- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- NDP
- Courtenay—Alberni
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 66%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $148,159.67
- Government Page
- May/29/24 11:54:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, we can follow up right now.
For many applicants for the disability tax credit, the application process takes a significant mental and physical load. They often require visits to doctors and government offices, which are rejected after all that work. This is having a huge impact on physicians at a time when we are having a doctor shortage.
Does the minister believe that the government has a responsibility to make the application process as easy as possible, and could this mean sharing information with provincial governments to avoid this overlap?
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- May/29/24 11:53:19 p.m.
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Madam Chair, no one is disputing that, but it is important that the minister sit down and meet with these leaders. It has a huge impact on these employees, their customers and these business owners.
Has the Minister of Health considered that people with disabilities need to undergo two rigorous application processes to access disability benefits from both the provincial government and the federal government? Why can the federal government not accept the provincial government's applicants for disability benefits?
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- 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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- Apr/30/24 12:17:29 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, here we are, on the eve of the Day of Mourning. Every year, we honour those who have died or been injured at work. I want to give a shout-out to United Steelworkers in Port Alberni, which hosted Sunday's event in my riding, as well as to the others from labour who hosted in communities in Courtenay and Parksville.
As we honour those workers, it is critical that we support workers who are injured. We know that if workers who have been injured in the workplace do not return to work within 12 months, they have a 1% chance of ever returning to work. Right now there are 1.2 million Canadian workers who are not working. We need to unlock their potential and support them by accommodating them when they are injured at work, to get them back to work immediately.
We have a historic program for returning to work through Pacific Coast University, a disability management program that the government started, but the government did not renew it. Is the government going to renew the disability management program with Pacific Coast University, or is it going to abandon workers?
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Mr. Speaker, we know that the government has not delivered a single dollar after its promise of mental health transfers. The member talked about the importance of support. We agree with her given what I heard in her speech.
The government still has not tabled legislation to create parity between mental and physical health, which is absolutely critical. We have heard from the disability community, especially people who are suffering with mental health issues as their underlying illness, and they are all saying they need better supports, such as access to treatment. They are also saying that it is tough to pay their bills, buy groceries and pay for rent.
We put forward a proposal for a guaranteed livable income for those living with disabilities and for seniors. We know tax breaks are not going to help people in that category because they do not have the income. I am hoping my colleague can talk about some of the solutions to help support those who are struggling so they are not considering medically assisted dying for an underlying mental illness.
We can talk about solutions. I know the Liberals want to deflect because they do not want to talk about their track record. That is what they just did in the question to my colleague. I am hoping we can hear more proposals to help support people.
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- Apr/28/22 12:38:00 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, my colleague talked about the types of debates that are not happening right now and that we would like to talk about, whether it be the fall fiscal update or the budget.
I think about today being a very important day, the National Day of Mourning. Today, on April 28, we know that workers, families, employers and people in our communities gather together at events, including in my riding, in Courtenay and in Port Alberni. They are held across the country, so that we remember those who have lost their lives on the job or who have been injured on the job, and we renew our commitment to creating safer workplaces.
The government, in terms of hiring people with disabilities, is the worst for any equity group in the federal public service. I have to raise this today, that with the federal accessibility legislation now in place and employment for persons with disabilities identified as a key priority, recognizing the explicit interface between disability, poverty and employment, I need to know this: What are the federal government's key strategies in accommodating employees who acquire a mental or physical health impairment and who are unable to carry on their duties?
Maybe the member could speak to that and the importance of that, because I have not seen enough on the action that needs to happen.
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Madam Speaker, the sense of urgency is so real. These are the lowest-income seniors in our country who have had clawbacks because of the failure of the Liberal government.
As the New Democrats, we are here to get help for seniors now. I want to give a shout-out to my colleague, the MP for North Island—Powell River, for being vigilant and pressing the government to fix this problem. We are here to help Canadians and seniors right now. We have been fighting this fight since the get-go. We want some certainty from the government and the minister that they are going to roll out immediate supports for those who need help now, in March, which is just weeks away, so that in April, all of the clawbacks will be repaid to the seniors who are struggling right now.
Will the minister listen to the New Democrats, who are calling for a guaranteed livable basic income, brought forward by my colleague from Winnipeg Centre, so that no seniors are living in poverty? I hope the minister will really listen to the New Democrats' proposal to do that because we should all agree in the House that no senior and no person living with a disability should be living below the poverty line. They need a guaranteed livable annual income.
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