The federal government today will reintroduce legislation to create monthly payments for Canadians of working age with disabilities, CBC News has learned.
“With the help of the Canadian Disability Benefit, we have the opportunity to correct long-standing social and economic exclusion, which is the life experience of too many people with disabilities in our country,” said the Minister for Employment, Labor Development and Inclusion. with disabilities Carla Qualtrow said in a statement to the media.
The Liberal government introduced Bill C-35 in June 2021, during the last parliament. The bill was in first reading, but died in the procurement document when the 2021 federal election was called.
Earlier this month, the New Democrats submitted a proposal calling on the federal government to offer re-disability benefits. The non-binding proposal for the NDP was adopted unanimously by the House of Commons. The party said it had submitted the proposal to encourage the government to act.
Qualtrow told CBC News at the time that any delay in introducing the bill was due to her government’s efforts to ensure that the benefit would work and not lead to a reduction in other benefits.
“We are working with the provinces and territories to ensure that the Canadian Disability Benefit increases the monthly income of Canadians with disabilities living below the poverty line and does not adversely affect the right to other programs and services,” he said. the Minister.
When the C-35 was first introduced, it did not specify how much funding people would receive or how. However, this allowed the government to determine most of the design elements of the benefit, including the conditions that must be met to receive it, the monetary value of the benefit and how it will be indexed to inflation.
It is unclear whether these conditions will remain in place when the Liberals reintroduce the legislation.
Election promise
During the 2021 federal election campaign, the Liberals said more than a million Canadians with disabilities live in poverty and vowed to solve the problem.
The Liberal Platform for 2021 has promised to introduce the benefit of supporting transport costs, medical procedures and other costs.
The platform said that once the benefit is implemented, it will provide “direct monthly payment … for low-income Canadians with disabilities aged 18-64”.
A letter of mandate following Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s election to Qualtrow urged her to re-introduce the bill.
On Wednesday, a multi-party group of senators and members of parliament issued a public call to the government to re-propose the bill, saying that while 22 percent of the population is disabled, 41 percent of Canadians living in poverty have a disability.
“We must keep our promise to create new benefits for people with disabilities. It’s that simple, “said Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith.
Senator Chantal Pettiklerk, a Paralympic athlete elected to the Senate by Prime Minister Trudeau in 2016, is in the group of independent senators. She said now was the time to take action.
“As one in 22 percent of Canadians with disabilities, I am aware of the barriers and inequalities that still exist and persist,” she said.
“As a senator, I am committed to ensuring that everyone in our country has equal opportunities and tools to reach their full potential, as well as to actively contribute to society.
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