Throne speeches are full of promises.
Amongst the many promises in the federal government’s September Throne speech was a commitment to come up with a Disability Inclusion Plan to address “long-standing challenges” facing Canadians with disabilities.
The Disability Inclusion Plan is a promise that should be kept.
The plan would be styled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement for Seniors. It would include a “robust” employment strategy for Canadians with disabilities. A better process for determining eligibility would be developed.
The prime minister re-affirmed this promise in a media release on December 3rd, 2020.
It is an important initiative that seems to be flying below the radar.
The Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction put together a timely policy brief that
The data makes the case that we must acknowledge “the severity of structural poverty for persons with disabilities.”
Any new benefit must ensure that persons with disabilities can be lifted out of poverty “to a truly dignified standard of living.”
Some Insights from the Roundtable Report
• There are significant costs associated with life-long disability.
• All medical needs are not covered or accessible through existing programs.
• There should be full support for social inclusion. Adequate resources to permit full involvement in the community must be provided.
• Everyone with disabilities isn’t able to work full time. That means incomes must be supplemented to account for lower life time learnings.
Learn More: Plan Institute has put together on Building Momentum for the Canadian Disability Benefit which you can find at https://planinstitute.ca/learning-series-canadian-disability-benefit/
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