44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 25, 2022 11:00AM
- Apr/25/22 11:10:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, for a lot of people, aging at home and a lot of other things could go along nicely with a motion like this. I am wondering what the member thinks about making sure the provinces can still utilize things such as aging in place and other means that people would want to use to meet their own specific needs. They may have a disability, and there are different things.
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- Apr/25/22 3:10:48 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Liberals have left people with disabilities behind again. They chose to leave out the long-promised income supports in their budget 2022, and they have yet to act on their commitments from budget 2021. For too long, people with disabilities have felt abandoned. They deserve to live with dignity and to get the help they need. On the disability tax credit, the government must remove all barriers, including the 14 hours per week requirement that prevents people who need it from qualifying.
When will the Liberals modernize the disability tax credit and stop leaving behind people with disabilities?
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- Apr/25/22 3:11:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I can assure my colleague that I am working very hard to reduce poverty levels of working-age Canadians with disabilities. I am very confident we will move forward with the Canada disability legislation, and a key pillar of our disability inclusion action plan is to reform, modernize and dignify the eligibility processes for Government of Canada disability benefits and supports, including the disability tax credit.
We are working on it.
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- Apr/25/22 3:11:58 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, in recent weeks, over 100 MPs from all parties have shared their support for the immediate reintroduction of the Canada disability benefit. With the backing of MPs from the governing party, this bill would enjoy the support of the House, while 43 senators in the other place have already publicly declared their support as well. Consultations can and should continue after the bill is introduced, so this should not be used as a reason for further delay.
Can the minister share when this much-needed legislation will be reintroduced?
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- Apr/25/22 3:12:40 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am encouraged by my hon. colleague's enthusiasm for tabling the Canada disability legislation. Its implementation remains a top priority for me. With budget 2021, we actually invested $11.9 million to consult the disability community on eligibility, and that work will directly inform this benefit. We are also working with provinces and territories to ensure the CDB will increase the monthly income of Canadians with disabilities, will not impact access to other services and programs, and will ensure that everyone will be better off. Our government will reintroduce this legislation and ensure that persons with disabilities have the financial security they deserve.
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- Apr/25/22 4:26:50 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the hon. member for Davenport for her speech, and I am going to pass over the irony of a government that just passed a new fossil fuel extraction project complaining, however justly, about the records of other governments.
I am also going to pass over the fact that, when Liberals speak now about their budget, they tend to emphasize the things that are in the confidence and supply agreement that they forged with our party.
I want to go to the question that I noticed the member did not talk about, and that is the fact that people with disabilities in this country continue to live in poverty. There is nothing in the budget to establish a universal income program at the federal level to lift people with disabilities out of poverty, or even to amend the disability tax credit to make it more accessible.
Does the hon. member support this failure on the part of her government?
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- Apr/25/22 4:27:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I agree with the member that we need to do more to support those with disabilities and exceptionalities in our country.
I do believe that our Minister of Employment has, in the past, introduced a disability tax credit. My understanding is that she is planning on introducing that once again. To me, it is critical that we support this as a House.
The last thing I would say is, as someone who has actually introduced a private member's bill on guaranteed basic income, I 100% support that. I believe that we have to do a better job of supporting Canadians, including and especially those with disabilities, to better meet their needs in the 21st century.
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- Apr/25/22 5:26:36 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I just want to say to the member that I was very pleased to hear words around promoting equality, addressing fairness and fixing some of those long-standing inequities in our economy. I am happy for the day care. It is coming. One of the things I would say, though, is that I see the Liberals taking many victory laps on day care. Twenty-five years is a long time for women to wait for day care, and the reason we are getting it right now is because the economy needs more women in it. I just want to express that I am disheartened that it took 25 years to get here.
The other piece that the Liberals are wanting to address in the economy is to get people with disabilities working. I am really pleased that there is going to be support for them, but we need support on the Canada disability benefit or income supplement for those who cannot work full-time or those who cannot work at all.
Why did the budget for 2022 not include money for the Canada disability benefit?
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- Apr/25/22 5:27:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, this is an incredibly important area. I have a lot of faith in the current Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion. As a woman with a disability herself, she has shown a great deal of attentiveness to this issue. The prospect of employing those who are underprivileged and marginalized and vulnerable in our community is critical, in terms of ensuring that full participation.
It applies to the women the member mentioned at the start of her question. It applies to persons with disabilities. I will commit to her quite openly on the floor of this chamber that I will personally work hard to ensure that access for persons with disabilities to work and to increased benefits is a priority.
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- Apr/25/22 5:40:02 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, at various times in his remarks, the member mentioned Canadians living with disabilities. The signature item that Canadians living with disabilities have been waiting for from the government for some time now is the Canada disability benefit.
At one point, the government had signalled to this place that it was ready to move on that. In fact, it tabled legislation last June. I do not think that legislation was beyond criticism, but we did not have time to make those criticisms because of course the Prime Minister dissolved Parliament shortly after the legislation was introduced. People do want to know when that legislation is coming. Many people, including us here in the NDP, thought that we would see some kind of significant detail about the Canada disability benefit, if not a new piece of legislation, promptly.
I am wondering why the member believes that was not included in this budget, and when we might expect to see some proper legislation to establish a good Canada disability benefit that would help raise people living with disabilities in Canada out of poverty.
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