Cut to veterans parking to stand
Alberta’s health minister is backing a controversial decision to cut a veterans parking program at Calgary hospitals despite calls from critics to overturn the move.
Health Minister Fred Horne told the legislature Wednesday that Alberta Health Services made “the right decision” in phasing out a program that had allowed the Calgary Poppy Fund to purchase discounted annual hospital parking passes that were then used free of charge by veterans and their spouses.
The decision is based on equity — making sure parking is fair across the province — and doesn’t target veterans specifically, Horne said, echoing reasoning by a top AHS official earlier in the week. Veterans, and anyone else in need, can ask hospital social workers for free compassionate parking instead, Horne said, and the intention is to broaden that service.
“Alberta Health Services takes seriously the need to provide free parking on a compassionate basis to many people across the province, veterans among them,” Horne said. “This is the explanation for the change, and I believe it’s the right decision.”
Critics derided the decision. Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said it was a “mistreatment of those who defend our country.”
The discounted parking passes weren’t a handout, Smith told the legislature, and the Calgary Poppy Fund has spent nearly a quarter-million dollars to purchase the discounted passes since 2006. “This is stingy at its worst,” Smith said.
Wildrose finance critic Rob Anderson challenged the notion that veterans shouldn’t receive special treatment. “They were willing to leave their beloved families behind and die for us so we wouldn’t have to salute a swastika one day,” he told the legislature.
Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman also called on health officials to reverse what he called the “unconscionable” call. The amount the program costs the government is about the same as an average AHS executive bonus, Sherman said in a statement released Wednesday.
“These are the men and women who not only built our province, but fought for our freedom. It is truly unconscionable that the government would choose to line their own pockets before they’d afford our veterans this small appreciation,” Sherman said.
The public is outraged, said Liberal MLA Kent Hehr. “Alberta Health Services has their heads buried somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine if they deem it acceptable to cut passes for veterans getting medical treatment,” he told the legislature.
The passes purchased by the poppy fund were signed out on an as-needed basis from legions and the fund of- fice, and allowed veterans and their spouses to park at hospitals for free when going in for treatment or to visit a loved one. But the poppy fund found out in a formal letter in March that AHS will cut the program by the end of June. The poppy fund was allowed to purchase $11,000 worth of parking passes to get them through until then. In the past fiscal year, the Calgary Poppy Fund spent $46,000 to purchase about 385 passes. AHS sold them for $120 each for the year.
The problem with the compassionate parking option is that many proud veterans and their family members are unlikely to ask for it or would be very uncomfortable doing so, said Joey Bleviss, the fund’s chief administrative officer.
To have to explain to a social worker or hospital administrator that you’re having financial difficulties is, in a way, disrespectful, he said.
“I’m not so sure that I would want to walk into, say, the Peter Lougheed and say ‘can I see a social worker?’ and have to explain to them that I can’t afford to pay for parking,” Bleviss said. “They are very proud people and they’re protective of their information.”
AHS has reached out to the poppy fund to offer to sit down and discuss alternate programs for volunteer drivers and compassionate circumstances that may be applicable, a spokesperson said in an email to the Herald. AHS is not reversing its decision, but wants to look at what options may exist, the spokesperson said.
Robert Gray, a 72-year-old veteran who voluntarily drives other veterans and their spouses to Calgary hospitals each week, confirmed that AHS called him Wednesday to request a meeting with him and with Bleviss.
Gray said his understanding is that AHS wants to come up with an alternate plan for volunteer drivers, but he noted that most people using the passes are not volunteers. “It’s a Band-Aid solution,” Gray said.