Ensure inclusion of people with disabilities, says May

SIDNEY, BC - Green Party Leader Elizabeth May will spend time this morning working with adults with disabilities to help build their life skills as voters.  “We want to change the pattern where Canadians with disabilities and their families live with disproportionate levels of poverty and exclusion.  The federal government has a strong role to play in providing income, equipment and housing programs,” said May.

Canadians with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty than other Canadians, a result of both exclusion and lack of supports, contributing to a vicious cycle of further exclusion and vulnerability.  Poverty rates of Canadians with disabilities result in large part from the lack of needed disability supports, which enable access to education, training, employment, and community participation.

“The Green Party of Canada believes it is time to treat Canadians with disabilities with dignity. We endorse the Basic Income Program proposed by the Caledon Institute, including an income security program for people with disabilities.  We would also work to create a Canada Disabilities Act (CDA) to express Canadians' vision of a more equitable society, rather than the current confusion resulting from the multiplicity of acts, standards, policies and programs that prevail,” said May.

The Greens would also:

• Support a national equipment fund to provide equipment such as wheel chairs and accessibility tools to assist persons with disabilities with the tools needed to fully participate in work and community life.
• Invest in social housing adapted as necessary to meet particular needs, with both rental and purchase options. This is simply an expansion of our housing program recognizing particular needs.
• Enforce the Employment Equity Act to ensure that persons with disabilities have equal opportunity to long-term employment and advancement. Disabled people are generally the last to find employment and the first to be laid off.
• Convert the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) to a refundable credit as a first step in creating a national Basic Income program for working-age adults with disabilities.
• Redesign the Canada Pension Plan/Disability Benefit (CPP/D) test to incorporate the DTC definition of disability and permit employment, rather than the CPP/D definition that requires a ‘severe’ disability to be life-long and to be the cause of any incapacity to pursue ‘any gainful occupation.’ The revised definition allows individuals to work while retaining eligibility for basic income.

Elizabeth May will be speaking to the Community Inclusion for Adults with Disabilities program at the Frederick Ozanam Centre, St. Vincent dePaul Society.  The Frederic Ozanam Centre is a day program for physically and mentally challenged adults located in Victoria, BC. It is operated by the St. Vincent de Paul Society, a Catholic outreach organization.

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