- Member of Parliament
- Member of Parliament
- Conservative
- Kelowna—Lake Country
- British Columbia
- Voting Attendance: 67%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $131,412.70
- Government Page
- May/31/24 11:10:11 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have blonde hair with hazel eyes. I am 5'7". I am wearing a black dress with a royal blue blazer. As the shadow minister for disability inclusion, it is my pleasure to recognize National AccessAbility Week. Let us acknowledge the contributions and leadership of persons with disabilities and of their allies, the organizations and communities that care for, support and champion persons with disabilities in Canada.
There is still much to do to make our society more accessible so that persons with disabilities can access many of the services and places most people take for granted. Even in this place, the highest institution in the land, word has come to my attention of ways that this place has not met accessibility needs and I am actively working with House administration on this.
This week and every week, let us recognize the important contributions of Canadians living with disabilities and those who support them, and commit to work on removing barriers to accessibility.
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- Apr/18/24 10:03:18 a.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am tabling, on behalf of Conservatives, a supplementary report from the human resources committee, where we heard testimony from Mr. Michael Rousseau, president and CEO of Air Canada, on the failures to accommodate passengers with disabilities. It took three months for him to appear before the committee, and Conservatives believe this is unacceptable, as the committee was flexible with the dates proposed.
Mr. Rousseau stated that Air Canada's objective is to be “the preferred airline for [persons] with disabilities” and to “ensure [their] services are accessible.” However, evidence pointed to the contrary, and committee members shared stories of Canadians with disabilities who experienced unacceptable challenges while flying Air Canada.
Just days before Mr. Rousseau testified at committee, Air Canada published an accessibility plan, and Conservatives want to note that it was interesting to see the timing of this announcement.
Lastly, Conservatives believe that Air Canada's executives must do more to ensure that services offered to travellers and travellers with disabilities are accessible and that regulatory requirements are enforced.
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- May/10/23 5:53:51 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, it is always a privilege to rise on behalf of the residents of Kelowna—Lake Country. It is an honour to speak in favour of the motion brought forward by my colleague, the member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin. That member has long been an advocate for persons with disabilities and is well respected for his many different efforts on this.
The motion before us would allow this House to set a key reminder for government to remember those too often forgotten in our world: people with disabilities. Canada's work, whether here at home or abroad in developing countries, in aiding children's education is vitally important. While it is essential to help fund the books, pencils and computers needed for education, we would fail in our ambition for better education for every child if we did not consider the need to ensure the inclusion of all children, regardless of circumstances beyond their control.
A 2021 Statistics Canada study found that young Canadians with disabilities between the ages of 15 and 34 still encounter a wide range of difficulties in attending school, such as limitations on learning, social exclusion or a lack of accommodations. The study found that among the participants, 21.1% of women and 33.7% of men had yet to complete a high school level of education. Of those interviewed, 29% said they had discontinued their education because of their condition.
Though we recognize education as primarily provincial, there is a role the federal government can play.
As the Conservative shadow minister responsible for disability inclusion, I was involved in helping to advance the Canada disability benefit. We know for that piece of legislation that the government was working for years on it and finally tabled legislation in the last Parliament. The snap election of 2021 cancelled the legislation from moving forward, and it was reintroduced in this Parliament, though not as a priority piece of legislation for the government, as it was not one of the first bills to be introduced.
Surprisingly, it was the same legislation as this, and in fact it is well documented through testimony at committee that there is much uncertainty. What it would actually mean for people as to the parameters, to whom it would be applicable and what they would receive would all be done through regulation. I will continue to hold this government to account for this unacceptably slow pace of delivery. Still, by that bill's unanimous passing in the House, we know this chamber is committed to seeing all persons with disabilities reach their highest potential.
When it comes to our federal role in education, in situations such as indigenous education or social transfers, keeping in mind the specific needs of all children as they study is vital. Our goal must be nothing less than, as the text of this motion states, "maximum inclusion of people with disabilities, including people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.” We should want no less for our children living with disabilities around the world, whom we seek to aid in our efforts to alleviate poverty in developing countries. Without access to education, poverty is not alleviated in the long term.
It is indisputable that a good education can help make people's lives better. What we see needing improvement in the developing world is a clear commitment to the consistent consideration of the millions of people worldwide who face unique physical, developmental and intellectual challenges in achieving their best lives.
Globally, children with disabilities face significant barriers that result in exclusion from education and schooling. According to UNESCO's “2020 Global Education Monitoring Report”, at least 50% of children with disabilities are excluded from education in low- and middle-income countries. In some contexts, the figure is closer to 90%.
The reasons for this are varied, whether they are a lack of transportation options to reach schools, inaccessible school or classroom buildings, the lack of proper teacher training to educate children with varying intellectual and developmental challenges, or poor curriculum design. The denial of primary education leaves many of these children with the poorest life outcomes imaginable, with poor adult literacy or social skills condemning them to hard labour, extreme poverty or worse. Socially, these children can often be deeply misunderstood, with their conditions treated as burdens or even death sentences.
In some areas of the world, prejudice surrounding what we in Canada would regard as basic conditions sadly leads to the lives of children being harmed and given up on. According to the same report I cited earlier, adapted infrastructure and materials for students with disabilities are lacking in developing countries. Canada undoubtedly has inclusion challenges to overcome as well for those with disabilities. Still, we can take some fulfillment in the tireless efforts of our many education leaders, teachers and support workers who help to provide educational benefits for children who, had they been born in too many other places around the world, would have never received those efforts. I thank all of those who work in this field.
Similarly, we can take pride in Canadians seeking to address that gap in the developing world. Canada has a long history of commitment to helping developing countries. For example, one project looks to advance inclusive higher education for young adults with disabilities, develop new occupational therapy programs and foster research for inclusive education and community-based rehabilitation in the region.
Hearing of Canadian efforts to help with projects like this is no surprise. Canada has always prided itself on its capacity for humanitarian work. We are proudly home to tens of thousands of charities, not-for-profits, faith groups and individual miracle workers pursuing similar aims in regions around the world. The same consideration they give toward ensuring a good education for every child must be kept front of mind. The member for Edmonton—Wetaskiwin is very purposeful in the wording of his motion calling on the government to take action. He does not want persons with disabilities to be forgotten. In fact, he wants them to be top of mind.
He is also drawing attention to persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. When people think of persons with disabilities and their extra needs, they may have to help minimize or overcome challenges with their diverse abilities. Often, we may think of physical accessibility needs. For example, physical infrastructure, like building a ramp or having an accessible washroom, may come to mind, and people get a check mark for being inclusive when considering those with disabilities.
However, this motion also adds in purposeful wording to include people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is important because the check mark may not be quite as easy. Those with intellectual and developmental disability needs need to be top of mind when considering educational funding in order for us to be truly inclusive and to make a difference through education for those who may not be considered now. This elevates the importance of not forgetting those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
I call on all members of this House to put aside partisanship and come together unanimously in passing this motion. Doing so will send a clear message of commitment to those in need of a better life through education who may currently be denied it.
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Madam Speaker, it is my privilege to speak to Bill C-22 as the official opposition shadow minister for employment, future workforce development and disability inclusion.
Conservatives are committed to increasing support for Canadians living with disabilities. More than one in five Canadians live with a disability. This is not an insignificant number. In fact, this is not a number; these are people.
Disabled Canadians are underemployed. In 2017, Statistics Canada reported that approximately 59% of working-age adults with disabilities were employed, compared with around 80% of those without disabilities.
I have always believed in going to where people are. This is why I door knocked for the year leading up to the 2019 election, reaching more than 30,000 doorsteps in my community of Kelowna—Lake Country. One thing I will always remember is how many people I came across in their homes were people with disabilities. A family member would often tell me the story of their family. Truly, a disability is often a family journey.
Canadians living with disabilities may face high costs for assisted devices, equipment or prescriptions. One of the most onerous costs remains accessibility renovations and modifications to a home. This is especially onerous considering that the government’s age well initiative fund did not include the home and vehicle modification program. These are not optional expenses. We are talking about life-saving items, necessities or items that can exponentially improve someone's standard of living. If someone is fortunate enough to have family support, this is often how they can manoeuvre as a family to try to get services and have the best quality of life.
While some challenges are beyond the immediate scope of this House, as parliamentarians, we owe it to Canadians living with disabilities to put forward legislation that will allow them to continue to survive, succeed and hopefully thrive.
While the intention to support the disability community remains, Bill C-22, the disability benefit act, will not ensure on its own that Canadians living with disabilities are not living in poverty. This is because the most important details of this bill, such as eligibility, payment amount, application process, provincial co-operation and how it will interact with other programs, which could potentially create clawbacks, are left to be determined by regulation.
Essentially, we are debating a benefit that has not been determined yet. Canadians living with disabilities deserve legislation that is committed to them through concrete action, not promises. I want to make sure this legislation moves forward, but I want to be very clear and on record that the government has been lazy and taken the easy way out; getting disability benefits to people who need them has not been a priority.
Regardless of what the minister and the other Liberal MPs announce and say, the facts speak for themselves. The Liberals have been in government for eight years, and they had all that time to consult and come up with legislation. Although the Liberals have said they consulted with affected persons and advocacy groups, they tabled the exact same piece of legislation in the previous Parliament. It died when the Liberals called the unnecessary, expensive snap election in the summer of 2021. Moreover, this is Bill C-22. That means there were 21 bills before this one in this Parliament, even though this bill is exactly the same as it was in the last Parliament. A disability benefit act has not been their priority. This is how the Liberals govern: make big announcements with photo ops but with no substance, action or results. They have a track record of governing through regulations.
There are few assurances of what this legislation will achieve. The regulations will be drafted behind closed doors. There will be no debate in Parliament; there will be no voting in Parliament. There will be no scrutiny at committees. This is the Liberal way of governing by regulations.
The only policy decision this bill does clearly define is that more than one-third of Canadians living with disabilities over the age of 15 will not receive this benefit, regardless of how poor they are. It is estimated that more than half a million Canadians have invisible disabilities. Just because someone appears to be in good health does not mean that they may not face hardships. We do not know if people with invisible disabilities or those with episodic disabilities will be eligible under this disability benefit act. It is one of the many questions.
People living with a disability do not always fit the traditional mould. We know that there will be an appeals process for Canadians living with disabilities who have been denied supports and benefits. The amount of the benefit remains unclear.
I am very concerned about potential clawbacks. Conservatives attempted to put an amendment in this legislation at the committee stage to potentially address federal benefit clawbacks. However, the Liberals did not support our amendment. The minister told us that she is trying to negotiate agreements with provinces so that there will be no clawbacks. The problem is that these agreements may not be enforceable, and since there is nothing in Bill C-22 to confirm this, in its current form, it would not provide any safeguards against clawbacks.
This is the opposite process to what the Liberals are championing with their child care bill. There, they negotiated with the provinces and signed deals and then came to Parliament with legislation. With this disability benefit, there are literally no details in the legislation, and the Liberals are going to the provinces to work out the agreements. The cost of living is not the same across Canada, and this legislation on its own would not provide the assurance that there would be no provincial or regional disparity.
Some questions remain. How would the benefit be impacted if there were provincial changes to disability supports? Who would qualify? What would the amounts be? Who would deliver the benefit? Would the benefit count as income? How would the benefit be paid? Would it disqualify people from provincial supports? Would it disqualify people from federal supports? These are all questions that the government has failed to answer.
I have seen disability affect my family, like many people. My mom had one week of respite in 30 years of looking after my dad, who had MS. She is the strongest person I know, and there are many people in Canada living through these types of situations in their families.
At the Standing Committee on Human Resources, we heard from individuals and organizations, both testifying in person and writing in. They represented thousands of persons with disabilities across the country. One of the most heartbreaking things I heard was that people were considering MAID because they could not access services or afford to live. People said they could not afford to buy healthy food and follow the Canada food guide, which the Liberals announced with great fanfare in 2019. The current Liberal government does not realize the desperate situation many people are in because of the 40-year high in inflation.
To conclude, as I mentioned earlier, the level of disability poverty in Canada remains a prominent issue, and we have a responsibility to do better. Conservatives are committed to increasing support for Canadians living with disabilities. Therefore, I can say that we are all in agreement that the Canada disability benefit act must be passed, although there are so many unanswered questions. The Liberals have set this up such that they are doing everything in a non-transparent way behind closed doors, and neither parliamentarians nor the greater public through committee will have a say as to what the final regulations will be. Conservatives will remain vigilant in holding the government to account on promises it has made to persons with disabilities.
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