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Louise Chabot

Member of Parliament
Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees
Bloc Québécois

Thérèse-De Blainville
Quebec
Voting Attendance: 68%
Expenses Last Quarter: $122,743.44

Government Page

Feb/1/23 5:38:44 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-22

Mr. Speaker, that is precisely the problem. In committee, we would have had that opportunity with the Bloc Québécois's amendment. It did not address the regulations as a whole, but focused on three elements: the eligibility criteria, which is not insignificant; the conditions under which the benefit will be paid or will continue to be paid; and the amount of the benefit or the calculation method. This will all be established by regulation. In committee, I gave an example that may have seemed absurd. The government could decide that the new additional benefit would be $5. We know that will not be the amount, however, given that the amount will be set by the regulations, there is no longer any control and these amounts and criteria could change. We find that to be unacceptable. We agree that the benefit must be made by and for persons with disabilities. However, ultimately, we must be able to ensure that the objectives are achieved. That is our job as parliamentarians. I invite the government to strengthen this objective in its bill.

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Context: House Hansard - 151 - Feb/1/23

Ms. Louise Chabot (Thérèse-De Blainville, BQ)

Feb/1/23 5:20:14 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-22

Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her speech. Although I have a completely different point of view, there is one thing we agree on, and I would like to ask her a question. I, too, am a member of the committee that did an in-depth study of Bill C‑22. What seems to be unique about this bill is that the amount of the benefit and the eligibility criteria will be established by regulations, without any parliamentary oversight on what the benefit level will be. Will this amount truly complement what is being provided in Quebec and the provinces? Will it meet its objective of reducing poverty? We moved an amendment in that regard in committee proposing that the eligibility criteria and the amount of the benefit be studied in Parliament and a decision be made. The amendment was not successful. What are my colleague's thoughts on that? Would it have been a good idea?

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Context: House Hansard - 98 - Sep/20/22

Ms. Louise Chabot

Sep/20/22 12:23:04 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-22

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his question. One thing that is clear about eligibility is that this legislation is intended for persons with disabilities who are of working age. Who are these people, however? We have the beginning of an answer. The clause entitled “Regulations” is what worries me about this bill because so much is left unsaid. Bills are passed on principle, which, in this case, is to provide income support to the poorest persons with disabilities. Regulations, on the other hand, set out the details, such as the eligibility criteria for the benefit; the conditions that are to be met in order to receive the benefit; the amount of the benefit or the method for determining the amount; the manner in which the benefit is to be indexed; the payment periods; and the applications for the benefit. Right now, the legislation is rather vague. We understand that there will be consultations and that the government wants to work for and with persons with disabilities. However, it has been a year, so I think that it should be able to specify certain things that we could actually work on in committee before the bill passes third reading.

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Context: House Hansard - 98 - Sep/20/22

Ms. Louise Chabot

Sep/20/22 12:20:22 p.m.
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Re: Bill C-22

Mr. Speaker, of course we took the time to review it. I wonder whether my colleague took the time to listen carefully to my speech. We know that this targets people of working age, but the point we are trying to make when we talk about who is eligible is that the concepts of disability and impairment do not have the same linguistic and cultural scope. That is an important point. I would like to remind my colleague that, according to the September 23, 2020, throne speech, the disability inclusion plan includes a new inclusive process for determining eligibility for benefits that reflects a modern understanding of disability. We have questions about that, and I think I was very clear.

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Member of the panel of chairs for the legislative committees

Louise Chabot