44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 18, 2024 10:00AM
- Apr/18/24 10:02:50 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have the honour to present, in both official languages, the 18th report of the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, entitled “Briefing with Air Canada on Services Offered to Travellers with Disabilities”.
Pursuant to Standing Order 109, the committee requests that the government table a comprehensive response to this report.
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- Apr/18/24 10:03:18 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am tabling, on behalf of Conservatives, a supplementary report from the human resources committee, where we heard testimony from Mr. Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of Air Canada, on the failures to accommodate passengers with disabilities. It took three months for him to appear before the committee, and Conservatives believe this is unacceptable, as the committee was flexible with the dates proposed.
Mr. Rousseau stated that Air Canada's objective is to be “the preferred airline for [persons] with disabilities” and to “ensure [their] services are accessible.” However, evidence pointed to the contrary, and committee members shared stories of Canadians with disabilities who experienced unacceptable challenges while flying Air Canada.
Just days before Mr. Rousseau testified at committee, Air Canada published an accessibility plan, and Conservatives want to note that it was interesting to see the timing of this announcement.
Lastly, Conservatives believe that Air Canada's executives must do more to ensure that services offered to travellers and travellers with disabilities are accessible and that regulatory requirements are enforced.
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Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise to present a petition on behalf of over 1,200 people who note, first of all, that people with disabilities often face barriers to employment, along with higher costs associated with health care and housing. They go on to note that the Canada Disability Benefit Act was delayed for over two years; the first attempt to establish the law, known as Bill C-35, was postponed because of the 2021 election.
The Canada Disability Benefit Act was meant to provide much-needed financial support for people with disabilities, many of whom live in poverty. They note that the minister responsible has told Canadians that implementing the Canada disability benefit is estimated to take a minimum of 18 months, following the passage of Bill C-22, which received royal assent last June. They note that there are insufficient supports in current disability programs federally and, particularly, provincially. This presents a significant risk to life and health for people with disabilities across the country who live in legislated poverty. They note that the federal government has refused to provide people with disabilities with an interim disability emergency response benefit and that the government has yet to bring the Canada disability benefit into force. The government is not starting the 12-month regulatory time clock, which is further delaying the benefit.
As a result, the petitioners call on the Government of Canada to bring the Canada disability benefit into force within two weeks of this petition being presented in the House.
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- Apr/18/24 12:55:27 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my question is around the benefit for people living with disabilities: the Canada disability benefit. The community has made its displeasure with this benefit very clear. What this would work out to is about $200 a month for people.
We know that, during COVID, Canadians said very clearly that everyone needed $2,000 to survive, to pay their rent, to be able to buy groceries and to be able to live with dignity. However, the government is saying to people living with disabilities that $200 a month is all they are going to be able to get. For many of them, with their provincial benefits, it is far below $2,000 a month, and that was before the cost of groceries and the cost of living skyrocketed. People living with disabilities in our communities are among the most vulnerable, and the government has abandoned them. What does the member have to say about that decision?
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- Apr/18/24 12:56:26 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, we have introduced many programs that support Canadians in need, including the dental care program and the national pharmacare program that we are now proposing. Regarding disabilities, it is very important that we should make sure that the provinces will not be involved in a clawback of the funding that would be provided by the federal government.
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- Apr/18/24 5:48:59 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it was a very interesting speech, to say the least. I would love to sit down and talk with the member, as a person who represents coastal communities, about the amount of plastic we see in our oceans.
He compared a friend of his who had a short-term injury to a person living with a disability.
What I am trying to get clear about is this: My mother had a stroke close to seven years ago. She is physically disabled on one side of her body. She does not have the use of the right side of her body. She uses a straw to drink because of that limitation. She uses metal straws.
There are particular people who have disabilities, who may need to use a plastic straw. I am just wondering if he could be very specific about who they are, because it felt like he was saying that all people living with disabilities have the same need, and I do not think that is the case.
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- Apr/18/24 5:50:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would ask the member to go look at the plastics and, unfortunately, the garbage that is on her coasts and to do a little investigating on where it is coming from.
We know that 95% of the garbage comes from 10 rivers, eight of which are found in Asia and two of which are in Africa. There is not a plastic issue from Canadian consumers. It is from developing worlds that do not have a waste management program.
As for people with disabilities, they have made a loophole whereby if one goes into a store to ask for a plastic straw and asks really nicely and winks twice, they will look underneath their counter and there might be a box of plastic straws.
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