SOCIAL JUSTICE WORKS
COVID-19: Opportunity for a New “Normal” BY JODY-LEE FARRAH, MSW, RSW
WHEN ALBERTANS STOPPED what they were doing and stayed home, many social workers, steadfast alongside other essential service workers, continued to respond to the needs of clients and families in their communities. They knew that now, more than ever, health and social support systems would be critical to meet the needs of an increasing number of people plunged into crisis. By design, these systems exist for Albertans to fall back on in our most desperate times. When struck by a global pandemic and spiraling economic crisis, our systems to aid the most vulnerable became crucial to aid everyone. The crisis is serving as a spotlight, exposing the gap-filled systems for what they really are…a threadbare fabric of our society. Pursuit of Social Justice Social workers value social justice and uphold the rights of people to have equal access to resources to meet basic human needs. “Social workers believe in the obligation of people, individually and collectively, to provide resources, services and opportunities for the overall benefit of humanity and to afford them protection from harm. Social workers promote social fairness and the equitable distribution of resources, and act to reduce barriers 16
SUMMER 2020
and expand choice for all persons…” (Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) Code of Ethics, 2005, Value 2: Pursuit of Social Justice). Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, basic needs such as food and water, safe shelter, access to health care and income security stood at the forefront of what people needed most, compounded by the mental, psychological, emotional and socioeconomic consequences of the pandemic. While government supports made what was previously impossible possible, it still has been difficult to have enough to meet the needs for all. Furthermore, social workers are helping those throughout the pandemic while managing their own experience. They also turn to the future and advocate for the needed supports for the recovery post-pandemic.
to support those who experienced loss of employment due to COVID-19. Although there was strong support for this, advocates called upon the government to go further to meet the needs of those who did not meet the program criteria and would fall through the cracks. In a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau, the CASW urged the federal government to act, saying, “A crisis is not the time to add administratively onerous programs to an already overburdened Public Service and a population seized by uncertainty and collective anxiety. The fundamentals of a uBIG are already in place in Canada and the evidence of the immediate positive impact of a uBIG is undeniable and overwhelming. It is time to merge the levers of Canada’s social safety net into a uBIG that will have all people in Canada live and die with dignity and respect.”1 Without this crisis, we may never have seen such support for minimum income support. The Senate of Canada has called upon the Government of Canada to take this positive opportunity to evolve the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit and build upon its development so all Canadians may have access to a guaranteed minimum basic income, preventing people from falling through the cracks, and ensuring greater social and economic equity.2
Universal Basic Income Guarantee
Food Security
Social policy advocates and social workers, including the CASW, have long advocated for basic income reform in Canada through a Universal Basic Income Guarantee (uBIG). To meet the urgent income security needs of Canadians during the pandemic, the federal government took immediate action to implement a Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB)
In the early weeks of the pandemic, there was wide-spread concern about whether there would be enough food supply across Canada. There was a sense of panic as hoarding of essential items such as eggs and flour, dry and canned goods, meat and poultry (and even toilet paper) emptied stores. These actions called into question the resilience of Canada’s food
