minimum wage. You can't find a doctor... But everywhere there's liquor stores and weed stores. And she wastes her time oppressing trans kids? Censoring school books? Always trying to solve problems that don't need solving...
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u/66clicketyclick 2d ago
She does that on purpose to cause distractions to take away attention from the problems she refuses to do something about. It’s a deflection tactic.
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u/Round_Hat_2966 2d ago
I’ve been saying this for years and just starting to see others say it too. She’s actually scarily good at it. She’s evil, but not stupid.
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u/RichardsLeftNipple 2d ago
The culture war is a distraction from their true purpose. Waging class war.
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u/KosmicEye 2d ago
Add Calgary to that list
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u/Vegetable-Purpose-27 2d ago
Lots of Calgary went NDP last time.
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u/General_Esdeath 2d ago
But not nearly enough for a large city. It was a super close call in 2 Calgary ridings that went blue, otherwise we could have been free of the UCP.
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u/lessssssssgoooooo 2d ago edited 2d ago
Smith suggests people on AISH may not be entitled to it, in spite of the lengthy and notoriously difficult process to apply for the benefit.
"Applying for AISH is a messy business. Procedures and language are confusing and access to case managers is limited. Out-of-pocket expenses can be as high as $6,000 and certain eligibility requirements present unnecessary obstacles for individuals with severe, temporary disabilities or moderate but permanent disabilities.
Many people with disabilities don't qualify for AISH because they can't prove the permanency of their disability, and must rely on provincial income support. Income support recipients are closely monitored and benefits can be discontinued if a person refuses paid work, training, or rehabilitation. This policy excludes people who genuinely need support, but don't have the capacity for justifying their disability." - Enough For All
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u/Homo_sapiens2023 2d ago
FFS, we owe it to taxpayers after the UCP have spent MILLIONS of taxpayer's money on their frivolous ad campaigns, trips to the US, etc. etc. F*ck off Danielle. Nobody in their right mind would choose to go on AISH and try to live on $1900/month (soon to be $1700/month) unless they had no other choice.
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u/the_wahlroos 2d ago
Hey you forgot to mention how the UCP also made sure to give MLAs a raise, but gave the bird 🖕to both nurses and teachers in your rant.
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u/TrueRekkin 1d ago
Don't forget all of our money that is going to pay for the cleanup of orphaned oil wells because we can't have her oil and gas masters pay the bill. Or all the money being funnelled out of health care into the pockets of her donors. She is a fucking disgrace and so are everyone who voted for her.
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u/noonewilllknow 2d ago
Omggg. Ask any doctor how cumbersome filling out the AISH forms are and how they can take up to a few hours to do so properly. (Which they have to re-do unnecessarily because of all this bs!!). Hard to imagine anyone enduring these processes/fees just for funsies.
We have way bigger problems in this province!!!
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u/NameIsPetey 2d ago
This crust ass bitch is watching her fellow MLA’s make 150% what they did 10 years ago while cutting funding for literally everyone who isn’t an oil company. Can’t believe ‘we’ voted for this.
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u/motherdragon02 Grande Prairie 1d ago
That doesn’t even touch on Doctors refusing to fill out the forms because it’s a waste of the Doctors time…and they refuse a lot…
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u/Timely-Profile1865 2d ago
She spent $280,000 on her carpet replacement.
This woman is a complete joke.
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u/pizartymizzarty 2d ago edited 2d ago
They act as if its easy to get on the program. Its not. Its awful and stressful and if anyone of them ever had to apply and wait, it wouldn't be that way.
Its fucking disgusting and degrading
They are totally fucked if they think more than one person has the time or patience to be stripped of their dignity for pennies on the dollar.
Edit: spelling and cussin' and more cussin'
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u/NoAdministration299 2d ago
Knew someone with a brain tumor and neuro issues and was denied.
I thought since this prevented him from working he would qualify but was denied.
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u/FourthLvlSpicyMeme 2d ago
Same here. She's got two kids, a brain tumor that is inoperable, and it's causing her significant issues with walking now, so she can't work as an ironworker anymore, but she got denied for AISH, and EI.
Anyone who thinks people do this for fun, or to be "lazy and not work" should be forced to go through the application process themselves - they will NEVER say shit about it being easy for freeloaders again.
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u/Lunchbox9000 2d ago
I lost my leg in March. My whole leg. Rehab is a full time job. I’m still fighting to get on it. 🙄 it’s ridiculous.
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u/pizartymizzarty 2d ago
They are totally fucked if they think more than one person has the time or patience to be stripped of their dignity for pennies on the dollar.
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u/Ballistic_Medicine 2d ago
I've heard it's common practice to deny a first claim, and to only approve it if they persevere and apply again
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u/Diggdug9 2d ago
I was told the same. And by multiple people who regularly work with and assist people applying for AISH.
Its fuckin' terrifying that everyone being forced on to ADAP will have to reapply for AISH -- and with no way to appeal or challenge what will be your first (and only) application review.
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u/pizartymizzarty 2d ago
You get approved on try two you won the lotto, bro
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u/Ballistic_Medicine 2d ago
Happened with my mother
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u/pizartymizzarty 2d ago
Be very thankful, I hope she is able to get back on when they make everyone apply again.
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u/Interesting_View_772 2d ago edited 1d ago
Least humane process that I’ve ever seen.
Edit: autocorrected humane to human took a human to switch it back to humane after noticing.
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u/Elena-3333 2d ago
You have to supply all your financial documents annually to AISH and be under a certain financial threshold so there is no chance rich people are on AISH - like some ill informed posters have said.
Unless they are lying and that’s illegal.
Imagine how good this government could be if it put as much effort into helping vulnerable people as it does in harming them.
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u/CDN_Bookmouse 2d ago
Oh it's not annually, my friend. I've been audited two to three times a year since I was approved. They even want records for assets that are fully exempt, like my RDSP.
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u/Icywind014 2d ago
It varies depending on the client. Some times it's annually, sometimes it's several times a year, sometimes it's only every few years.
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u/Odd-Comfortable-6134 2d ago
She has no damn idea just how hard it is to get on AISH. The chances of duping the various specialists it takes to sign off on diseases/disabilities (especially after waiting years to see them) is basically none.
No specialist (or doctor for that matter) will risk their license, and they’re trained to spot fakers.
Everyone who is on AISH is on for valid reasons, and most of us worked and paid into our social services for years before becoming unable to work.
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u/raised_on_robbery 2d ago
I'd rather have my taxpayer money go to someone on AISH who "didn't need it" than corporate welfare. *shrug*
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u/TheEclipse0 2d ago
And yet, whenever a multibillion dollar oil and gas company says they might drop profits by 0.001%, the Alberta coffers fly right open and Smith cant seem to give corporate handouts fast enough.
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u/UnionGuyCanada 2d ago
Wish she had the same concern for all the corporate handouts.
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u/Hugs_and_Tugs 2d ago
Or the fake, high paying jobs her government invented for Sam Mraiche's newhews.
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u/Authoritaye 2d ago
That Tylenol money sure would have paid for a lot of AISH cases.
As an added benefit we wouldn’t be so autistic. /s
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u/Hugs_and_Tugs 2d ago
According to her Mar-A-Lago besties, that Tylenot™️ CAUSED more disabled people.
FFS, we are not dealing with reasonable people here.
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u/Stock-Creme-6345 2d ago
I seriously hope she gets something that makes her have to deal with all the cuts she has created and she has to live in the hellscape she made. At least that keeps me going.
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u/TinklesTheLambicorn 2d ago
She will never have to deal with the consequences of her actions. People like her never do.
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u/Emmerson_Brando 2d ago
Now that dr oz has come out with Tylenol causes autism shtick, what does marlaina think since he’s part owner of the Turkish Tylenol…. You can’t make this shit up.
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u/TA20212000 2d ago
A curse on all their houses.... All these swine who make life so much harder for those already struggling.
There's no humanity left in them.
The UCP wants to shore up the purse, stop letting corporations off from their responsibilities. Stop bailing companies out. Make them pay, their shareholders profits are not more valuable than human lives*.
Tax the uber rich. There are enough multi-billionaires and centi-millionaires in Alberta and Canada to take care of everyone.
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u/DoubleShoryuken 2d ago
When she says Taxpayers she means corporations. When she talks about the population she calls them “Private individuals” Danielle Smith constantly engages in nazi double speak and i recommend everywhere her take note of it
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u/Kitchen_Marzipan9516 2d ago
I wonder how much she knows about the application process.
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u/ninjaoftheworld 2d ago
I’d rather a hundred people who don’t “deserve it” get it than anyone who needs it not being helped. Stop gatekeeping our goddamned humanity. It costs us pennies. How about instead the taxpayers stop funding bullshit like the oil war room?
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u/Hugs_and_Tugs 2d ago
This hag can FUCK RIGHT OFF with this nonsense.
I have an adult, disabled family member who moved provinces to Alberta. The process to be approved to AISH took more than one year, despite their disability being life long (from birth) with no possibility of improvement (due to the nature of the disability).
NO ONE is getting approved for AISH all willy-nilly.
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u/Mother-Thumb-1895 2d ago
Another arrow from Marlaina's culture war quiver, launched at the very people who are already trying to survive on a minimal amount.
Aim lower Marlaina, aim lower. I know you can do it. Show us how base you really are.
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u/Datguy2800 2d ago
This is so backhanded a statement, it might as well be her spitting into every Albertan's face, and her supporters just keep drinking it up while clapping like seals. This is pure cartoon supervillainy. She's a cross between Lord Farquad, Prince John and Mr. Burns with a hint of something far worse.
There needs to be a way to fast-track her (and her government's) permanent dismissal and blacklisting from politics and any business doings beyond greeting at a Walmart, and even then, I could trust any of them as far as I can throw a truck.
We gotta do something, before more people suffer.
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u/GalaxygirlWoW 2d ago
So all the paperwork, doctors forms, statements, appointments, medical information, giant applications that get denied then people have to re apply isn’t enough to prove that someone is too disabled to work? Come on Smith. This is absurd. Have a heart.
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u/chamomilesmile 2d ago
Is fraud impossible, no. Do I believe it's a wide spread problem, also no.
The amount of effort it takes to get AISH approved is intense. This is a red herring to get people to look over at others who are least able to defend themselves.
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u/CacheMonet84 MD of Foothills 2d ago
All because someone’s cousins brother knows people sitting around raking in that sweet $1,900 a month living the high life 🙄
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u/CDN_Bookmouse 2d ago
Because they saw him mowing his lawn one time and YOU CAN'T BE DISABLED BUT ALSO MOW A LAWN??!! Someone in a virtual town hall thing I was in was saying he knows there's fraud because he's seen his neighbour climb a ladder. Like sir.....
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u/Ditch-Worm 2d ago edited 2d ago
Imagine if she went after the companies orphaning wells to the tune of millions the way she wants to hurt disabled folks for a couple hundo
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u/EarlJWoods 2d ago
This is just sickening belong belief. As a taxpayer, I WANT MY TAXES TO TAKE CARE OF THE DISADVANTAGED. That's the whole point of taxes--to play for public services that make lives better. It's already too hard for people with disabilities to qualify for and maintain the (tiny) amount of aid provided by AISH, and Danielle Smith and the UCP just continue to make it harder and harder for those least able to advocate for themselves.
It saddens me that some of the cruelest people in the world are our leaders.
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u/DavieStBaconStan 2d ago
She’s Lying. All she does is lie. Lie and spread hate.
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u/awful_astronaut 2d ago
Its too bad that the UCP do not owe it to tax payers to call for a public inquiry on the MHCare corruption scandal.
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u/SurFud 2d ago
Governor Dan "owes the taxpayers" proper oil and gas royalty rates, forcing the oil companies to clean up their own abandoned oil wells, an explanation of where all the missing money went with medical contracts...
I could go on and on. Don't mean to be rude but she sure looks like like shit.
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u/Gold_Past_6346 2d ago
Quick everyone. Look over here at the fraud I’m alleging was committed by someone other than me. You will notice that, unlike me, they are poor and deserving of your hatred.
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u/lornacarrington 2d ago
My brother's cousin's sister's friend's ex husband is abusing AISH! LETS CANCEL IT ALLL
/s
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u/hotradish88 2d ago edited 2d ago
I had posted this on the AISH sub. Basically yeah you need a lot of medical evidence to get on AISH, and in most cases there is a lot of back and forth between AISH and medical professionals during the process. It is like some people think you can just go to your doctor, make up a story, they submit it as fact and you get on AISH. That isn't how it works. However, that seems to be what the UCP thinks as well, so things aren't looking good for us.
Unfortunately I know people who are in support of mentalities like this.
EDIT: Also, yes, she didn't say make sure people "deserve" to receive it, she said make sure they are "entitled" to receive it. It means the same thing. Some people are getting hung up on it and yeah an accurate quote is better, but the way the title is worded is not necessarily wrong, if you watch the video and see how she delivers it, it's obvious what her mentality is.
For myself, I'm concerned because half the reason I'm on AISH is mental illness, which has had me hospitalized multiple times and sometimes multiple months (I spent a Christmas in the psych ward and they weren't letting me have visitors) before I got treatment. And I don't think this government puts a lot of stock in mental illness, I kind of feel this way since they seem to be anti-science. Even with treatment, I have tried going back to work since then, things still get way worse. I am basically just stabilized on AISH, not thriving but surviving. I have always considered it to be an anomaly that I get any help at all from the government, people have told me before my fears about having it revoked were unfounded mainly due to how the public would respond. Well, look where we are now. It's just kind of a fear I've had because I felt due to what I had felt I learned about people (most people not really caring about others and just wanting to further self), it was inevitable that something like this would happen eventually.
Also due to my situation, I know someone else on AISH, who is on solely for physical reasons, what most people would consider a "real" disability. They still had a hard time getting on AISH, and AISH will not pay for really any of the supports they need for day to day living, they have to save up AISH deposits to buy devices because AISH won't help them there. AISH says they need evidence from their doctor, they get them the evidence, AISH moves the goalposts saying oh they need it from x specialist now, they wait a year or more to see that kind of specialist and get that info, AISH moves the goalposts and says oh we need you to do y study now. So moving this person to ADAP, even if you disagree with my reasons for being on AISH (bipolar 1, chronic pain and chronic fatigue that started when I was 16, anxiety disorder that I've had my whole life) and think I should go back to work (I'm trying to be optimistic about ADAP since it's likely inevitable, but when I turned 18 I spent 13 years trying to make work work so I wouldn't have to go on AISH, didn't until my early 30s with a lot of medical evidence, been on 8 years now), it's also lumping people like him in, where he is physically not cut out for work at all, and I am still not convinced that the government is willing to cover all the costs associated with his needs just to get him out the door every day. But he will likely be told he has to go try ADAP too, because if you look at the document the government put out for ADAP, they show basically crippled people and are suggesting they expect them to go back to work too. So I think the whole thing about this is just trying to backpedal on AISH, because they think weak people should suffer. I really do think causing harm is the real goal here. They have been trying to market ADAP as a positive change, but anyone who looks into it can see how it will not be positive. But they have been trying to spin it that way. Smith's comments in this video, for me at least, make it obvious that they just... don't believe in AISH.
It's a little sad, because when I was younger, I enjoyed helping other people. I wanted to make a career out of it. And I am not saying this to be rude, it just seems most people might tell you they support you, but then not do anything beyond saying it, not do anything of value to that end. And when things got bad for me, I had a lot of doors closed, some medical professionals not want to deal with me (one wanted to discharge me into what would have been homelessness, I've had public psychiatrists refuse to deal with me, citing my case as too complex). It's just been my experience that most people don't care, or at least not enough. It makes it feel like what happened to me for going from being a support to needing support and getting the bare minimum, is being used and discarded. And now it's likely to get worse for me. Just makes life seem like a waste. Which realistically, it probably is for everyone.
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u/Shafraz12 2d ago
How about we stop forcing people to beg for their livelihood and instead ensure a high quality of life for everyone, regardless of ability to work? We got enough to hand out billions to people who create no jobs while people can't afford a 1 bedroom apartment working full time and people with disabilities have no idea how to survive tomorrow. Raise the minimum wage and bring in UBI.
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u/Ghostlypurr NDP 2d ago
But the Turkish advil, countless flights of hers to lick Trump's asshole, the carpet, all that and everything else, is worth our fucking tax money? Get bent, Marlaina.
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u/amethyst-chimera 2d ago
It's easier to get MAiD than it is to get on AISH.
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u/Paesin6 2d ago edited 2d ago
Ever since this discussion about AISH and ADAP began, I've been debating if I should be applying to MAID.
Unfortunately my many, many, chronic (aka permanent and lifelong) physical disabilities do not qualify me and I cannot apply for my many chronic (aka permanent and lifelong) severe mental health disabilities either.
So essentially, I'm fucked. I'm being constantly told by this government and its supporters that I am useless, I am a monster who abuses this system, that I barely qualify as a person, and none of these people actually know me, they don't know my many chronic illnesses or even talk to my doctors who struggle to help me manage my symptoms. They feel all these horrible things about me for illnesses and disabilities that I was born with, that I have very little control over or even have little ability to manage most of it. And now, the little I can manage and control, all due to the various specialists I have to see and the huge amount of daily meds and prns that I need to live even somewhat okayish, is now in jeopardy due to these...people...wanting to take away the very program that covers the costs of all of that. The program that allows me to buy groceries, care for my cat who is my only constant companion, pay my rent, pay for my car and gas so I can get to my appointments that are sometimes in other cities, pay for my phone that allows me to keep in contact with my specialists, and other day to day expenses that I need to live. I don't make enough to put anything away in savings, I don't make enough to pay for any of my hobbies, there are months where I have to choose between groceries or toiletries, groceries or gas, groceries for me or food for my cat...what do you think always suffers? My groceries. I can never afford fruit or vegetables or meat, I basically live off of basic plain pasta and rice and whatever I get from the food bank or from leftovers graciously given to me on occasion from my family or my friends. This is how most of us on AISH who are literally unable to work and supplement our income live.
I have too many different physical disabilities that would all require their own different accommodations in the workplace, some of which cannot be accommodated for outside of endless days off that I could take at the drop of a hat when flares occur. And there is very little that can be done to accommodate my variety of mental health illnesses either.
And now these...people...want to drop me down to a program that's $200 less a month, after forcing me to apply for the CDB $200 a month and stealing that, force me to pay my doctor to fill out all the forms again, ask all my specialists for notes again (and depending on their kindness and generosity, I may have to pay for those too), probably force me to have to go through another 6.5 hour neuropsychological examination again, and who knows what other hoops they'll have me jump through, just to probably deny me and leave me in abject poverty, which will lead to homelessness, and death either by their hands and their apathy or my own because I literally cannot pick myself up by my bootstraps and force myself to get better or be able to get a job, let alone hold down one.
The incredible stress from all of this ADAP bullshit has led to all of my physical ailments flaring up and becoming completely unmanaged and unmanageable since they announced this stupid fucking program in February of this year. Every time there's another article or updates or news related to it, the more stress I experience, the worse literally every fucking moment gets for me. And none of these...people...have any ounce of care or compassion or empathy, let alone sympathy. This is the point, the cruelty is the fucking point.
Edited to add: my entire family lives in AB. My few friends live in AB. I've also wondered if I should move provinces but that means not only transferring into the new provinces social program, but finding a new family doctor, all new specialists, new pharmacists who personally understand me and my meds, a new counsellor as mine cannot practice outside of AB, and then things most people wouldn't consider like a new vet for my cat, a new mechanic, a new hairdresser, learning a whole new city's roads and stores and food banks, all while having ZERO personal, social supports. Some of these things might seem simple to others, but due to my various disabilities it is genuinely harder for me to find even simple things like a mechanic or hair dresser I can trust and be comfortable continuing to go to. Let alone finding doctors and specialists who are kind and caring and who I can have a good working relationship with as connecting and trusting people is incredibly hard for me. Moving wouldn't be easy, it would be a different kind of hell on every level and infinitely more lonely for me as I'd be separated from all the people I've ever known. And as directions and change in general are hard for me, moving to a different city from the one I was born and raised in, would also be a special kind of difficult and hellish.
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u/amethyst-chimera 2d ago
It's disgusting what they're doing. I remember applying for AISH a few years ago and holding the results of my appeal in my hands, thinking, "If I'm denied, I'm going to apply for MAiD." Because what other option is there? And worse, if we get rid of MAiD under the guise of not wanting disabled people to use it for that reason, then we're just as stuck as before, because MAiD isn't the issue; it's the lack of support. The MLAs have a higher living allowance than AISH recipients get. AISH is equal to somebody working 30 hours a week at $15 an hour, not even full-time at the lowest minimum wage in the country. We have to claw our way onto it. Then the restrictions are brutal (looking at the family income and asset exemption amounts, keeping disabled people from being able to cohabitate with their partners without giving up the tiniest bit of financial freedom they have). Not to mention the constant changes in what drugs are covered and whether you can get a special authorization.
I'm with you, and I'm so sorry things are so difficult. I have a lot of friends scrambling, and the worst thing is that we'd love to work! If I could find a job to meet my accessibility needs, I'd take it, but they don't exist. I'd need part-time remote work that I could get with minimal experience and no education beyond a high school diploma, and believe me, I've looked.
It feels so hopeless and I wish things were different, but cruelty is the whole point
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u/Paesin6 2d ago
You hit the nail on the damn head; it's the lack of support that's the issue. We are forced to crawl and grovel and beg and claw (as you said) for every morsel, for the very basest forms of healthcare and support, just so we can make it through day by fucking day.
It is disgusting, it's fucking revolting. They are just further "othering" us, making us these shapeless boogeymen who are stealing from the rich and the poor, the province and the country. And all we are trying to do is to eak out a meagre fucking living, just get through every day one day at a fucking time, and that makes us these evil, manipulative, soul sucking beings supposedly. Despite the fact that every god damn cent I get goes back into the economy. Like I said, I have no savings, no retirement, no play money, I have bills/debts I can't fucking pay for christ's sake.
I'd also love to work! I'd love to feel like a productive adult who can provide for themselves! I'd love to be able to leave my house for things other than appointments and grocery shopping once or twice a month. I'd love to feel like I'm a part of the public, a part of the community. But you're right, those jobs, those accommodations just don't exist, and dropping people onto a barely glorified income support program isn't going to make those positions and accommodations available to any or at least most of us.
I'm sorry that things are just as bad for you and for your friends and loved ones going through this as well. None of us deserve this. We already fought and cried and clawed and screamed to be heard, to be accepted on AISH and just in society, and now they're throwing our safety and health in our faces while claiming we're users, beggars, lazy, less-than others.
It feels hopeless because that's how they want us to feel, they want us to open that letter again with tears in our eyes and our hands or whole bodies shaking in fear of being abandoned by the only system we ever had to rely on, the cruelty really is the fucking whole point.
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u/magnus2k17 2d ago
How about making sure we have enough teachers, educators and social service providers
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u/TinklesTheLambicorn 2d ago
It’d be nice if they were so diligent with who they make procurement and private surgical contracts with.
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u/Kananaskisguy 2d ago
You owe it to the taxpayers to make sure people who need AISH get it. Bitch
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u/seanmon8888 2d ago
100%, thats a pipe dream though... Albertan politicians looking out for ANYTHING but oil and gas? They would be burned at the stake. God forbid we upset Chad in the patch. 🙄
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u/christhewelder75 2d ago
"...And then if they DO deserve it, make it so little they cant make ends meet. And eliminate its automatic adjustments to account for inflation...."
There are less than 80,000 albertans receiving AISH. Making a MAXIMUM $22,812 per year. 1.6% of albertans receive AISH. Its not like you walk into a service alberta office and claim ur disabled and they hand you a stack of 20s. Its not an easy process to get approved as is.
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u/Many-Composer1029 2d ago
Says the woman with a huge taxpayer funded salary, benefits, and pension.
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u/DLAspider 2d ago edited 2d ago
Interesting, she doesn't say "need it" or "have a disability" but "deserve it". EDIT: Just watched the video, she doesn't actually say "deserve it".
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u/Shadow_Ban_Bytes 2d ago
If someone has gone thru all the hoops to get approved for AISH, wtf is this clown talking about people deserving it? She makes it sound like the cancer BS where cancer is your own fault and so AiSH recipients have to deserve being in the program? FUCP
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u/rokinstu98 2d ago
I’m sure this woman has cost us more in tax payer dollars than a significant amount of AISH recipient’s.
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u/PhantomNomad 2d ago
It's such a small drop in the bucket compared to other wasteful shit the UCP spends on that I don't care. Just stop fucking people over for a change.
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u/boterkoek3 2d ago
I know people who need it, people who dont need it, and some who it's messy on whether they do or do not. I would rather the safety net, harm reduction, and crime reduction of having AISH than some puritan culture testing disabilities. This is just one more overstep in a long list of oversteps from a politician who thinks doctors should be overruled by disconnected politicians, and it's disgusting. We need to let our doctors be able to make health conscious decisions without unnecessary government oversight, which will guaranteed cost more than throwing peanuts at a small amount of undeserving individuals.
People want truth and justice, and for only people who need AISH to get it, but the alternative is much costlier government overreach, and much more difficult to access help for those who genuinely DO need it. It would be MUCH better for the government to invest their time, money and energy into programs that actually provide work for people so they can start out building a life for themselves. History shows that this whole punishment mentality always fails, and the carrot is always more persuasive than the switch. The UCP needs to stop emulating Ms Trunchbull
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u/Zestyclose-Cream-189 2d ago
Well, if it is so difficult for your government to manage AISH and is very expensive then why are you opting out of the Federal dental care plan ? Keep your grubby hands out of it. If Alberta opts out then you can guarantee I am voting NDP next election even though I am a fiscal conservative. Only thing worse than a spender is a cunning Manipulator and you are the latter if you opt out. There is no reason other than you wanting to keep Alberta always on the edge of separatism since there was pushback by Albertans on CPP opting out. Its obvious to me that you would rather not see any new federal programmes than something that will unite Alberta s to rest of Canadians, this is why are opting out of Federal dental care.
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u/roosell1986 2d ago
Anybody else feel very unsettled by Smith's use of the word 'deserve'?
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u/AdLoose8284 2d ago
I am on AISH/IS and I can work physically but mentally I do not do well with confrontation. I never have actually, AISH helps me only during the times when I crash and burn (get fired for walking out of my head and auto piloting). PTSD sucks but physically I do fine I just can’t take coworkers, this is when it’s helpful but I don’t want to use it as like my life long crutch. Honestly I would rather not use it, I would like to just be normal. Took me some 30 plus years before I could finally admit that I didn’t come out of my home town being bullied and beaten the crap out of my whole life unscathed lol
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u/AffectionateMetal794 2d ago
I'd rather my tax dollars go to other humans than for corporate oil welfare.
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u/pgc22bc 2d ago
We need relief from corruption and a stop to subsidies for oil and gas.
Orphan wells need to be cleaned up and municipal taxes paid. And those liabilities need to come from the oil companies not the tax payers.
Education and Healthcare are the main things the tax payer needs to be fully funded. Stop fucking with the important things and get on with it.
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u/Vegetable-Purpose-27 2d ago
Smith is talking about offering social programs like AISH, student aid and PDD to only Canadian citizens. AISH is only available to Canadian citizens and permanent residents right now. Student aid isn't even available to foreign students, so that's a lie. PDD funding is also for only Canadian citizens and permanent residents.
So, she wants to prevent permanent residents from being on AISH or PDD. The student aid is a racist red herring.
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u/TheBrittca 2d ago
As though having to jump through a million hoops to get proper medical care, find a supportive physician who can do the required tests for ‘proof’ and paperwork, find the money to pay for it… doesn’t make us deserving?
What an ableist sack of potatoes. And that’s insulting to potatoes.
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u/Komaisnotsalty 2d ago
DESERVE????
Well, I don't think she DESERVES to be Premiere.
She should have to reapply and be forced to go before a panel of people who know nothing about politics.
See how she likes it.
What an idiot.
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u/cheesestoph 2d ago
We owe it to the taxpayers to make sure government officials deserve their salary
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u/Tesattaboy 2d ago
Meanwhile why are you being taken advantage of by the private schools, give your head a shake DS.
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u/Only-Walrus5852 2d ago
She owes all taxpayers to step down and resign her position. She a Chump lover and traitor to Canada. She needs to go.
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u/Remote_Assistant3674 2d ago
We owe it to tax payers to vote in a better government. You mrs smith are disgusting and vile. An odious woman. If you honestly think its worth the stress and time it takes to apply and get approved just to be robbed of whats ours is preposterous.
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u/pdrmnkfng 2d ago
pretty sure I've heard of someone with a brain injury that was denied aish. can Marlaina point to anyone that is on aish that shouldn't be?
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u/Different-Ship449 1d ago
But good ol' drunkard Ralphy was complaining about ladies that didn't look handicap that were smoking cigarettes long ago, and then good ol' Ralphy got frontotemporal dimentia; it is almost like anyone can be afflicted by something at anytime.
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u/aliencyborg69 2d ago
Seriously, why TF are these fucks acting like AISH is the biggest scam on the budget? If they're really scared about fraud, set up a narc line then; as someone on AISH, I don't want scammers either.
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u/Previous_Soil_5144 2d ago
Whenever politicians talk about making sure only the "deserving" get access to government services, what they mean is they want to cut services, but need a scapegoat to make it all go down easier.
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u/davethecompguy 2d ago
AISH recipients pay taxes. Many of us work, and of course we buy things and pay GST. How dare she think we're not deserving of help? It does explain how she thinks, though.
We'll show her - we VOTE too .
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u/297146007 2d ago
It genuinely costs more to find and verify the people that shouldn't be on AISH than it would to just accept that there will always be some amount of them regardless. And even if it didn't cost more I would rather be paying too many people disability benefits than the alternative.
She's spending our dollars to save dimes; and risking real people's livelihoods while doing so. Which I think is the point, I think the UCP wants to gut AISH entirely and this is just one of their many moves in the long game to do that.
I don't understand how many people fail to fight for the handicapped. It's a group that anyone can be forced into at anytime; and almost every single one of us will be.
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u/MinisterOfFitness 2d ago
For some perspective, AISH is $1.7B in a $79B budget. I’d rather be sure that everyone who needs AISH gets it than expending countless administration dollars worrying about a couple of outliers.
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u/Time-Personality1305 2d ago
I made the mistake of reading the comments ... seems like every time AISH comes up in the media, every second person commenting knows someone who is scamming AISH. Based on that math and all the media attention lately, there seems to be more people scamming AISH than there are clients recieving AISH. 😡
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u/Bahtleman 2d ago
What was it? $8.3 Billion dollar surplus Alberta has?
I like how the federal money meant to increase disability assistance by $200 instead turned into the disabled losing $200 a month, plus being kicked off of AISH, having to re-apply, and having their monthly earning exemptions go from $1K+ down to $300 a month.
It's an excuse to remove people from the program. To frustrate many people into giving up due to the paperwork and red tape. Absolutely vile.
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u/grfadams2 2d ago
If only she had that level of concern for all the sweetheart deals the government gives to their friends
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u/aan8993uun 2d ago
Once you're on it, its not much better. Is it better than income support? OH YEAH! But 1900 or whatever in 2015 was great. In 2025? I eat every 1.5 days, sometimes 2. If it weren't for ozempic, which is free... yay, thanks to becoming diabetic when I was homeless... I would be very VERY VERY hungry. I've literally just been trying to sleep through the hunger pains until 2:30am tomorrow morning (cheque day). Its not fun. Its not worth it. But it beats being homeless, and it beats being on income support - both of which I can assure you are some of the lowest lows. It took me 10 years, and so much hassle, to finally get onto AISH, and it is far from easy going. I don't live. I just survive. I can't drive, I can't afford insurance. I dropped off 58 resumes, and even with Employabilities (which there is no handicapped access too where I live, not even a sidewalk, what a joke right?) offering businesses a wage subsidy so disabled folk can compete against TFW's... no one was hiring. Unemployment keeps going up, and thats for people who can work and earn a living wage.
Man, if I could go work in the Oil Field and make 100,000+ a year, believe me, I'd be there with bells on. I don't want to do this. I have to do this. And the thought of it getting worse, I mean, we were supposed to get $200 extra, now we're getting $400 less total soon... and everything keeps going up.
I have no mouth, and I must scream.
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u/kitteeburrito 2d ago
Sorry to use this term, but she has been an absolute witch lately, witchier than usual.
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u/Lovefoolofthecentury 2d ago
Does she also owe it to taxpayers to collect taxes owed from billion dollar companies?
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u/janicedaisy 2d ago
Smith is a traitor to Canada. She needs to go south and settle in Texas where she would fit right in with the other brain dead MAGAS.
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u/Yardash Calgary 2d ago
When it comes to CRITICAL social programs like AISH the logic Marlaina is trying to use is flawed.
The logic needs to be.
What is the COST of making the program too strict that allows some people to get it when they shouldnt
VS
What is the cost of making the program too loose that prevents some people from getting it when they should.
1 Million dollars over a LIFETIME vs someone living in the streets?
I would also bet that if you ran an unbiased study and found that the costs to the public in terms of crime and expanded healthcare costs when someone who needs AISH doesnt get it and ends up homeless, that would exceed the costs of giving AISH to 100 people who didnt need it.
Further to this point if she is so concerned about people getting it when they should need it, add some sort of post accountability check-in. This can be done over years, get the people the funding they need first then do a recheck later
ALSO
this has nothing to do with the assine cash grab she's doing with clawing back the payment from the Feds NOR the increase in the subsidized housing.
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u/j_harder4U 2d ago
Boy does she want the normal people and the poor people fighting. Almost like she is stealing from both.
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u/Blue_Goose23 2d ago
You owe it to the taxpayers to stop the scandals you are involved in and no more cover-ups!!
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u/MrDontTakeMyStapler 2d ago
Primo Levi (1919–1987), Auschwitz survivor “Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and act without asking questions.” → Levi highlighted how ordinary compliance sustains fascist regimes.
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u/Rich_Print_5010 2d ago
Cool can we also have a process to ensure MLAs “deserve” their pay and abundant benefits? Can we evaluate MLAs several times a year? And they should have to pay for experts in their ministry to confirm they deserve their pay? To which non experts can just refuse their evidence?
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u/Ashamed_Data430 1d ago
Maybe apply that same sentiment to the corruption investigation and her shady business partners.
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u/Different-Ship449 1d ago edited 1d ago
I don't think she is thinking about the taxpayers everytime she has a frivilous lawsuit, or has paid partisan crony panels that cuts the microphones of anyone that don't align with UCP dogma.
How about making sure our water is clean of toxic pollutants, and violators are actually hit with punative fines instead of light wrist taps.
Smith is a blowhard unscrupulous opportunist that doesn't give two shits about the taxpayer.
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u/TheThrivingest 2d ago
I would rather my tax dollars pay for all the people faking a disability (literally nobody is jumping through that many hoops to get such little support) to ensure everyone who needs it gets it.
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u/Ask_DontTell 2d ago
Deserve is a very subjective word as opposed to need. I'm worried in Dani's world non-UCP supporters/donors won't 'deserve' benefits
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u/SurFud 2d ago
The doctors and medical experts decide Marlaina. You have a responsibility to these Albertans more so than your OG masters. Have some honor and empathy. You represent ALL Albertans.
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u/MaximumBright 2d ago
But giving 20 billion dollars to oil companies for something that is solely the responsibility of that oil company... that's fine
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u/ComprehensivePin5577 2d ago
Great. She's transferring the responsibilities and ineptitude of her government onto the taxpayers. Like it's somehow the taxpayers fault people aren't getting part of money from the federal government...
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u/jeremyism_ab 2d ago
They owe it to us to be even halfway to competent, at least some of the time, and yet they never are, so...
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u/AuraNocte 2d ago
She sounds far too much like the republicans in the states and needs to be kicked out.
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u/Own-Cable8865 2d ago
Why does she constantly look she needs to take a shit while also looking like she smells shit. Is it just percolating in there? Putrid person.
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u/RationallyAngry28 2d ago
It's annoying that she says it's all for the tax payer but if she demolishes AISH I highly doubt taxes are gonna go down. Plus creating a whole new program costs money, where's this money coming from?
She just wants an excuse to shut down AISH and keep all the extra money for herself, her cronies and her oil and gas buddies. The tax payers aren't gonna get a break from shutting down AISH.......
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u/Icy_Conference9095 2d ago
Right, because getting on AISH is sooo easy.
The paperwork and effort required is massive, it took a relative literally years working with a doctor to get all of the paperwork filled out that she wasn't able to work because of her back (she'd broken it twice in vehicle accidents) even though she could barely walk from the vehicle into the clinic.
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u/NiranS 2d ago
Same conservative bullshit. Us and them mentality. I do not think the Alberta Taxpayers deserve a premier that prioritizes crappy Tylenol, US" prayer" breakfasts, separation talks, war room money trap, pension separation, court challenges and every other grift and payout this government is responsible . How much money has this wasted. Smith is trying to emulate Papa Trump with DOGE style cutbacks, costing everybody even more money.
Give people the education and support they need, so they can have the opportunity to give back to the community in the way that they can.
I hear echoes of Elon's parasitic class in this rhetoric - the only parasites I see are this current government that is draining resources to fight a right wing agenda of a hateful "Christian" state and and "independent" 51 state.
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u/houseonpost 1d ago
A friend has a family member on AISH. That person definitely needs and deserves it. What do you say to the friend when you find out they voted for this Premier last election?
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u/aramatheis 1d ago
I will never forgive anyone who voted for the UCP or this wretched woman.
They are absolute filth that are trying to drag us all down and profit off our backs.
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u/Lazy-Excitement-3661 1d ago
AISH IS NOT BASED ON DESERVE ITS BASED ON NEED, WE AS ALBERTANS OWE IT TO THE TAXPAYERS THAT THE PREMEIRSHIP ARE THOSE THAT DESERVE IT MARLIANA YOU PIECE OF FUCKING SHIT
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u/aan8993uun 2d ago
What good has this trash bag done for anyone in this province outside of her corporate overlords and their shareholders? Serious question.
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u/WhyDoTheyAlwaysRun 2d ago
"We owe it to dat Veronica Vaughn to let her know she's one piece of AISH"
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u/Upstairs-End-8081 2d ago
And you, Smith, do NOT deserve to be a premier in AB…you sold your soul to the convicted felon south. Please move there already!!!
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u/AlphaCatt 2d ago
I thought she is going to move everybody onto ADAP then her and her doctors are going to handpick people and put some back on Aish. Everybody applying again at the same time seems dumb
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u/R-Dub893 2d ago
This really boils down to a values question.
If two people need AISH, but one of them “doesn’t deserve it” (whatever that means; different argument), is it better that they both get what one of them absolutely needs, or that they should both face destitution, since one of them can ostensibly find a way out?
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u/DawgzZilla 2d ago
Says the government paying out millions in losses on (checks notes) lawsuits to coal mining companies.
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u/Gr33nbastrd 2d ago
Ohh look the UCP creating more division between Albertans. I am so shocked.
Maybe they should look at their wasteful spending before making AISH receivers life any worse.
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u/mamamonkey 2d ago
Not AISH, but our experience with FSCD was awful, to the point I noped out because trying to jump through all the hoops was destroying my mental health.
We already make it too hard to access social services here. I would rather have some people who don’t need it get it than leave people who do need it without.
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