Lee Stevens

Home - Basic Income Alberta Poverty costs Albertans between $7.1 and $9.5 billion per year. The economy improves when more people have spending power. About half of all Albertans support a basic income. A basic income could offe...

I just received an invitation to speak to MBA students about how AI strengthens the case for #UBI, and thought about how relevant the basic income movement is in Alberta. basicincomealberta.ca

Still not sure how I feel about this. Its not a basic income because its not a regular payment @ubiworks.bsky.social sums it up best “if it can normalize the push towards a stronger safety net and make basic income more politically mainstream, then it’s progress” #UBI
www.canada.ca/en/departmen...

A step in the right direction: The new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit in context - Maytree On January 26, the federal government announced a series of new measures aimed at making groceries more affordable. The centrepiece of the plan is a new Canada Groceries and Essentials Benefit (CGEB)....

Is it adequate to reduce poverty? No, but here’s the win. We are finally talking about income based solutions to solve food insecurity! #PutFoodbanksOutOfBusiness

maytree.com/publications...

😢

Here is the link to the original motion (11.2) pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/Meeting.aspx...

Here is an interesting development in social policy happening in Alberta. The City of Edmonton has just carried a motion, to advocate to the GoA to immediately pause implementation of ADAP (see motion 10.2). #Ableg #Abpoli pub-edmonton.escribemeetings.com/FileStream.a...

This research study has been approved by the University of Calgary Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board (REB25-1727). If you have questions about the study, you may contact the lead researcher:
Dr. Gillian Petit
Department of Economics, University of Calgary
Email: gillian.petit@ucalgary.ca

📣 Research Participants needed for evaluation of ADAP! Looking for Albertans with disabilities (on AISH, Income Support or ADAP) aged 18–64. Online surveys every ~6 months to Dec 2028 🧵 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Opinion: Celebrating food bank numbers obscene and insulting On Dec. 24, Premier Danielle Smith wrote on her social media account: “This Christmas Eve, I’m thankful for the incredible non-profits supporting Albertans. Our UCP caucus had the chance to give back ...

Lynn McIntyre is one of the reasons I got involved in the basic income movement. I was chairing an event in 2017 on basic income through the lens of food insecurity and she was the keynote. #UBI #basicincome #PutFoodBanksOutofBusiness ca.news.yahoo.com/opinion-cele...

My view from the kitchen window in south Calgary!❄️

Speaking of conflating important differences. My sister sends her kids to a private Christian school in Alberta. She is not a supporter of the anti trans legislation, not a supporter of public funding for private schools nor is she a Christian nationalist 🤷🏻‍♀️

Premier Smith is correct that faith groups historically provided support for the “vulnerable” before the post WW2 expansion of the welfare state but she fails to consider the reliance on unpaid care work of women in the home. A situation that is vastly different from the economy of today.

Alberta’s Social Policy Renaissance: A Critical Policy Study of Alberta’s Social Policy Framework and 10-Year Strategy to Reduce Poverty In 2013, the Government of Alberta created a social policy framework and engaged thousands of Albertans on ideas to reduce poverty; however, the government’s commitments remain unfulfilled. This ar...

📢 New publication alert!
Sharing my latest article:
Alberta’s social policy renaissance: A critical policy study of Alberta’s social policy framework and 10-year strategy to reduce poverty. #ABleg #Abpoli #Cdnpoli #SocialPolicy www.tandfonline.com/eprint/7QYKM...

Media release: Inclusion Alberta deeply dismayed by the passage of Bill 12 - Inclusion Alberta For immediate release – December 9, 2025  Inclusion Alberta is deeply dismayed by the passage of Bill 12, legislation that will do what no one in the disability community asked for: dramatically chang...

📢 Under Bill 12 over 79,000 ppl on AISH will be moved into a new program-the Alberta Disability Assistance Program (ADAP) regardless of their willingness or want. ADAP benefits are $200/mnth less than AISH. I 👏 @inclusionalberta.bsky.social for speaking out! inclusionalberta.org/connections/...

#yyccc #basicincome #UBI

Media release: Bill 12 erodes rights and deepens poverty for Albertans with disabilities - Inclusion Alberta For immediate release – November 26, 2025  Inclusion Alberta is deeply disappointed with the introduction of Bill 12, which enables a 10% benefit cut to tens of thousands of AISH recipients who will b...

Bill 12 introduced in the #ABleg yesterday allows the government to reassign individuals from AISH to the new ADAP program, with benefits $200 lower than AISH ($1,740 vs. $1,940). See media release by Inclusion Alberta inclusionalberta.org/connections/...

Forgot to add there is also a petition on the cancellation of ADAP. Please sign! Details in the letter. #ABleg #ABpoli

The letter states:
- Former council members stand with disability rights groups who have also publicly opposed ADAP.
- They call on the Alberta government to cancel ADAP and maintain current AISH eligibility and benefits.

Open letter to the Government of Alberta – Cancel the ADAP program: Protect the dignity and livelihoods of Albertans with disabilities Dear Premier and Members of the Legislative Assembly, We write with urgent concern. As former leaders in Alberta’s disability programs or members of the Premier’s Council on the Status of Persons w...

🚨 Former Premier’s Council members have issued an open letter condemning ADAP. The proposed program would cut monthly support by $200 and undo decades of progress for Albertans with disabilities#DisabilityRights #ABPoli actionnetwork.org/petitions/8d...

Way to go B.C! 👏 Starting Dec. 1, 2025, couples where both members receive disability assistance will receive the same support allowance as they would if they were two single people. #Disability #SocialAssistance #Socialpolicy #Cdnpoli

://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2025SDPR0017-001110

#glbi #basicincome #senca #bills206 #cdnpoli #povertyreduction | Kim Pate 📢 Bill S-206, on a Guaranteed Livable Basic Income, has been referred to the Senate Committee on National Finance for study. Check out our latest news release here. #GLBI #BasicIncome #SenCa #BillS2...

Bill S-206 a guaranteed basic income is moving to the senate finance committee! Thank you senator Pate! 🥳 #basicincome #UBI #cdnpoli www.linkedin.com/posts/senato...

😒 I am not impressed.

An Indigenous Youth’s Journey for Climate Justice in Canada — Our Children's Trust For 21-year-old Leandrea, a member of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation who lives in Whitehorse, Yukon, the fight against the climate crisis is personal, physical and cultural.

Leandrea is my cousin! “Our core value is a deep respect for the land—we never take more than we need” www.ourchildrenstrust.org/blog/an-indi...

Blue Jay
Ben Houstie ~ Heiltsuk
2024

Call your MLA to express your concern on Bill 2! #ableg

Ireland just became the first country to announce a permanent basic income program after a successful 3 yr pilot!! #basicincome 👏👏👏

From a colonial modernity lens, we are conditioned not to question whether or not progress is good. Progress has become synonymous with “innovation” and we should probably start thinking about these terms more critically.

How can the next city council make Calgary safer? Podcast Episode · This is Calgary · 2025-10-01 · 20m

My take on how to make the city safer #yyc #yyccc podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t...

Recording for the “this is Calgary” pod. Watch for it on Wednesday! #yyc #yyccc

Income taxes down, property taxes up — especially in Calgary: How Alberta Budget 2025 affects you | CBC News Province's new budget means nearly all Albertans will pay less in income taxes, while home and business owners — especially those in Calgary — will pay more in provincial property taxes. The province ...

A reminder that the provincial government spent $1.2 Billion on a tax cut in the same year they claim they cannot afford to pay for the supports needed to sustain our public education system. This is why teachers are striking and I don't blame them. #Abpoli #Ableg www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...