Will Bill C-22, the Proposed Canada Disability Benefit Act, Be a Trick or Treat? House of Commons Public Hearings Start Today, But Will the AODA Alliance Ever Get to Make a Presentation?

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance

United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities

Twitter: @aodaalliance

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Will Bill C-22, the Proposed Canada Disability Benefit Act, Be a Trick or Treat? House of Commons Public Hearings Start Today, But Will the AODA Alliance Ever Get to Make a Presentation?

October 31, 2022

Today begins public hearings on Bill C-22, the proposed Canada Disability Benefit Act, before HUMA, the House of Common Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities. We will be watching closely to see if this proposed new law to combat poverty among people with disabilities will be a trick or treat!

So far, we have heard that HUMA has scheduled four public hearings, two hours each, on October 31, and November 2, 14 and 16. A total of 21 groups would get to present, three per hour. The first hour today will be taken up by a presentation by federal Disabilities Minister Carla Qualtrough and her staff.

The AODA Alliance asked to present to HUMA. We have not received an invitation to present. We don’t know if we ever will. We were likely the first organization to make public a detailed brief with concrete recommendations on how to strengthen the bill. We wrote every member of HUMA very quickly to ask to be given a chance to present.

HUMA can schedule more hearing days, or could shorten the time allotted to each presenter. It can and should ensure that the AODA Alliance and others who want to speak to this important bill be given a chance to do so.

It is great that Disabilities Minister Carla Qualtrough echoes the language of “Nothing about us without us” when it comes to disability rights. However, if we and any other interested disability groups don’t get to make a presentation to HUMA, that would contradict “Nothing about us without us.”

We have been told by some that it is always open to groups like us to submit a written brief to HUMA, even if we don’t get to make a presentation at the hearings. Of course, we rapidly submitted a brief. However, presenting to a public hearing is infinitely more effective than only submitting a written brief. There is no guarantee that all the MPs on HUMA will read and absorb our written brief, along with all the others they receive. A written brief cannot answer MPs’ questions, or answer poor justifications that the Government makes to defend this weak bill, if not strengthened.

We fear that the Trudeau Government may try to oppose allowing the hearings to go on past November 16. They may argue that it is important to pass this bill as soon as possible, so that we can get money into the pockets of people with disabilities who are languishing in poverty.

We too want to get money into the pockets of people with disabilities who are languishing in poverty. However, rushing this bill through without the needed amendments that we seek to strengthen it, will delay getting money into the pockets of people with disabilities who are languishing in poverty. This bill leaves all the important decisions to some future time, when and if Cabinet gets around to it. If we get more details included in the bill itself, then we won’t have to wait months and months for Cabinet to decide the questions that the bill will have already decided!

Moreover, rushing this bill through Parliament as is ensures that not a dime will end up in the pockets of any people with disabilities who are 65 or older, and who are languishing in poverty. This bill now prevents them from ever qualifying for the Canada Disability Benefit, no matter how poor they are. As we have said, disability poverty does not end at age 65!

Federal Disabilities Minister Carla Qualtrough told CBC Radio on October 22, 2022 that it has taken too long to get this bill to this point. It was two years ago that the Federal Government promised the Canada Disability Benefit. It would be a cruel irony for the Government to first drag its feet for so long, and then insist on rushing the public hearings, contravening “Nothing about us without us.”

Let’s ensure that Bill C-22 is the treat that impoverished people with disabilities need and deserve! Tell HUMA to fix the bill fast and then pass the bill fast! Urge HUMA to let the AODA Alliance make a presentation during the Bill C-22 public hearings! Email HUMA at huma@parl.gc.ca

Follow @aodaalliance on Twitter and retweet our tweets on this important issue!

To keep track of our efforts on this bill, visit the AODA Alliance website’s Bill C-22 page. To see the 12 recommendations that we placed before HUMA to strengthen Bill C-22, read our short and sweet 5 page October 27, 2022 brief to HUMA. We want HUMA to amend the bill to:

Ensure that people with disabilities living in poverty can get the Canada Disability Benefit, even if they are not “working age.”

Set a deadline for making progress on lifting people with disabilities out of poverty.

Set a minimum amount for the Canada Disability Benefit and set the date when it must start being paid.

Put more details in the bill, rather than leaving everything up to Cabinet to decide by secret votes, and

Set a deadline when needed regulations must be passed.