To the Troglodytes of the United Conservative Party,
I spent a good amount of time considering whether or not I wanted to write this open letter. I was hesitant, partially because I believe that I may have lost some of my typical ‘zazz’ and ‘sass’ in my aging years. But more importantly, I am reluctant to write anything that might draw attention to either of my children. I believe in the right to be forgotten and privacy, especially in my minor children who trust me to protect them until they come of age.
On the other hand, I believe it is my duty as a parent to teach my children the value of advocating, not only for themselves, but for other people, and sometimes that means drawing attention to things that might make us uncomfortable. Surely there is a safe middle ground where I can generally protect their identity while simultaneously verbally eviscerating the UCP for their flagrant disregard for the livelihoods of the more vulnerable populations of Alberta?
So, I guess in that regard, congratulations on your morally bankrupt attitude and decision-making process? It must be nice to be able to think of only yourself and your own personal needs. I would not be able to sleep at night if I were you, but then again, I tend to care about other people.
If you’ve made it this far, you may be wondering just why I have opted to “open with both barrels”, or what my agenda could possibly be. Truthfully, I didn’t plan on writing this until I logged into the Family Services for Children with Disabilities website and realized that it has been over a year since I submitted my application, and have received exactly 0 correspondence about the state of it, whether it is being reviewed or laughed at or used to lightly dab the caviar from Danielle Smith’s lips at her most recent MAGA-inspired lunch.
One year.
It didn’t feel like it was that bad until I lost my job in January and had to desperately calculate how I would be paying for the needs of my child in question, with no income coming in to support me, or my family. Now I will say, we are lucky. Fortunately, my husband works incredibly hard in a terrible job that provides him with enough income to cover most of our expenses and gives us insurance. Unfortunately, fulfilling all the necessary needs of my child cannot fit into that budget. Hence our application for FSCD for financial support in therapy services.
You see, there is this wild theory that professionals have about early childhood intervention. I’m sure you’re not aware of it, given the majority of UCP politicians have been spending recent years apparently jacking it to Allison Bechdel’s Fun Home and then feeling guilty about it. What other reason could you have for declaring a seminal work such as Fun Home to be literary enemy number one in school libraries? No elementary or middle school would ever have that novel on their shelves and suggesting otherwise is insulting to librarians everywhere. If you are concerned about high school students reading it, well, high school students often have sex so maybe let’s not pretend otherwise?
Back to my point. Early Intervention. It’s considered invaluable when it comes to ensuring that our children are set up to succeed. My child was almost immediately noted by their kindergarten teacher of needing an assessment. Her training kicked in and she saw what my husband and I could not see ourselves. Because of her education and keen eyes, we were able to begin the early intervention process. Amazing. Brilliant. It’s ensured that in school, they have an IPP that works with their needs, their special abilities, their unique personality. It opened the door to finding a pediatrician who specializes in the needs of our child; someone who can guide us through the challenges and give us the connections we need outside of school to ensure they can be set up to succeed.
I’ll always be grateful to our child’s Kindergarten teacher, for the kindness she showed in approaching the topic. Unlike my feelings towards you, the United Conservative Party of Alberta, for whom I have nothing but absolute disdain and disgust.
The UCP slashing social services left and right, focusing on preventing children from accessing transgender support and services, waving around mature books with explicit content and declaring that it must not be in libraries… You know what you sound like, Danielle Smith and dancing Band of Lunatics? You sound an awful lot like Nazis. Now, I know people throw around Nazi as an insult pretty openly these days, probably because of the rise of, oh I don’t know, extreme fascism in North America that aligns with 1940’s Germany. Maybe the comparison isn’t entirely fair, or maybe it’s hitting the proverbial nail on the head. Who can say for sure?
Except that the Nazis really wanted to eliminate anyone who they viewed as ‘weak’ or ‘other’, and what better way to eliminate such people than by destroying their potential in childhood? Early intervention be damned, right? If you don’t support them in childhood then they won’t grow up to question you or fight your beliefs or, I don’t know, weaken your bloodlines? Plus, abortion is probably off the table with you lot, isn’t it? Can’t have that. Pro-life all the way down, at least until they’re born. After that, they’re everyone else’s problem – not the problem of the current ruling political party.
One year. One year of my child’s life. One year closer to their brain being fully developed. One year of struggling in school, of feeling different, of not having access to all the services they need to give them the best opportunities in life. One year, because you, the UCP, has made access to such services nigh impossible. Because you have prioritized what you perceive to be fighting the moral failings within our society, as opposed to lifting the next generation and building up a society of open-minded individuals who can view these subjects without any bias. A bias which the UCP wears like a badge of honor. Maybe on their sleeves. And hats. Like…. Well, you know.
Now, all that being said, we have not just been sitting on our asses, waiting for our FSCD application to go through. Once it became clear that our child’s struggles were impacting their self-esteem and our own parenting, we asked our pediatrician to help us find a psychologist who could lead the way. It’s expensive, but worth it, because I will not allow my child’s future to be dictated or controlled by the ineptitude of the UCP. I will not allow them to be left behind simply because the current political party does not view early intervention or supporting families of children with disabilities as a priority. My child will succeed, because we are going to set them up for that success, with or without your help. Will I be able to save money? Not at all. The job market is shit – something else I’m sure is the fault of Comrade Smith and her cavalcade of dancing monkeys. But my child will succeed where I have failed, even if I must walk barefoot over dirt and nails to make it happen.
But hey, could you please pull your goddamned shit together and maybe find an iota of altruism? Maybe stop pandering just to your base of White-Pride-Anti-Immigrant-No-Vaccine-MAGA-Supporting-Transgender-People-Are-Scary Douche Bags and instead ask yourselves how you can support people and families who are just looking to live their lives without impeding the lives and rights of others? Instead of tying blindfolds on anything that goes against your own personal brand of ethics, or lack thereof.
One year. One year of waiting for any form of response (there has been none). One year of hoping for some indication that our application was at least being processed (there has been none). One year of hoping that we might get some additional support from the Alberta Government (there has been none).
I don’t know about you, Danielle Smith, Ball Dancing Minions and co. But when your entire personality is based on being against the Federal Government, and the Federal Government in turn works faster and provides more support in a shorter span of time, well… I think that says a lot about how competent the UCP actually is. For all the UCP gripes about the Liberal Government, past and present, I have received more support for my own disabilities in the last six months than my child has received in their short life. The “Godless Liberals” have communicated better and provided more financial support than the United Conservative Party.
To be clear: The Federal Liberal Party has been better for me as a Canadian Citizen and Alberta resident than the United Conservative Party.
Super embarrassing if you ask me. But don’t worry, I’m sure if you submit an application now, you can have your feelings addressed in a year from now.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Sawisky
The Code Series 