Silence on cuts to disabled supports and rights is deafening
By Lethbridge Herald on June 14, 2025.
Editor:
As a lifelong resident of Lethbridge, a parent, and a self-advocate, I am deeply concerned by the disturbing trend of disability rights and supports being quietly dismantled in our province.
We are witnessing the closure of organizations that once empowered disabled voices but are being forced to shut doors due to provincial funding cuts. Supports like PDD (Persons with Developmental Disabilities) are shrinking. AISH recipients are struggling with stagnant rates while rent and cost of living soar. The latest \’clawback\’ of the Canadian Disability Benefit only adds fuel to an already out of control fire. Along with the newly announced ADAP (Alberta Disability Advocacy Partnership) which remains a mystery, with little transparency or assurance it will actually serve our community.Â
These are not minor policy changes. They are life-altering decisions that impact the autonomy, identity, and survival of disabled individuals—our neighbours, our friends, our children.
But what’s perhaps most devastating is the silence. Where are the partnerships? The coalitions? The visible allies? As someone deeply embedded in advocacy work, I can tell you that we are noticing who is showing up—and who is not.Â
The community connections that once made space for disabled and visibly different individuals to feel valued and included are eroding. Networking opportunities are drying up or aging out. Collaborations that once promised inclusion are no longer being prioritized.Â
We are being left out—again. Disabled Albertans are being forced into unsafe housing, institutional settings, and poverty—not because their needs are too great, but because our systems have decided they are not worth supporting.Â
We are rolling backwards into an era of segregation and silence. The more strict the categorization of those to get support only thins out to fewer and fewer as more fight for basic necessities. I fear for what comes next.
As a self-advocate, I will not stay silent. I urge readers to pay attention. Ask questions. Write to your MLAs. Support organizations trying to fill the gaps. And most of all, listen to disabled voices—especially now, when so many are being pushed out of the conversation and into the dark. Inclusion isn’t a buzzword or trend—it’s a responsibility. Let’s act like it.
Chelsey Peat
Lethbridge
12-11
Smith only listens to her hard core supporters. She doesn’t care about seniors and those surviving on govt support. She will have to pay attention if the UCP lose the upcoming elections. We must punt this separatist.