Disabled groups fight immigration law

A national advocacy group is pushing for the government to repeal immigration criteria that it calls discriminatory toward people with disabilities.

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities is calling for the repeal of a provision that bars immigrants with disabilities from settling in Canada on grounds that they could place too much demand on the country’s medical system. The group contends the practice is discriminatory and based on outdated, stereotypical ideas around disability.

The council wants the government to drop the requirement from the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and to make sure disabled people are included in crafting a new, more inclusive procedure.

The council will be among several groups speaking this week before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration.

The committee is studying the country’s current criteria for the medical admissibility of prospective newcomers and will be holding sessions this week to hear views on the issue.

Council first vice-chair John Rae says disability rights advocates don’t often get a seat at the table at the inception of a new policy, and the result often is that changes must be made later to address their uniquely complex needs.

He hopes hearing a disabled perspective on medical inadmissibility criteria will help the committee shape new rules that are more in line with Canadian values.

“In addition to being discriminatory in effect and impact, it is very demeaning because it assumes that persons with disabilities are inherently a burden on society,” Rae said of the current system. “We reject that idea.”

The council plans to focus its feedback on a provision of the Act that explicitly singles out disabled applicants and places limits on their prospects of Canadian residency.