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Alberta's Deficit-Elimination Agenda — How Have Seniors Fared?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Donna M. Wilson  and
Janet Ross Kerr
Donna M. Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Janet Ross Kerr
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
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Abstract

In June 1993, the newly elected Progressive Conservative government of Alberta headed by Ralph Klein initiated a three-year deficit-elimination plan focussing exclusively on expenditure reductions. Despite the rapid implementation of this plan over the next three years, most Albertans did not find subsequent changes in government services and the shift of costs to the consumer to be consequential.Senior citizens, however, differ in a number of significant ways from the general population. Direct reductions in benefits, as well as cost-of-living increases and increases in other costs, combined to create a larger impact for seniors. A case study of one middle-income senior couple illustrates this point. This paper indicates that a more in-depth appraisal of the potential impact of social policy changes on vulnerable groups should be undertaken in other jurisdictions prior to the adoption of such fiscal-reform plans.

Résumé

En juin 1993, le gouvernement de l'Alberta lança un plan de trois ans pour éliminer le déficit provincial. Le point central de ce plan était la réduction de dépenses. Malgré ce processus visant à l'élimination du déficit, la plupart d'Albertains n'ont pas trouvé des changements en ce qui a trait aux services gouvernementaux, et aussi que le transfert des coûts au consommateurs a eu peu de conséquences. Cependant, les personnes âgées different à bien des égards de la population generale. L'effet combiné des réductions directes de bénéfices ainsi que les augmentations du coût de la vie et les changements dans l'accessibilité des services ont créé plus de répercussions pour la majorité des personnes agées. Ces répercussions sont illustrées dans une étude de cas qui dresse le bilan des changements qu'ont occasionné les réformes fiscales du gouvernement Klein pour un couple âgé de revenu moyen. Ce travail indique qu'une évaluation plus en profondeur des répercussions des changements aux politiques sociales sur les groupes vulnérables devrait être entreprise par d'autres jurisdictions qui désirent adopter des changements d'une telle envergure.

Keywords

SeniorsSenior's ProgramsSocial ServicesSocial PolicyChangeFunding Reductions.Personnes âgéesprogrammes pour les personnes âgéesservices sociauxchangementréductions du financement.
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 17 , Issue 2 , Été/Summer 1998 , pp. 197 - 211
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1998

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