SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Ms. Jenny Kwan (Vancouver East, NDP)

Apr/30/24 11:00:02 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I have much to say about the budget. I am going to focus on one area, the issue around lifting people out of poverty, more particularly for people with disabilities. I am absolutely disappointed with the budget. For people with disabilities, the budget includes only a $6-a-day level of support. That is what the disability benefit amounts to. It would not lift people with disabilities out of poverty; it would make them marginally less poor. Meanwhile, the government does not take on big corporations and put forward an excess windfall tax so that it could take those resources and ensure that the people who are most vulnerable in our community are supported. Will the member tell his own government to step up for people with disabilities and make sure that they are indeed lifted out of poverty, and not just with the $6-a-day support in budget 2024?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Gord Johns (Courtenay—Alberni, NDP)

Apr/30/24 1:20:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Liberals promised that their disability benefit would end poverty for people living with disabilities. We have heard my good friend, the member for Port Moody—Coquitlam, advocate very hard for the disability community. As New Democrats, we were expecting a disability benefit that would actually lift people out of poverty. Instead, what they are offered is $200. That is $6 a day. It is not even a bus pass in many areas. Could my colleague maybe explain to people living with disabilities why they could not even offer a disability benefit that would meet the poverty line in our country, to ensure that people living with disabilities could at least have a $2,000 minimum income a month to try to make ends meet?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Apr/30/24 3:05:55 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, people with disabilities across the country disproportionately live in poverty. As a result of their advocacy, the government committed to a Canada disability benefit back in 2021. After years of advocacy, what has been proposed in budget 2024 is nothing that the disability community has called for. No one called for 200 bucks a month. Using the disability tax credit, no one called for that. Waiting until July 2025, no one called for that. Could the minister share who actually asked for what is in the proposed Canada disability benefit?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Taylor Bachrach (Skeena—Bulkley Valley, NDP)

Apr/30/24 3:22:30 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am sure the member has heard from constituents who are upset about the paltry Canada disability benefit included in this budget. It is not just the amount; it is the process by which the government arrived at that amount. I will read what the National Disability Network noted: “These specific programmatic details were announced without consultation of the disability community and do not align with the principle of 'nothing about us, without us.'” Does my colleague not agree that the Canada disability benefit should have been a higher amount to actually lift people out of poverty and, more importantly, that the amount should have been arrived at in consultation with the people who are most affected?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, GP)

Apr/30/24 3:55:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member for Kelowna—Lake Country made some really important remarks to the minister at the human resources committee yesterday, pointing out the extent to which folks with disabilities are living in legislated poverty. I appreciate that she made those comments. If there is a Conservative government one day in the future and the Canada disability benefit was in place at a level that would lift folks with disabilities out of poverty, in that situation, is that a benefit that would remain in place over time?

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Randall Garrison (Esquimalt—Saanich—Sooke, NDP)

Apr/30/24 4:25:35 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I listened to the member's speech with great care, and I appreciate her concern for members of the community. I wonder whether she shares my concern that the level set in the budget for people with disabilities of a $200-a-month benefit is far too low and that it should be perhaps doubled, at least, before we proceed with the budget. We proposed this disability benefit almost four years ago, during the pandemic. At the time, we anticipated it would be set at a level to lift all people with disabilities out of poverty, and certainly the current rate would not do that.

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Context: House Hansard - 305 - Apr/30/24

Mr. Taylor Bachrach

Apr/30/24 5:13:48 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the member makes some good points. His first question was whether we did our job in essentially giving the minister responsible carte blanche to determine the amount. I think there are reasons the amount of the benefit was not codified in the legislation. Where the government has let us down is that the minister did not consult with the disability groups that are so important in this whole equation. If the government would have consulted on the actual amount, if it would have looked at what is required to lift people out of poverty, the benefit would have been a higher amount. The member's second question is about prioritizing funding to those who need it most. I think, regardless of whether we are talking about CPP, disability or people on social assistance, the reality is that folks need what they need to get by and cover their basic costs. We need to ensure that this benefit, for everyone who is living with a disability and who needs it, is raised to a level where they are able to cover the basic cost of living. There are many details in ascertaining what those levels are, but the key thing is the outcome, which is whether people getting what is required to lead a decent life.

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