In which I suggest that First Voices should not be getting our hopes up

 

By Kendall Worth

In a recent BLOG focused on feedback from Nova Scotia’s disability community to the latest round of budget cutbacks by the PC Government, I listed a series of “pointed questions” that I directed towards Barbara Adams in her capacity as Minister of Seniors and Long-Term Care.

I had reported on some of the coming changes to Nova Scotia’s Disability Support Program (DSP) – celebrating the policy commitment to move where possible Persons with Disabilities out of Institutions and into community-based residential arrangements.

We can all agree that this is a positive and long overdue policy change that will greatly improve the quality of life of many Nova Scotians. However, I was also clear to warn that this was only one of many changes that First Voices had been calling for with regards to the DSP.

Since the posting of that BLOG, I have been NOT heard from Minister Adams. But I have been hearing from Income Assistance recipients a hope that perhaps this is a sign that the ambitious IA Transformation process launched by the previous government over a decade ago might now be back on the Table. Some First Voices are actually saying that speeches made by Minister Adams in the Legislature is giving them hope that broader and more significant, positive changes are likely to follow.

Unfortunately, I think this assessment is way too optimistic: I do not want to sound too negative but “Don’t get your hopes up!” is my advice.

First of all, I have heard nothing in her speeches that would imply that Minister Adams buys into the argument for the transformation of the Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program. If she has uttered the word “transformation” in this context would be a surprise indeed.

We also need to keep in mind that Barbara Adams was the PC Critic for Community Services from 2017 till 2021 while the Liberals were developing the whole Transformation agenda. This was also the same time frame that the human rights case about institutionalizing the disabled was happening.

So we need to remember that the one significant change that has taken place has NOT been a political choice of this Government, but a court-ordered directive that has taken years to be processed and formulated as an implementable legal “Remedy” to a long-standing human rights abuse.

Some First Voices suggest hopefully that the current PC Government put the Transformation process on hold while the Human Rights case and legal remedy processes were being worked through. And now perhaps it can be reactivated for wider reforms to benefit ALL who are IA recipients and DSP clients.

But I have seen nothing tangible to suggest that this is a realistic scenario.

To date, the best we have seen from the Houston Government has been occasional, small increases in IA rates. But even than, these remain far below the poverty level and are certainly not “livable” in today’s economy.

In past articles in the old Nova Scotia Advocate I made the case that Governments have a long history of ignoring the voices of the poorest in our community.  This is nothing new, as a review of my BLOG posts on the reform of Nova Scotia’s ESIA program clearly shows.

So let me close this BLOG with a word of caution to First Voices who see the prospect for a better deal for low income and disabled Nova Scotians under this current government. I do not see any reason to believe that the Houston Government and Minister Adams will introduce positive and progressive changes to ESIA programs in Nova Scotia WITHOUT the sustained and active engagement of a wide range of Nova Scotians, our community organizations and unions, - along with the power of human rights cases and the courts.

We need to put the case for a thorough TRANSFORMATION of Government programs back on the table, - and to push hard. The Human Rights Remedy has shown us one approach to securing positive change for one group of marginalised Nova Scotians. But different approaches will be needed to win improvements for different groups and issues.

There is MUCH left to be done! 

Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.