Human services and poverty

Public Interest Alberta is pleased to release Priorities for Advancing the Public Interest.

The Alberta government has released its 2018 budget, which includes effective cuts to most areas of public services, as spending fails to keep pace with inflation and population growth.
 
“The piecemeal cuts to public services in the budget take Alberta in the wrong direction, but the striking thing is what is not in the budget,” said Joel French, Executive Director of Public Interest Alberta. “Absent are many things Albertans need, like improved classroom conditions in schools and addressing the shortage of long-term care beds for seniors.”

EDMONTON - Public Interest Alberta is attending a Government of Alberta consultation regarding the 2018 provincial budget in order to encourage major changes in the province’s approach to revenue and spending.

The Edmonton Social Planning Council, together with Public Interest Alberta and the Alberta College of Social Workers, has released a new report titled "Keep Investing in Alberta’s Children: The Government’s Role in Ending Child and Family Poverty."

The Edmonton Social Planning Council, Public Interest Alberta, and the Alberta College of Social Workers released a new report, Keep Investing in Alberta’s Children: The Government’s Role in Ending Child and Family Poverty.

New data shows nearly 1 in 5 Albertans still earn $15 per hour or less

EDMONTON - Public Interest Alberta is pleased with the Government of Alberta's decision to implement a $15 per hour minimum wage by 2018.  Tomorrow, the minimum wage will increase by one dollar to $12.20 per hour and the liquor server rate will be eliminated.

In the lead up to Labour Day weekend, Public Interest Alberta, in partnership with the Alberta College of Social Workers, released new data on low-wage workers from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey. It shows that 354,700 workers, making up 18.6% of employed Albertans, earn $15 per hour or less.

Over the past 30 years in Alberta, the wealthy elites in the top one per cent have seen their incomes rise by 72 per cent, while the other 99 per cent of us saw only an 11 per cent increase. That trend is not inevitable; it is the direct result of misguided government policies of the past. Minimum wage increases are one of the ways we can begin to rebalance the scales.

EDMONTON—Following the Labour Day long weekend, Public Interest Alberta released new Statistics Canada data showing 362,400 (18.9% of all employed workers) earn $15 per hour or less. Of that number, 123,700 workers live in the Edmonton area, and 122,100 live in the Calgary area.