Hon. Kim Pate: Colleagues, as I mentioned yesterday, consulting with disability communities is not the same as guaranteeing, in legislation, the protections they advocate. During her testimony at the Social Affairs Committee, Margaret Eaton, National Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Mental Health Association, clearly articulated that while the CMHA applauds the creation of Bill C-22:

. . . we also have some real concerns with the legislation because many crucial aspects of the benefit will be implemented by regulations and not by legislation. Regulations can be vulnerable to shifting political priorities, and if it’s not legislated, it means that future governments can make unilateral changes without requiring parliamentary oversight.

Precisely to avoid leaving the substance of this bill to be determined by the regulatory process, the CMHA emphasized that key recommendations made by the disability community should be “. . . baked into the legislation. . . .”

The pressure to pass Bill C-22 quickly was pitted against the importance of ensuring it was fit for purpose. This irreconcilable framing reflects a very real and urgent need to address and redress the disproportionate and shameful poverty rates for people with disabilities in this country. Shouldering this tension, many of the groups urging us to work quickly have also acknowledged the urgent need for amendments and regulation design to Bill C-22. Too many people with disabilities are in desperate straits.

As I said in committee and as I’ve discussed with disability advocates directly, as someone whose life’s work has been in collaboration and coalition with many of these individuals and groups, I recognize the pressure and responsibility they experienced. When I was in their position, I frequently heard, “This is the best we can get. If you push for more, you’ll likely get nothing. We’re running out of time. We have to get re‑elected, and then we can do more.”

And best of all: “Trust us.”

Today, however, I’m no longer in the challenging position of a non-governmental advocate offering only one option. Here, with all of you, honourable colleagues, we share the responsibility of scrutinizing the adequacy of the measures Bill C-22 offers and the opportunity to propose a more fulsome response. That’s the spirit in which I fully support the amendments adopted at committee; I’m so pleased that so many of you have also indicated your support, and I urge us to follow the implementation of the legislation and continue to push for further necessary improvements.

In particular, as the Social Affairs Committee, or SOCI, heard from Linda Bartram, First Vice-President, Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, this bill:

. . . leaves out a complete sector of a community of persons with disabilities in that it is restricted to working-age persons with disabilities and excludes, presumably, seniors.

The alliance emphasized that the unemployment rate for blind persons is 75%. They are forced to subsist on Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement alone once they turn 65. Their impact analysis showed that these individuals are subsisting well below the poverty line.

In Ontario, for example, a single person who qualifies for the Ontario Disability Support Program receives a maximum of $1,228 per month. This is well below the official poverty line, and from 2002 to 2021, the supports of an unattached single person with a disability decreased, plunging those with disabilities 18 percentage points deeper below the poverty line.

Friends, in most provinces, the majority of people in receipt of social assistance are persons with disabilities. This bill, now with amendments, has the potential to change that and take a huge step toward the elimination of poverty in Canada.

Minister Qualtrough heralded Bill C-22 as a once-in-a-generation legislation. I agree with her. If we only get one chance in our careers to do this, we must get it right. All the more so given our roles and responsibilities as senators.

As committee discussions here and in the other place underscored, adequacy must be enshrined as a fundamental principle of Bill C-22 in order to ensure that the Canada disability benefit provides the necessary supports for all people with disabilities to live with dignity. If the government is planning to fulfill this promise, then why not provide for adequacy upfront? Why ignore this deficit?

Together, we can fulfill our mandate to represent the interests of and address the issues faced by the most dispossessed, the most economically disadvantaged, individually marginalized and historically ignored.

Human rights and equality litigation experts have identified that, as it was introduced as originally written, Bill C-22 would assist middle-class folks with disabilities. It could also be a windfall to provinces that, as many did with pandemic benefits, may feed their coffers by clawing back provincial benefits in response while leaving those with the least to languish. Without national guidelines with respect to adequacy, the poorest will likely not just continue to be neglected but, worse yet, be plunged ever deeper into poverty.

As evidence mounts that increasing numbers of those without adequate economic, social and health resources to live in the community are considering end-of-life options preferable to the desperation and despair of deep poverty, this issue is made even more urgent.

Disability groups have demonstrated that they are ready and eager to play their part in the meaningful co-creation of regulations to realize the Canada disability benefit.

It is now time for us to ensure the framework proposed by Bill C-22 is strong enough to support its ambitions and that the burdens of any flaw in the legislation will not be borne by disability communities.

Our colleagues have done impressive work at committee. I hope we soon see unanimous concurrence from the other place so those who need this benefit the most finally have access to supports that allow them to live with dignity and choice. We can and we must do this. The time for heartfelt intentions that deliberately ignore the needs and interests of the most marginalized has passed.

It is time to do our job and make the Canada disability benefit just that.

Meegwetch, thank you.