Canada Disability Benefit births new disability movement

Imagine a group of 100 Canadians — young, old, from coast to coast to coast, representing the rich diversity of this country. I see them talking, laughing, sharing photos of their family. Maybe someone has a ball and a game breaks out.

Ten of those Canadians live in poverty. Sure, they’re probably still joining in the fun, and you might not even know which 10 they are, but they live with the daily stress of not knowing how they’re going to feed their family or keep a roof over their head or any of the other major issues that come with living in poverty.

Out of those 10 Canadians, four of them are disabled. On top of their concerns for food, clothing and shelter, they can’t afford to pay for vital medications, the care they need or the medical devices they rely on to function.

When we look at the statistics more closely, we see that 22 per cent of Canadians live with disability, but they make up 41 per cent of that group of people who live in poverty. Persons with disability living in poverty are overrepresented — there are twice as many disabled people in the group than statistics alone would account for.

Disabled people are less likely to be employed than those without disabilities, and often those that are employed, end up chronically underemployed, in minimum wage, part-time positions, earning a wage that is insufficient to support them.

But this may be about to change. In the last Speech from the Throne, the federal government proposed a new national benefit —the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) — a massive positive step forward for easing the financial hardship of persons with disabilities. Canadians across the country recognize the problem and applaud the solution. A recent Angus Reid poll reveals an overwhelming majority of Canadians — a whopping 89 per cent — support (strongly or moderately) the proposed Canada Disability Benefit. And 88 per cent believe that a Canada Disability Benefit is an essential commitment for the government to make.

As someone who lives with a disability, this gives me great hope. It demonstrates that Canadians of all stripes recognize the imperative to support disabled Canadians and move them out of poverty.

I am not alone in this hope. A new movement has formed. We launched Disability Without Poverty, an organization that is led by disabled Canadians, represents the rich diversity of our lived experiences and builds on momentum and movements from the past. We have come together to work to ensure that our federal government follows through on the Canada Disability Benefit.

Canadians have little faith in our governments to do the work of lifting disabled Canadians out of poverty. The recent Angus Reid survey found that 62 per cent of Canadians say they have no confidence in the federal government to get the job done, and there’s even less confidence in provincial governments (66 per cent).

A majority of Canadians (59 per cent) doubt that the promised Canada Disability Benefit will ever happen. The vast majority (74 per cent) feel that three years of consultation before it is enacted is moving too slowly.

At Disability Without Poverty, we believe that this change can happen and must happen — and we are here to make sure the job gets done. We know the task is too big for the government to do alone, so we are here to help.

We are committed to a Canada where no disabled person lives in poverty. The first step is designing a Canada Disability Benefit that brings our government systems together to work cooperatively, to make sure the needs of disabled Canadians are heard and that money gets into their hands quickly.

This movement is only just beginning. There’s a place for everyone at the table — persons with all types and severity of disability, their families, friends and allies. Join us, because we know that we all want to live in a Canada where we are proud that no one with a disability lives in poverty.

Michelle Hewitt is co-chair of Disability Without Poverty, and a disabled woman living in Kelowna, B.C. She is also a PHD student at University of British Columbia-okanagan. Given the severity of her own disability, Michelle does this work from her bed with the company of her two Bernese Mountain dogs.