Alberta

Excerpted from event description

We have a chance to make a change.

For 40 years, wages have stagnated and public spending on our essential public services has declined. Under the COVID-19 pandemic, already-existing inequality has soared. Our front-line workers are stretched thin and burnt out. Climate change is reaching critical and irreversible levels. There is no doubt that the situation we are collectively facing is dire. 

But we have seen time and time again what happens when the people band together in solidarity to demand change. It's not enough to return to normal. We need to create a future where absolutely no one is left behind. 

How do we build a just recovery that starts with public services and puts working Albertans at the centre? How do we refuse to return to the inequitable status quo and demand better?  Join us every Thursday evening in April at 6:30pm for a wide range of discussions about what we need to do to protect and strengthen our public services and take bold action for a just recovery.

The Government of Alberta has released its plan to reduce child care fees in Alberta by an average of 50% by early 2022. Under this plan, every family’s out-of-pocket fees will decrease, but lower-income families will not see a 50% decrease—and some may see a decrease of less than 15%. As a result, child care may still be unaffordable for lower-income families under the new system. This talk will explain how the new system works, why it creates uneven decreases for different families across Alberta and will discuss both short-term and long-term options for changing this situation. 

Our Guest

Rob Buschmann, PhD is a research associate at the Community-University Partnership for the Study of Children, Youth, and Families in the School of Public Health at the University of Alberta. He is currently CUP’s representative to the Edmonton Council for Early Learning and Care (ECELC), an organization with the vision of early learning and care for all children that is high in quality, universally available, accessible, affordable, and responsive to the diversity of individual children and their families.