Seniors taking another hit from UCP

By Letter to the Editor on April 1, 2021.

Editor; I feel it necessary to make it clear that I have no allegiance to any political party; however for the past 29 years I have lived in Alberta and am more than aware of government policies that often seem less than productive.
The current provincial government seems to target groups like doctors, nurses, teachers, unions and often institute policies that are detrimental to low and middle-income households in the most insidious and insensitive ways – and finally let’s not forget our seniors.
It’s the little add-ons, it’s the little incidental costs, it’s the little inconveniences that erode our social fabric.
Whereas a senior of 80 plus years needed to be examined by a physician to determine their capability to operate a motor vehicle, now this age has dropped to 75 years. And whereas until fairly recently, this was at no charge to the senior.
Now, however, each senior who needs to renew their driver’s license must pay a $100 fee.
It is important to know that this is not a doctor-imposed fee but rather a provincial government-imposed fee.
This imposed fee goes to the government, not the clinic.
In other words, every senior over 75 years of age must renew their license every two years at a cost of $100 for the doctor’s visit and $43 for a new license.
In my humble opinion this is nothing short of another tax grab by this UCP government.
This measure was implemented in a most underhanded way which seems typical of the way this government operates.
The government would rather spend millions/billions of tax payer dollars to wage war on Netflix and any faction that disagrees with their policies or to cover poor investment choices rather than support those grassroots aspects of our society.
And they obviously feel its OK to pay for these wars and poor investments through under the table tax grabs.
One hundred dollars every two years may not seem outlandish but as stated before, it is the little add-ons and the incidental costs can add up to a significant amount placed on a large segment of our society that relies on fixed-income.
Tom Walton
Lethbridge