44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 22, 2023 02:00PM
- Nov/22/23 3:55:57 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a very well-timed petition; a motion on this very issue is before the House.
The petitioners make a very strong case. They note, first of all, that the record-low voter turnout in the last Ontario election of 43% demonstrates increasing voter disengagement and that distorted results from the most recent federal election illustrates the need for electoral reform. They also note that citizen assemblies have considerable legitimacy and public trust, given that they are, by their very nature, non-partisan, truly randomly selected representative bodies of citizens with no vested interest in the outcome.
The petitioners point out that citizen assemblies allow for more nuanced public deliberations than do simple yes or no referenda. They also say that citizen assemblies have been used successfully in Australia, Belgium, France, Ireland and Scotland, and the list goes on. They say that a citizens assembly on electoral reform would give citizens a leadership role in building consensus on a specific model for electoral reform in this country, but it would need to be established as soon as possible to enable its recommendations to be adopted in advance of the next federal election.
As a result, the petitioners call on the House to establish a citizens assembly on electoral reform; to mandate that the assembly craft a specific, detailed design for an electoral system tailored to Canada's needs that would make every vote count; to complete its work within the next 12 months; and to collaborate across party lines to table and pass legislation to enact the changes recommended by the assembly in advance of the next federal election.
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- Nov/22/23 4:28:41 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, while I appreciate the sense of urgency I am hearing from the minister and from other members of the governing party, if I am honest, I feel like we have seen this movie before. We heard the exact same words with respect to the Canada disability benefit. There is all this talk about urgency and parties that agree. Then, the coming-into-force date is at least 18 months away. Colleagues have asked about this already, and I think it is an important question and and an important point that the minister should not simply share that parties asked for this date; I would hope that he would have asked follow-up questions about the specifics of why 18 months is required.
Can the minister share with Parliament the specific steps that were shared with him for why 18 months is required? If he does not have that, is he open to amendments to move this along more quickly once the bill comes into force?
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- Nov/22/23 8:00:01 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on the heels of yesterday’s disappointing fall economic statement, I rise to continue pushing the government to end legislated poverty for people with disabilities. To this day, people with disabilities continue to disproportionately live in poverty across the country. Of those living in poverty, 41% have a disability. While a Canada disability benefit has been promised to Canadians with disabilities for years, it has now been six months since this Parliament unanimously supported the Canada Disability Benefit Act, with no funding committed since.
People with disabilities deserve better from the government. Therefore, I will reiterate what I have said in this House before. If the governing party were serious, it would have supported people with disabilities the way it approached child care, through funding first, then agreements with the provinces and territories and then legislation. However, for people with disabilities it was the other way around. It was legislation first and now we continue to see funding not get committed, and we hear only crickets when it comes to actually funding the benefit. This is all part of why the disability community has been calling for the disability emergency relief benefit, DERB, to recognize legislated poverty for people with disabilities as the urgent crisis it is.
When it came to CERB during the pandemic, the government acted with urgency. We know it is possible. We know it could do so here again. That is why I asked the Prime Minister in question period weeks ago if he would put in place this emergency benefit while the Canada disability benefit regulations drag on. I asked this, recognizing that neither he nor I have ever had to live under the crushing weight of legislated poverty, imploring him to act quickly.
Not only did he not answer my question and not only has the government not put in place DERB in the time since, but then we had the fall economic statement yesterday. For people with disabilities there was nothing. There was nothing for the Canada disability benefit. There was nothing for the disability emergency relief benefit. It was not surprising for some given the words of the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on this very question. When asked specifically by the media in the week leading up to the fall economic statement about funding the Canada disability benefit, her words were that they cannot fund everything. It is deeply disappointing to hear that from her after all the government has promised to people with disabilities.
My overarching concern ultimately is that the governing party seems to be allowing the leader of the official opposition to almost govern from opposition. The government needs to wake up and realize that it needs to differentiate itself from the Conservatives, not become more like them. It needs to show that it remembers what it looks like to be progressive. It needs to make clear that the lives of people with disabilities are not there simply for a photo op, and that Canadians with disabilities expect it to follow through because once again, today, Canadians with disabilities continue to live in poverty. For all the fanfare with the Canada Disability Benefit Act passing, as I am sure we will hear from the parliamentary secretary, nothing has changed yet for Canadians with disabilities across the country.
My question for the parliamentary secretary is this: What is the point in passing the Canada disability benefit if the government does not seem to have any plan to actually fund the benefit?
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- Nov/22/23 8:07:04 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to make it really clear to the parliamentary secretary that he is absolutely right that people with disabilities must, and I appreciate he used the word “must”, be involved meaningfully in the collaboration of the design of the regulations. That is the case because it was in an amendment I put forward that was supported at committee. It is now the law.
No one is debating the extent to which people with disabilities must be meaningfully engaged in the design of the regulations. The point I am making is that the government does not need to wait for regulations to be done to dedicate the funding. As I mentioned, when it came to child care, it was the exact opposite. Funding came first and other steps followed. The federal government could do the exact same thing here. It has chosen not to for six months, and time is running out for people with disabilities living in poverty.
Is the government going to provide a disability emergency response benefit, and is it going to step up and fund the Canada disability benefit?
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