The Seniors Action and Liaison Team

Martha's Monthly is a grassroots non-partisan political action movement aiming to have input into policy-making at the provincial level in Alberta. Using the idea of St John's (Newfoundland) Status of Women Council’s "Feminism Fits" we send a monthly mailout to you about a certain topic in Alberta along with a sample letter. If you wish to participate you add your name, address and phone number and then e-mail directly to the premier, the Opposition leader, the ND leader, and us. We'll show you how to do this in each mailout in case you don't have their e-mail addresses. We track how many letters get sent on the one day (the 8th of the month) and we let media outlets know.

Ralph Klein wants to hear from "the Marthas and the Henrys" of Alberta and we think it is about time he heard from some Marthas who have a problem with high car insurance rates, a flat tax, the lowest per capita spending in Canada, large classrooms, low welfare rates, lack of affordable childcare, increasing tuition costs, deregulated electricity, the lowest minimum wage in Canada, crumbling infrastructure, and billions of dollars of surplus!

If you want to join us, please send us an e-mail at marthasmonthly@yahoo.ca and we'll put you on the list to receive our monthly letters. You might want to read some of our previous letters which are shown below.

If you wish to have further information on Martha's Monthly please contact the Womanspace Resource Centre in Lethbridge at 403-329-8338 or email us at marthasmonthly@yahoo.ca

The Honourable Ralph Klein
Premier of Alberta
307 Legislature Bldg
10800 97 Ave
Edmonton, AB
T5K 2B7

June 8, 2004

Dear Premier Klein:

I am writing to you as one of the women involved in Martha’s Monthly. You often refer to us common Albertans as the “Marthas and the Henrys” and you say you listen to what we have to say. We are pleased about that and so we have decided to write you on the 8th of each month with our comments on what we see as important in our province.

This month, our inaugural month, we wanted to let you know our disappointment with you during your appearance in front of the Public Accounts Committee in early May. Much has been made of your behaviour towards Ms. Blakeman, and though that was unnecessary and reminiscent of schoolyard bullies the world over, what I am upset about is deeper than your behaviour. I am concerned that after many years in office you have begun to behave as though Albertans are not entitled to have public officials who are accountable to their electorate. Why are your travel expenses not public information? Why are you making them available from April 1 onward but not retroactively?

Mr. Klein, I work hard for my income. I am willing to pay my fair share of taxes, just like every other Martha and Henry in the province, but I am unwilling to see you spend my money on expensive trips, meals, and golf holidays. This is not a legitimate business expense, as you claimed. It is lavish and unnecessary. When I travel to meetings I use car pools, public transportation, and other forms of economical transportation. I think you should too. If you need a jet plane or a car service then prove it. And show me, and the rest of the Marthas out here, how much it cost me to let you have that service. Open your books Mr. Klein. We expect accountability from you.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your address

July 8, 2004

Dear Premier Klein,

In your last public statement on the matter of health care, you promised "public consultations" before making any changes that might compromise the Canada Health Act. The Marthas of this province wish to express our concerns over the recently released Graydon Report and over the Mazankowski report. Our concerns name the special vulnerability of women in our Province should we adopt the strategies recommended in these two documents. We wish to signal our special concern over three of the strategies that you have endorsed for revenue generation within our health care system:

An increase in health care premiums: Health care premiums will further strain middle income families. In spite of the rhetoric of the Government about the "Alberta Advantage" such health care premiums amount to another tax that middle income earners cannot support.

Increased Privatization: Mr. Klein, you have said publicly that you were prepared to allow two private hip replacement clinics to open in the province. We are concerned for the thousands Marthas in this province who would be affected by such privatization. Seniors, who are the most likely in need of such care, are the least able to afford it and this is especially the case for female senior citizens, who are far more likely to live in poverty than their male counterparts. Privatization is said to open up "choice" for consumers to receive the health care they wish. Privatization means the end of universal health care, and introduces a two-tiered health care system where the rich will be able to afford to get such procedures as diagnostic testing before those of lesser means. This is already happening, and we, the Marthas, firmly believe that this trend must be challenged and halted as it introduces injustices between the rich and poor in our country in access to health care. Given the feminization of poverty, this injustice also translates into a disparity between men and women in access to health care services.

Incentives for Albertans to stay healthy: The presumption is that the "consumer" of health care will make judicious decisions about health care use if there is a system of accounts in place which will keep track of their "costs" within the system. This shift in understanding from viewing health care as an individual rather than a public good is a betrayal of the very spirit of Medicare, and threatens to make false and accusing assumptions about lifestyle choice that disproportionately affect women, children, the poor, elderly and First Nations of this province. We know that women will access health care services more frequently than men. This is due to many factors, including the specific needs of women during reproductive years and women's relative longevity compared to men. The poor and First Nations within this Province also have specific health care needs that are threatened by a system of accounts which intends to tie access to behavior through a debit system. Such gate-keeping has no place in a public system. The determinants of health are far broader than individual lifestyle choice. Socio-economic factors greatly influence the health of individuals. A more efficient strategy for health is greater social security through increasing the province's astonishingly low rates of Supports for Independence, Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped and minimum wage.

In sum, Mr. Klein, we the Marthas are among the most vulnerable to the proposed "reforms" to health care. We want a public system where health is a social rather than a private good, and care is distributed not by market principles, but by the values of justice and equality.

Sincerely,

The Honorable Ralph Klein,
Premier of Alberta,
Legislative Assemble of Alberta
307 Legislature Building
Edmonton, Alberta
T5K 2B6

August 8, 2004

Dear Premier Klein:
The Marthas of Alberta have been busy this summer. We are raising our children (and grandchildren), working hard inside and outside the home, and we are watching the Province's surplus blossom faster than our zucchini patches. Mr. Klein, we are proud of our Province but we hang our head in shame when it comes to our Province's record on providing the highest quality childcare in Canada. In fact, a recent Canada wide assessment of childcare has Alberta ranking among the bottom of all the provinces. I find this a very strange condition for the only debt free province. Now that our province is out of debt and you are looking for ways to spend, it would seem appropriate to turn your attention to the future of our province, our children.

In April 2003 you launched Alberta's Promise and made it's mission to help Albertans become "heroes to our children". It was followed up by The Report of the Learning Commission that spoke strongly in favor of pre-kindergarten for all children stating that there is "a significant return on investment to society when high-quality early childhood development programs are provided by capable and well-trained teachers." Well Mr. Klein we could not agree more. We wish to encourage you to be a hero to all children in the Province by funding a universally available, quality early childhood development program that is provided by capable, well-trained, and properly remunerated teachers.

Mr. Klein, Alberta needs to address the wages, working conditions, training/professional development and retention requirements of the child care sector. Alberta's median pay for childcare workers is $8.36 per hour. This, sadly, is about the same amount of money that a parking lot attendant would make, suggesting that we value the future of our cars about as much as we value the future of our children. No wonder Alberta has a staggering childcare staff turnover rate of 45%.

We believe that conditions must be put into place that will require the Alberta government to spend Federal funds to supplement, not replace, Provincial child care funding. It is a depressing fact that Alberta actually spends less (per Capita) today on childcare than we spent 10 years ago.

Alberta needs to address affordability for all families; provide funding to hire, train, and retain quality staff; make a promise to direct Federal funding into supplementing Provincial spending; ensure accessibility to all Albertans; increase the availability of licensed, regulated child care spots; and provide options for families to make real choices about who cares for their children.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your address
Your email

Premier Ralph Klein
Alberta Legislature
September 8, 2004

Dear Premier Klein:

As you may remember, the 8th of the month is the day you receive a letter from the Marthas of the province who have something to tell you about life here. This month we are glad to see school start again and watch harvest moons. We are not so pleased, though, when we read your Governments press releases about Low Income Programs.

Life in Alberta is very hard on some of our sisters and brothers. It is particularly hard on low-income widows/ers under the age of 65. We are concerned that the Widows' Pension has been subsumed under Alberta Works, a program that requires widows to meet welfare eligibility rules. Life in Alberta is very hard for those people who require welfare as the amount they receive from their government gets them less than half way to the poverty line.

See Mr. Klein, what concerns us most about this is that welfare rates in this province are just too low. That is what your own MLA Committee to Review Low Income Programs stated in their report. By only implementing one recommendation of the Committee, to amalgamate Widows' Pension into the Alberta Works Program, you are punishing those women who have worked hard within their homes to care for their families. Now they face life alone where they are forced to re-enter the workplace, often without adequate training or "work experience," precisely because they were at home caring for their families. Their alternative is to rely upon the dismally low rates of Widows' Pension, and to "prove" their eligibility for this small sum. They know, as we Marthas know, that being unattached in Canada makes you more likely to be poor. We stand with our sisters and say that in a province as rich in resource revenues as ours, adequate funding for the Widows’ Pension, Welfare, and AISH should be your government’s top priority.

Please make welfare a compassionate and livable income by following the recommendations of the MLA Committee and many others who have called on you to increase welfare rates and index them to the cost of living. We ask too that Widows' Pensions be returned to a universal benefit which recognizes women's years of work and contribution to society by caring for their families, that is compassionate toward their loss, and that therefore does not require widows to meet the strict and punitive eligibility standards that are set our by the Alberta Works Program.

Sincerely,

Premier Klein
Alberta Legislature

October 8, 2004

Dear Mr. Klein

I am deeply concerned about the Finance Survey of September and the AISH review survey of October. I am concerned that your government is relying on these unscientific ways of polling some people in order to make decisions that are critically important to our future. Where is the vision of this government?

You have suggested we will have an election on November 29, 2004. I want to know what policies you will run on. Will you commit to implementing the Low Income Review report that called for increased welfare rates? Will you commit to increasing the AISH rates so that disabled Albertans can live with dignity and not have to use food banks to survive? Will you commit to a vision of Alberta that includes all Albertans and not just those who have the ability to complete surveys

Mr. Klein I want my government to show leadership and think beyond the next five minutes (or the next election). My vote will not be bought with surpluses. My vote will be earned by the provision of leadership, vision, and a compassion for all those who make up Alberta.

Please commit to a plan that includes increasing the minimum wage, increasing AISH and welfare rates, re-establishing the widows' pension, and introducing a new compassion for all Albertans. And please encourage your colleagues to accept criticism, not just survey results. Because the Marthas and Henrys of Alberta are not always happy and we have the right to ask questions, not just answer ones that your government asks us

Sincerely,

November 8, 2004

Dear Mr. Klein:

We Marthas of Martha's Monthly are writing to you again!

During this election we are paying close attention to the platform that your Party has decided to run on. We are concerned because we have heard very little substance in your platform. We are keenly aware of the issues of the oil price and believe your platform should make a clear statement on royalties. We are concerned that oil companies in Alberta are not paying a fair royalty for the oil they take from Alberta and they should have paid billions of dollars more over the last 10 years. We are not comparing Alberta's royalties to those of Norway or Alaska. We are simply comparing the royalty rates that were collected under Peter Lougheed's government and your government. The Parkland Institute has calculated that during the years 1992-1997 Alberta collected nearly $20 Billion less on royalties than we could have had we maintained the royalty rates of the Lougheed government. And it was during this same time that Albertans began to pay user fees for everything from libraries to provincial parks to health care.

We want public debate around issues such as oil royalties, user fees, and government programs. We believe that this discussion is best supported through tried and true democratic measures such as direct and clear campaign platforms and open public policy debate with your opposition and critics. We are less confident than your party that such measures as "public consultations" through questionnaires on health care and AISH raise the critical questions necessary for genuine alternatives in public policy.

Please take the Marthas of this province seriously when you campaign and give us credit. We want to talk about issues during a campaign and we scrutinize Party platforms before we vote. We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Your name
Your address
Your email

Congratulations on your re-election. The Marthas of Martha’s Monthly would like to offer you a few pieces of advice on the election results. We noticed that though you won nearly ¾ of the seats, your Party did not garner even half the votes. Such an election result can happen under the current electoral system. The First-Past-the-Post (FPTP) system we have has even led to two provincial elections in which the party that had the second highest number of votes had the most seats and formed the government (BC 1996 election and the Quebec 1998 election). Such results lead to voters demanding a system that more accurately reflects their will. Though your government’s win is not an example of this problem with FPTP, it does suggest that you should consider electoral reform so that such an electoral result never happens in Alberta.

We have two concerns about democratic reform in Alberta. First, we call on you to announce a Citizen’s Assembly, similar to BC’s model, in order to review the electoral process in Alberta. We join the many groups and individuals who have made this call since November 22. Second, we are asking that you immediately reinstate all-Party membership on committees of the Legislature. With so few sitting days, your government needs to provide more accountability to the electorate. Re-instating all-Party membership is the first step towards democratic renewal.

Please make an immediate commitment to an open, accountable government in your last term as Premier. We encourage you to see democracy as a day-to-day process and not just one day every four years.