Christmas nears

By Leela Sharon Aheer Chestermere-Strathmore MLA

Hello Strathmore! It has been an amazing week visiting with so many of you during the constituency week. I hope that you were able to get downtown for the Christmas Downtown shopping event. The inspiration for this was Strathmore Florist’s Brian and Linda Code who have held a Christmas Open House every year for 38 years. This year Linda baked over 4,000 cookies. The merchants told me the store traffic was amazing and people were very impressed by the special deals they offered. When you shop local you get unique items, great service, and you support the local community.
We are changing the eligibility criteria for Drug Coverage for Seniors. If you and your spouse are both 65 or older, you are both eligible for the plan. Family members younger than 65 years of age will no longer be covered by Coverage for Seniors. We have been exploring options regarding income testing for Coverage for Seniors. In the meantime, government-sponsored drug coverage for seniors will continue to be the same. As more details come, we will keep you posted. The changes to the coverage for dependents will take effect later this fiscal year. Senior spouse/partners and dependents will continue to have coverage under the new plan.
The main reasons for the changes are that the plan cost $600 million last year and that cost is expected to grow by eight per cent this year. We need to ensure sustainability of the program. If your spouse/partner and/or dependent is under the age of 65, they will no longer be eligible for coverage under Coverage for Seniors after the change takes effect. If they require extended coverage, they may want to consider options such as the government sponsored Non-Group Coverage Plan. We are amending the Health Insurance Premiums Regulation and the Blue Cross Agreement Regulation to enable the change. You can reach the AHCIP Office by phoning 780-427-1432 (toll free in Alberta by first dialing 310-0000).
Premier Kenney’s Fair Deal Panel will be holding meetings throughout Alberta to explore options for Alberta to ensure our interests are protected within Canada. The Fair Deal Panel will consist of Honourable Preston Manning PC CC AOE, Stephen Lougheed, Oryssia Lennie CM, Jason Goodstriker, Donna Kennedy-Glans QC, Moin Yahya PhD JD, Drew Barnes MLA, Miranda Rosin MLA and Tany Yao MLA.
The panel will consult with experts, hold open town hall meetings across the province and undertake research to inform their recommendations. All Albertans will be given an opportunity to provide input through online surveys, and other forms of direct feedback, both digital and traditional. The panel will seek to conduct its public consultations between Nov. 16 and Jan. 30, 2020 and complete its report to the government by March 31, 2020.
You may have heard the dismissive statements by the Leader of the Bloc Quebecois that he has no interest in helping us get our resources to tidewater even while happily accepting the billions of dollars that Alberta contributes to Canada. As Premier Kenney said: “pick a lane.” Options that will be considered include setting up our own Alberta Pension Plan. Experts agree that should we do so we could offer the same benefits with lower premiums or perhaps offer improved benefits if premiums remained the same. This is well within our authority and Quebec has operated its own pension plan for the last 60 years. Another option is more control over immigration, again something Quebec has. We want to hear from you and stay tuned for a meeting near you or other options to make your voice heard. The panel’s mandate can be found on Alberta.ca.
From Premier Jason Kenney: “Albertans aren’t asking for a special deal, just a fair one. Our United Conservative government will do anything in our power to get it for them.”
As always, we love to hear from you.
(Leela Sharon Aheer is the MLA Elect for Chestermere-Strathmore, Minister of Status of Women and Minister of Culture and Multiculturalism)