Generation Squeeze says increased spending on Alberta's seniors would impact youth

The gap between provincial spending on seniors and younger people in Alberta could increase with the NDP government's current platform, says a lobby group at University of British Columbia's School of Population Health.

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Paul Kershaw of Generation Squeeze says the Alberta NDP will have a tough balancing act as proposed health care spending for seniors continues to increase.

"The NDP platform continues this national tradition of making trade-offs between medical care spending for retirees and investments in services that younger Albertans increasingly need," Kershaw, who is alsoa professor at UBC, said in a release Wednesday.

"As a result, Premier Notley's platform budgets only modest extra spending for grade school, post-secondary or child care by comparison with her health-care increases," he said.

Kershawsays the Alberta NDP campaigned on increasing spending on seniors to more than $18,000 annually, whereas spending on those under 45-years-old is about $7,800.

He thinks child care and education will suffer down the road.

Spending increases on seniors, however, is welcome news to advocacy groups like Public Interest Alberta, who have called for thousands of new long-term beds to address what they call acrisisin seniors care.