44th Parl. 1st Sess.
May 10, 2023 02:00PM
- May/10/23 5:08:11 p.m.
- Watch
moved:
That:
(a) the House recognize that,
(i) Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Canada signed in 2007 and ratified in 2010, states that signatories “shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning directed to enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society”,
(ii) according to the Global Education Monitoring Report, in low- and middle-income countries, approximately 50% of children with disabilities are estimated to be out of school,
(iii) a 2021 UNICEF report found that, compared to children without disabilities, children with disabilities were 49% more likely to have never attended school; and
(b) in the opinion of the House, where the federal government spends money on education, domestically or internationally, clear consideration must be given to the maximum inclusion of people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
He said: Mr. Speaker, it is an absolute pleasure to be here.
This is usually a place where we have very passionate debates about things that there are wide-ranging opinions on, and sometimes those debates can be hotter than at other times. I think that this time of year traditionally is a time when the temperature outside is hotter and maybe things in here get a little bit hotter as we are moving towards summer. However, my hope is that today we can have a conversation that is every bit as passionate as the ones we usually have in here, but where we are able to maybe find a little more common ground.
I will give a little bit of context. My daughter is 23 now, and she just finished her second year of law school. She was six when I got elected, so it has been a while. When she was 13, we did an interview with her brother Jaden, who has autism, when Jaden was 16. He is now 27 years old. When Jenae was 13 and Jaden was 16, we did an interview with Steve Paikin on The Agenda.
Steve knows me and my kids well, and he did not give Jenae a heads-up that he was going to ask her a really tough question. He just said, in the middle of the interview, to 13-year-old Jenae, “Jenae, I'm going to ask you a really tough question right now. Are you ready for it?” She said that she was, and she steeled herself. He asked, “Do you ever sometimes wish that your brother was ‘normal’ like every other kid?” Thirteen-year-old Jenae, without hesitation, responded, “Well, honestly, since Jaden was diagnosed with autism before I was born, I don't exactly know what a ‘normal’ brother is like, so Jaden kind of is my normal, having autism.”
Steve asked, “You like him just the way he is?” Jaden was just smiling there the entire time, looking at his sister, whom he loves deeply. Jenae answered, “If he didn't have autism anymore or was cured or something, he wouldn't be the same as Jaden is now.”
Obviously, Jenae, being three years younger than Jaden and growing up in the same house, has not known a life without Jaden, as she referenced, so her “normal” has always included Jaden, for her whole life. However, when I am speaking to students or groups around the world internationally, or whatever the case might be, I always use it as an opportunity to draw a connection to the school environment that they both grew up in.
They went to a kindergarten to grade 12 school, so they went to the same school for their entire basic education lives. Obviously, Jaden was a few years ahead of Jenae. Jaden was fully included in a regular classroom, and that was right from the time he started. He had a full-time aide working with him. His needs are such that it was really important for him to have that full-time aide. In some circumstances, it might work a little differently; the needs might be a little different, as every kid with a developmental or intellectual disability is in a different circumstance.
Because the school made the decision to include Jaden in that school, certainly his life was better, his educational experience was better, and he will be more prepared to participate and be able to contribute his skills and abilities because of having been included in that school. However, for every other student who went to that school with him, their normal included Jaden. Their normal included life with somebody who had autism, somebody with a developmental disability.
Surprisingly, when we talk to those students afterwards, to a person, they say that their life was better off because of that experience in school and getting a chance to work with Jaden. Their experience since they left school has also been better, when, for example, they come across somebody who thinks a little differently than they do, maybe not even with autism or a developmental disability, just somebody who thinks a little bit differently. We all know people we can think of when I say that. I guarantee that everybody can think of somebody in their life who thinks a little differently than they do. However, because Jaden had been included in a regular classroom, their lives were better, and they were better prepared to come out into the world.
The motion has some preamble that is really easy to skip by, but I will focus on just a couple of things in the preamble that I think are really important at a global level.
The second point in the preamble reads, “according to the Global Education Monitoring Report, in low- and middle-income countries, approximately 50% of children with disabilities are estimated to be out of school”. This is not about developmental disability or intellectual disability and being included in a different part of the school. They are out of school. Approximately 50% of children with disabilities are out of school.
Point (iii) in the preamble says:
(iii) a 2021 UNICEF report found that, compared to children without disabilities, children with disabilities were 49% more likely to have never attended school
We are not talking about them dropping out later in their teenage years or whatever the case is. We are saying that they were 49% more likely to have never attended school at all.
The action statement in the motion says:
(b) in the opinion of the House, where the federal government spends money on education, domestically or internationally, clear consideration must be given to the maximum inclusion of people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
I am going to explain this a bit because that language is very deliberate.
First of all, regarding “where the federal government spends money on education”, in Canada, obviously we get into jurisdictional questions, and much of the funding for education domestically is provincial. However, the federal government does spend money on education. I think particularly of indigenous communities, for example. We have a lot of work to do there. What the motion says is that as we have those conversations, we need to consider people with disabilities, particularly people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
I have had great conversations. We have some fantastic leaders in the disability community. I think of conversations I have had leading up to this point with Neil Belanger and Ken Robertson. We have an up-and-coming researcher in Alberta named Grant Bruno, who is doing some fantastic world-leading work on these issues. That is one important component.
Then the motion says, of course, “or internationally”. The federal government just contributed over $80 million to Education Cannot Wait, an international organization that does fantastic work in refugee camps, war zones and those kinds of places. It is an organization that I have had the chance to do a lot of work with. As we are pursuing that work and funding education, we want to make sure that people with disabilities are included.
The motion talks about “maximum inclusion”. I use the words “maximum inclusion” because we want to make sure we are having a conversation in which it is really easy to get into wordsmithing and to get into some important debates about what full inclusion looks like and what inclusion looks like broadly. My view is that whatever the level of inclusion we are at, we can do more. We can move to maximize what inclusion looks like.
In Jaden's case, he was included in a regular classroom, but some schools that do great work might have an interactions classroom, where there may be six, seven or eight kids with a developmental disability or an intellectual disability. They are in a separate classroom, maybe because their support needs are so significant. Those schools might be striving to include those kids as much as they can in field trips, lunch, recess, phys. ed., musical theatre or any kind of art program they have. We can imagine a world of opportunities, and ultimately, maybe the goal is to move them to a regular classroom with proper supports. That might be the goal there. “Maximum inclusion” is meant to allow anybody to get a vision for where they want to go with it, depending on their point of view and the work they are doing.
The motion then says, “people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” It is really important that we have disability-inclusive education, but oftentimes many advocates in the world of developmental or intellectual disabilities say that even in inclusive education conversations, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are excluded or are left behind. The language is designed to create a bridge so that we are working on both and are not leaving anyone behind in the conversation.
This motion comes at a really interesting moment. It is actually a really great moment, I think, for this motion. While it is a motion and some people might think a motion is non-binding or has a bit less action to it in a sense, I believe the opposite. I believe it allows us to have an important conversation on the floor of the House of Commons. We can vote on it as members of all parties and hopefully pass it, and then we can point to the motion as being a driving force or guide for us as we do the important work we do on education.
The timing is important because, in September, the UN General Assembly held the Transforming Education Summit, with a broad approach and countries coming together on the important issue of education, something that both the former Conservative government and the present Liberal government have supported. There was a specific note that came out of it called “A Call to Action to Ensure Inclusive and Equitable Quality Education”. That was at the UN General Assembly.
Coming up in June, there are the annual meetings on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Those annual meetings will take place next month. Governments from both sides of the political spectrum have been supportive of the convention over the years, so that is an important opportunity. Then at the end of June, Special Olympics are happening in Berlin. Around Special Olympics, Tim Shriver, the chair of Special Olympics and the son of co-founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, is putting together a global education summit, where they are going to talk about these very issues at a global level. This is a real opportunity for Canada to play a leadership role.
I do want to point out that, in the world of international development, there is a lot of conversation about the hardest to reach and leaving no one behind. These are important concepts in the world of international development, particularly in the education context. When we think about people who are vulnerable, we try to avoid some of the debates that we have, as we do not want to play one group against another group. However, one thing I would quickly remind folks of is that, as we work on, for example, education for people in refugee camps and war zones, those kids would be incredibly vulnerable if they are living in a refugee camp or a war zone, but any one of those vulnerable kids could, on top of their vulnerability, have a developmental, intellectual or physical disability, and then they would be even more vulnerable.
We talk about girls' education, and we rightly we talk about girls' education. There are tens of millions of girls who are not in school right now who should be. When we think about girls' education and the vulnerability around that, particularly in some parts of the world, we have to recognize that any one of those girls could also have a developmental, intellectual or physical disability, and then we have even more vulnerability.
As we build our systems, as we build the structures and the programs at an international level to tackle these issues, we need to make sure that we build those systems to reach that girl, maybe in rural Africa, who is 13 years old and dealing with maybe an early forced marriage, in some countries, and the stigma of having a disability on top of that. If we can reach that girl with an intellectual disability in rural Africa, we can reach every girl along the way. If we can reach a little boy in a refugee camp or a war zone, who is six years old with a disability, if we can wire our hearts and our systems to reach out, find that boy and make sure that boy is included in the education systems that we set up, we are going to reach everybody along the way as we are doing that.
I will finish with a story. I was in Tanzania about eight years ago, and I came across this group of teenage boys. They were intrigued by my iPad. I showed them a picture of my daughter and one of the boys said, “She's nice”, in Swahili, and I agreed. My daughter is very nice. Then I showed them a picture of Jaden, and I explained through the interpreter that he has autism and what he is like. The boys were riveted to my words as I was explaining what Jaden is like.
One of them, who had been quiet up to that point, looked me straight in the eye and said, again in Swahili, “I like him. He's beautiful. I'll pray for him.” This was unprompted. With just a bit of understanding, that 15-year-old boy's heart became attached in a very special way to another young person with autism half a world away from him.
This is the time for us to have this conversation. There is a world of impact we can have if we not only have the conversation, but then also activate that conversation. I look forward to the opportunity to hear members from all parties weigh in on the conversation.
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- May/10/23 5:29:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin for his motion, and also for sharing his beautiful story of Jaden. I had a chance to meet Jaden two months ago during the World Autism Awareness Day celebrations on the Hill, and I can tell members that he brought a smile to all of our faces. I also wanted to thank the hon. member for his tireless advocacy on behalf of persons with disabilities, including children and youth with disabilities.
I have no hesitation in telling the member opposite that we support his motion, fully, unreservedly and with all of our hearts. In fact, one of our government's key priorities is to promote the full social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities.
Canada is working to create a country and a world where persons with disabilities are included in every aspect of society. At the core of this work is implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This commitment connects Canada to the international community with the opportunity to both lead and learn from other nations as we work toward the shared goal of real, meaningful disability inclusion.
Last year, as part of these efforts, the hon. Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion introduced Canada's first-ever disability inclusion action plan, a road map to create a more inclusive country. The Canada disability benefit will be a cornerstone of this plan and has the potential to seriously reduce poverty and improve financial security for hundreds of thousands of Canadians with disabilities. These are huge, progressive steps forward.
The member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin seeks greater support for the inclusion of children with disabilities in the education system, tying federal spending to specific measures to achieve that goal, both here in Canada and through our international commitments.
As we know, education falls largely within the jurisdiction of provinces and territories, except for first nations education on reserves, but we do play a key role in building and maintaining a robust system of quality education across the country. We provide significant block transfers to the provinces and territories through the Canada social transfers, including for post-secondary education.
We are committed to working collaboratively with provincial, territorial and indigenous partners, disability stakeholders, and persons with disabilities to remove barriers to quality education. As part of that collaboration, we have established the Canada-wide early learning and child care system. Inclusive and equitable access to early learning and child care is built into the Canada-wide agreements with provinces and territories. Federal funding is being used by our provincial and territorial partners to provide supports that can address the unique circumstances of each individual child and family.
Furthermore, just last June, we announced a $12.5-million investment under the enabling accessibility fund, small projects component, which supported 225 early learning child care centres to buy specialized equipment for children with special needs, so they can thrive in environments that respect their needs.
Through agreements with the provinces and territories, we are building an affordable child care system that is accessible and inclusive to all Canadians in every region of our country. All of this is in addition to supporting lifelong learning and skills development opportunities for working-age persons with disabilities, through, for example, the workforce development agreements and the opportunities fund.
Allow me to circle back to Canada's first-ever disability inclusion action plan. The plan has four key pillars, including financial security, so we can lift persons with disabilities out of poverty, through the groundbreaking Canada disability benefit; employment, so we can take action to address long-standing barriers in the labour market and the workforce; accessible and inclusive communities, so we can address barriers that prevent persons with disabilities from fully participating in their communities; and, finally, a modern approach to disability, so we can address challenges in accessing federal programs and benefits. The action plan will help to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunities to contribute to their communities and workplaces.
Furthermore, I am pleased to say that budget 2023 provides funding of $10 million over two years, to help us address the unique needs and ongoing barriers faced by persons with disabilities by investing in capacity building and the community-level work of Canada’s disability organizations.
In the spirit of “nothing without us”, we will continue to engage the disability community at every turn. When Canadians work together, and we have seen it here in the House, we can build a stronger and more accessible country and world.
I sincerely thank the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin for his motion, his leadership and his advocacy, and for helping to bring the House of Commons together behind this excellent motion.
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- May/10/23 5:35:10 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I too would like to recognize and thank my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin.
It is to his credit that he has moved this important motion. As the member said, although the motion is not binding, it does give meaning to our action, and particularly to the action that Canada needs to take with respect to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Canada signed in 2007 and ratified in 2010.
Part of the motion reads as follows:
Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities...states that signatories “shall ensure an inclusive education system at all levels and lifelong learning directed to enabling persons with disabilities to participate effectively in a free society”.
The convention is a human rights treaty that aims to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, to ensure they are treated without discrimination and on an equal basis with others. This convention has three key principles. The first is equality and non-discrimination. The second is accessibility, and the third key principle is participation and inclusion.
As my colleague pointed out, according to a 2021 UNICEF report on children with disabilities, there are nearly 240 million children around the world with disabilities. These children may seem to be at a disadvantage compared to children without disabilities when it comes to education because they are 49% more likely to have never attended school.
Of course, the Bloc Québécois is in favour of the motion. We are also in favour of the full and equitable inclusion of people with disabilities in Quebec and Canada. We are aware of the challenges that people with disabilities face and we stand in solidarity with them, whatever their disability may be. People with disabilities are not a homogenous group. All types of disabilities must be considered. I think that we need to put targeted solutions in place for each of them.
Everyone must have access to a quality education under the principle of equality of opportunity in our societies. An inclusive education system takes into consideration not only accessibility but also the need to provide reasonable accommodation and individual support.
Although this was already mentioned, I want to remind members that, in Canada, elementary and secondary education fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of Quebec and the provinces and that Ottawa should only intervene in areas under its own jurisdiction. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities falls under its jurisdiction.
I would also like to remind members that non-visible disabilities are often identified by health care professionals and social services workers. That is invaluable, actually. There too, the government could play a role. It takes dedicated and professional personnel to support these persons with disabilities.
I will talk about our schools. Ideally, these young people, these students with disabilities would be included in regular classrooms as much as possible because diversity in school is an asset for education. We also have special schools and classes, but support is required, as is the capacity to make the right diagnosis to get some follow-up. Health care professionals and psychologists play a major role. On that, we take issue with the federal underfunding of health through the Canada health transfer to the provinces and Quebec. This is a serious problem.
That being said, internationally, the government has the full authority and legitimacy to impose standards and conditions on international aid.
We recognize that a greater global effort must be made to better integrate people with disabilities into education systems around the world, in line with the UNESCO and UNICEF findings in this regard.
Global efforts in favour of inclusive education are consistent with advocating for the rights of other groups, such as the rights of women and girls in general and the right of girls and women with disabilities to education, specifically. According to a UNESCO study, there are approximately 130 million girls between the ages of six and 17 who are not in school.
The government needs to recognize this motion—it is good that it has been fully welcomed—and come up with a concrete plan to ensure that the money it distributes internationally will help improve education around the world, particularly in poorer or low-income countries.
Compared to Canada's international aid to improve women's rights, according to a report by the Auditor General, this is pretty significant. The 2023 report was lackluster with respect to Canada's international feminist strategy.
The audit sought to determine whether Global Affairs Canada had implemented Canada's feminist international assistance policy by funding projects that supported gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls in low- and middle-income countries and by demonstrating that the projects were producing the intended results.
Unfortunately, although objectives were set for Canada's feminist international assistance policy, it did not yield tangible results. Global Affairs Canada was unable to show how the policy contributed to improving gender equality in the country.
If we want Canada to pay special attention to the new criteria for helping children with disabilities access education, then Global Affairs Canada must absolutely come up with new processes and new ways of working to achieve measurable results.
We have an obligation to ensure that education is a reality both in fact and in law for all children with disabilities, whatever that disability may be, and their loved ones.
We know that some countries in the world need this assistance. In that sense, the last part of the motion, which invites Canada to do more, is consistent with the convention that was signed. We think that is important.
Once again, I thank my colleague for this motion.
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