https://www.hilltimes.com/2022/04/20/budget-2022s-employment-strategy-for-people-with-disabilities-not-a-replacement-for-income-support-warn-advocates/357277

Title: Budget 2022’s employment strategy for people with disabilities not a replacement for income support, warn advocates

Subtitle: The government tabled the Canada Disability Benefit before the election, but references to the promised legislation were conspicuously absent from the December fiscal update and from the April budget.

By Kevin Philipupillai
April 20, 2022

Caption under photograph of Carla Qualtrough: Carla Qualtrough, the minister of employment, workforce development, and disability inclusion, has the complicated job of designing a federal benefit that makes a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities aged 18 to 64. The Hill Times photograph by Andrew Meade

Body of the article:

As MPs from all parties urge the government to fast-track legislation for a promised disability benefit left out of the budget, advocates say the employment strategy outlined in the federal government’s 2022 budget won’t work if people with disabilities lose access to existing benefits faster than they can replace that money with wages.

The budget, released April 7, did not mention the Liberals’ promised Canada Disability Benefit, but it did propose $272.6-million over five years for Employment and Social Development Canada to support the implementation of an employment strategy for persons with disabilities.

The budget referred to data from Statistics Canada that says people with disabilities aged 25 to 54 have a lower labour force participation rate than people without a post-secondary education, Indigenous people, recent immigrants, and women in the same age range.

Rabia Khedr, the national director of Disability Without Poverty, told The Hill Times that she doesn’t see anything “remarkably different” about the government’s latest employment strategy, since the federal government has historically taken the lead on employment initiatives for people with disabilities.

“But,” said Khedr, who is blind, “we want people to clearly recognize that an investment in employment for people with disabilities does not mean that people with disabilities will be lifted out of poverty. It doesn’t mean that all barriers will be removed.”

Devorah Kobluk, a senior policy analyst from the Income Security Advocacy Centre, a specialty legal clinic in Ontario, told The Hill Times that employment supports are not a replacement for income supports. “That feeds into this idea that people don’t want to work. It’s way more complex than that,” she said.

“People with disabilities want to work, are willing to work, have skills to contribute, want to feel productive,” added Khedr. “Sometimes the nature of their disability just makes it impossible for them to work, regardless of any employment programs and accommodations and accessibility.”

Another problem, said Kobluk, is that people with disabilities who do find full-time or part-time work often find that their existing federal or provincial benefits are designed with steep clawbacks that kick in when they start to receive any other income, including employment income.

“That’s a sudden cliff for someone,” she said.

When clawbacks are steep, said Kobluk, a full-time job earning minimum wage might not adequately replace the lost benefits that a person with a disability might have relied on, creating a disincentive to seek paid employment. This is sometimes referred to as the welfare wall. In that case, she said, “the only way to get out of poverty is to get a full-time permanent job with comprehensive health benefits.”

“And how many employers are willing to engage?” Kobluk asked. “How many see the possibility? How many are willing to make their workplace look and function differently?

Children and seniors with disabilities are eligible for other federal government benefits such as the Canada Child Benefit or the Guaranteed Income Supplement, said Kobluk, which have helped bring down poverty rates for people with disabilities in those age groups. “But there is no benefit for working age adults,” added Kobluk. “And poverty in that age group is getting worse, not better.”

Brian Dijkema, the co-author of a recent report titled “Breaking Down Work Barriers for People with Disabilities,” said he was “really encouraged” the government was focusing on employment for people for disabilities, but said $272.6-million over five years was “pretty underwhelming” compared to how much the government allocated to other priorities and to less vulnerable groups.

Dijkema is the vice president of external affairs at Cardus, a Canadian think tank with roots in Europe’s Christian Democratic tradition (“think Angela Merkel,” he said). He referred to the Cardus report as “a case study of the non-financial benefits of work,” explaining that, just like anyone else, people with disabilities experience better physical and mental health outcomes, feel less isolated, and gain a community and a sense of purpose with “even a few hours a week” of paid work.

Dijkema said his team’s research was aimed partly at employers, who often over-estimate the cost of accommodations when hiring employees with disabilities. The Cardus report says 56 per cent of job accommodations come with no cost, while 39 per cent of accommodations involve a one-time cost, “with the median expenditure just $500.”

Sub-heading: MPs sign open letter urging feds to fast-track the Canada Disability Benefit

The government first promised to bring forward “a new Canadian Disability Benefit modelled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement for seniors” in the September 2020 Throne Speech.

Carla Qualtrough (Delta, B.C), the minister of employment, workforce development, and disability inclusion, tabled the Canada Disability Benefit Act in the House of Commons in June 2021, days before the writ dropped for the September 2021 election. The bill died on the Order Paper and has not been re-introduced in the current Parliament.

Kobluk said “people got their hopes up” when the federal government first promised the benefit in 2020, and it was the first thing she looked for in the budget.

“It was disappointing to see that it wasn’t there,” said Kobluk, a sentiment shared by Khedr.

“We were hoping that there would be some symbolic restatement of work in progress on the benefit, to reassure people,” Khedr said.

Qualtrough, a human rights lawyer and former Paralympian whose appointment to the disability inclusion portfolio in 2015 was cause for optimism for many disability advocates, told The Hill Times in a written statement that re-introducing the Canada Disability Benefit remains a priority for the government.

She added that the government was still working on its $11.9-million commitment from Budget 2021 “to reform the eligibility processes for federal disability programs and benefits,” since this work “will directly inform the Canada Disability Benefit.”

“We are confident that the bill will be tabled again,” said Khedr, but stressed that advocates wanted it re-introduced before Parliament rises for the summer. “We want the bill to be tabled as early as possible so there’s no unnecessary delay,” referring to fears that the parliamentary clock will once again run out on this legislation.

“Poverty isn’t waiting around,” she said. “Poverty is something people are living in on a daily basis.”

Khedr pointed out that people in Ontario who are eligible for the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) receive a maximum of $1,169 a month. “The official poverty line in Toronto is just over $2,000,” she said. “Even if they work a few hours a month, that will not meet their needs. And the disability poverty line is always higher than the typical poverty line,” she said, because of additional costs such as the need to rely on taxis or the inability to go to three different grocery stores to make the most out of grocery coupons.

“We are hearing more and more of people exercising their government-granted right to [Medical Assistance in Dying] as a way to deal with poverty,” said Khedr, echoing a frequent plea from disability advocates. “And that should not be the case in a first world country like Canada. People should not feel compelled to end their lives simply because they cannot afford to cover their basic needs.”

Green Party MP Mike Morrice (Kitchener Centre, Ont.), who initiated an April 12 open letter from MPs, told The Hill Times it was “encouraging” to see a “constructive,” cross-party response from Parliamentarians urging the legislation be fast-tracked.

The letter “helps to demonstrate the level of support that already exists for this legislation,” said Morrice, referring to polling that said 89 per cent of Canadians are supportive of greater income support for people with disabilities.

Morrice said Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith (Beaches-East York, Ont.) took the lead on circulating the letter within the Liberal caucus, while Bloc Québécois disability critic Louise Chabot (Thérèse-De Blainville, Que.) took the lead within the Bloc caucus. As of April 20, 39 Liberal MPs, two Conservative MPs, and both Green MPs have signed the letter. Chabot signed on behalf of all 32 Bloc MPs.

Morrice said he believed that the government’s initial attempt to table the bill was done “in good faith,” and urged the Liberals to re-introduce the bill even if they are still conducting consultations.

The NDP’s critic for disability inclusion, Bonita Zarrillo (Port Moody-Coquitlam, B.C.), released her own open letter on March 16 in which she called on the government to re-introduce the Canada Disability Act. Zarrillo’s letter described the disability benefit as a step on the way to “a guaranteed livable basic income” for all, which is not found in the open letter signed by the Liberal, Conservative, Bloc, and Green MPs.