Tackling the healthcare crisis, affordability and homelessness in Lethbridge are top priorities in the new year for Shannon Phillips, Lethbridge West MLA. She said a victory in the past year was getting more attention paid to the shortage of family physicians in the province, specifically in Lethbridge, but added there needs to be a plan to fix it.
“We haven’t seen much in the way of coordinated, thoughtful, substantive action that rebuilds the healthcare system, that attracts people to Lethbridge and to Southern Alberta,” Phillips said.
READ MORE: Retention key to stop ‘bleeding of physicians’ working in Alberta: Medical Association
Getting out of pandemic restrictions and back to normal in 2022 was another major point that stuck out for the MLA in reflecting on the year. She said students getting back to in person schooling has been good for parents, kids and school staff. She has also seen a return to normalcy in her work, being able to go door knocking again to talk with voters.
“Over and over again I have heard about affordability challenges from people in that middle income or lower income,” she said. “Working folks are really hurting out there and there are some things that government can’t solve, but in every aspect where the province could make it better; whether it’s car insurance, utility costs, school fees, even property taxes — this province has taken a course of action to make those affordability challenges worse.”
Homelessness more than doubled in Lethbridge since 2018, according to a point in time count conducted in September. Phillips said addressing this is a priority for the new year and she wants to see a plan to address the issue both in the short and long term.
“There is no excuse for the inaction — there is no excuse for the suffering we are seeing and people walking around unsheltered in minus 30 and we see organizations like Streets Alive chipping in for that winter warming space,” Phillips said. “Everybody is working as hard as they can, but there is a missing element at that table. There is a missing leg of the stool if you will and that’s the provincial government. They have done nothing.”
READ MORE: Homelessness more than doubles in Lethbridge since 2018
Phillips said she wants to see the plan address housing, downtown safety, downtown business development and lack of services for people experiencing homelessness.
“That will be a heavy lift for our city but I don’t think there is anyone on the left, on the right, in the exhausted middle — I don’t think there’s anyone who can look at what has happened over the course of the tenure of the UCP government and the doubling of homelessness and the kinds of social conditions that we are seeing here in Lethbridge — I don’t think anyone can conclude that that is a good thing and that the status quo should prevail,” she said.
With an election coming up in May 2023, Phillips said she is excited to campaign and work on local issues.
“Talking to voters and finding out what’s really on their minds, really digging into local issues — that is my happy place and so I am looking forward to that,” she said. “There is a lot of hard work, you know a lot of long hours when you are going into a campaign but that is as it should be. There’s no entitlement in a democracy and we have to work hard and hustle and earn the peoples’ trust again.”