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Member of Parliament

Adam Chambers

  • Member of Parliament
  • Member of Parliament
  • Conservative
  • Simcoe North
  • Ontario
  • Voting Attendance: 68%
  • Expenses Last Quarter: $121,028.17

  • Government Page
Context: House Hansard - 221 - Sep/20/23
Mr. Adam Chambers (Simcoe North, CPC)
  • Sep/20/23 6:05:43 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is a pleasure to rise this evening to speak to this very thoughtful motion by my colleague from Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. Before I get started on this speech, I did want to give a special shout-out and acknowledgement to the members of Canada's Special Olympics teams who participated in the 2023 World Games in Germany this year and brought home significant amounts of hardware, including 46 gold medals, 20 silver medals and 30 bronze medals. I do not think we did enough as a country to congratulate our Special Olympians when they came home, but better late than never. They did a fantastic job, and the coaches and the volunteers who helped them excel and put Canada on the world stage for athletics are to be commended. In the same spirit, we have worked very hard as a country to be inclusive of individuals with disabilities with respect to sport, but we have much to do when it comes to education. Canada has done some great things over the years, but we have a long way to go. I was very pleased to hear my colleagues, both from the NDP and from the Bloc, speak just before me. In particular, the intervention from my Bloc colleague, who is very passionate, shared some very heartwarming stories of lived experience about what progress, joy, purpose and dignity we can provide individuals living with unique abilities in our society. I think that too often in this place we end up focusing a lot on the differences we have between parties. We like to draw the contrast of how we are different from the others. Of course, the media like to play that up. However, at least on this issue, every once in a while, there is something that comes before the chamber that has what appears to be unanimous support. I very much look forward to seeing the outcome of the vote next week. I want to take a few minutes to commend the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. I have known him for over 15 years. He has been elected since 2006. If I can quote former finance minister Bill Morneau's book, which recently came out, he said that some people go to Ottawa to be someone, and some people go to Ottawa to do something. The member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin has come to Ottawa to do something. He has put his passion and his purpose into this issue, among many other issues, of course. We all come here to serve constituents. We all belong to a party. We all support our party and our priorities, but each of us has an ability to lean into something we care about. The member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin should be commended for choosing this issue over his very long public service career, to support those living with unique abilities, or disabilities as some say, in our society. Inclusion and education are important. We spend a lot of money around the world trying to help those in developing countries find education opportunities. Why do we do that? We do it because education is one of the single best predictors of lifting someone out of poverty. We should be expanding that education to be as inclusive as we can so that we can include those in our communities, our neighbours here at home in Canada who have disabilities, and also in the work we do in other countries. Canada has done so many great things, and I will touch on those later, but we do have a leadership role to play on the world stage when it comes to helping other countries be inclusive with respect to education. Of course, one would expect a Conservative to talk about how it is good for the economy. Obviously that is the case. There are over 500,000 underemployed or unemployed individuals in this country who have disabilities. If we get those individuals into the workforce, it absolutely helps with our GDP. There is no question about it: this represents hundreds of billions of dollars of additional GDP. However, it is the things we cannot measure in a bank account. It is the purpose, the dignity and the joy one can see in someone's face about being part of and welcomed in their community. It is the proper human thing to do. We owe it to our neighbours here at home and abroad to see what we can do to involve as many people as possible in the economy and in our education, by being inclusive to give them proper vocational training. I am pleased that the motion talks about the international piece, but, as I said, we have a lot of work to do at home. I was also very proud to be in and around Ottawa during the previous government, which laid the foundation for a number of very strong initiatives with respect to persons with disabilities. I just want to highlight a few. One of the single most important advancements with respect to supporting those with disabilities was the implementation of the registered disability savings plan that was brought in by former finance minister Jim Flaherty, under the leadership of former prime minister Harper. Some other initiatives include the Canada disability savings bond, which actually deposited money into that account for low-income Canadians; Canada disability savings grants; the enabling accessibility fund to help with renovating and retrofitting infrastructure to make it more accessible; the disability supplement for the working income tax benefit, although the government has renamed that the Canada workers benefit, a little bit of branding; new labour market framework agreements for persons with disabilities; enhancements to the disability tax credit by extending eligibility; increasing the child disability benefit; exempting GST for training services related to assisting individuals coping with the effects of an intellectual disability; exempting GST for medical devices, including for service dogs; and enhancements to the medical expense tax credit. One of the key things that the previous government did prior to the 2015 election was to start a program called Ready Willing & Able, to help employers and provide vocational training to employees with intellectual disabilities. I commend the government for continuing to support that program up until today. I could go on, but those are some of the initiatives that happened under the previous government. This is not a partisan issue with respect to supporting those vulnerable neighbours around us. It transcends politics. These are our neighbours, our community members. These are our family members in many cases. Having worked in the previous government, I got to see the advocacy of the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. When we considered a number of these measures that were introduced, it was the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin who was involved in supporting and advocating for those individuals and those measures every step of the way. As I said, this is not really a partisan issue. I think that has been clear today. I look forward to the vote next week. If colleagues do not want to listen to me, as some people do not always want to in this place, I would just like to read a few quotes from some of Canada's leading authorities on this subject. Community Living Toronto wrote, “Knowledge is the most powerful thing we can use to change the world. Thank you [to the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin] for your support in promoting equal opportunities for a quality, inclusive education. It is a crucial step in improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities!” Danny Glenwright, President and CEO, Save the Children Canada, wrote, "Thanks for your work on this... this is an important step to support this critical education work and inclusion in Canada & internationally. I hope all MPs will agree and support this, furthering Canada's leadership on education, inclusion and rights." Right to Play Canada wrote, "Happy to see parliamentary support for more quality and inclusive education, so that every single child, wherever they live, has the opportunity to learn." Finally, Tim Shriver gave his thanks to the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin “for your steadfast support for @SpecialOlympics and inclusive education for people with disabilities". That is not small praise. Those are some of the leading voices and advocates for those living among us with unique abilities or disabilities, as some say. That they have chosen to throw their support behind this motion from the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin speaks volumes. I am heartened by the speeches that I have heard here tonight. I look forward to the vote next week. While this is a motion and not a bill, I think it is an important step, a step we must make. We must hold each other accountable to follow through on these measures to make sure we are welcoming and inclusive of those living with disabilities in our communities here at home and around the world.
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