Albertans already on the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped or AISH program, are concerned about it's future and their's after the provincial government announced it would be reviewing the program.

Highwood MLA, RJ Sigurdson, says the review of any program is necessary to ensure responsible spending in these difficult times.

"When we got elected, we said we were going to make sure we were utilizing tax payer's money in the most effective way possible, and that means reviewing all departments. We want to make sure the money is getting to where it should be, and that's helping vulnerable Albertans," said Sigurdson.

He says although inflation indexing was paused for the AISH program, Alberta pays more for each recipient as it stands.

"We're facing a 25 billion dollar deficit this year. We pay almost $400 more per month per recipient to AISH than any other competing jurisdictions. It's unfortunate that we have to pause indexing, but we're hitting that tough time within our province," said Sigurdson.

Funding to the program has been increased due to an increase in need across the province.

"When it comes to AISH, we've been quite forward that we're going to continue to build it. Minister Sawhney has increased the amount of funding into AISH by almost seven percent across the board, and during a tough time, because we do have more people needing AISH," he said.

The provincial government intends to review eligibility criteria for the AISH program to ensure the needs of vulnerable Albertans on the program are being met.

The review of the program will also assist with forecasting future expenditures.

 

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