International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: Bill C-22
https://youtu.be/hUpq0dTCrZoToday is the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Here’s my speech from today in support of legislation to create a new benefit for people with disabilities.
Poverty reduction is an issue I’ve worked hard to address in Parliament, including as co-chair of our all-party anti-poverty caucus. That notion of all-party on this issue has always been an important one because the idea of dignity and equality of opportunity for all should transcend any partisan politics.
We’ve seen significant progress since 2015, thanks in large part to the Canada Child Benefit, as well as increases to GIS for seniors and the workers benefit. On Stats Can’s numbers, poverty levels have gone from 14.5% in 2015, to 10.3% in 2019, to 6.4% in 2020.
Of course, the 2020 levels were reached due to extraordinary pandemic income supports that have fallen away. On top of that, with the rising cost of living, many more people are being left behind than we see reflected in those 2020 numbers.
It goes without saying that there remains much work to do. And the next step in that work needs to be realizing the proposed Canada Disability Benefit as ambitiously as possible. People with disabilities are consistently over-represented in our national poverty numbers and that needs to change.
Bill C-22 will establish the Canada Disability Benefit with the goal of reducing poverty and supporting the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities.
I want to see this bill realized yesterday. But it isn’t enough to support this legislation. Finance needs to step up here too. The cost of poverty to our society is greater than the cost of ending poverty. Finance needs to understand that basic idea, and do the right thing in realizing the promise of Bill C-22.
In October of 2020, I recorded a podcast where I discussed these issues and other ways of improving our social safety net with Carla Qualtro, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion.
Click here to listen
Lastly, I have taken part in and signed an open letter to the Minister of Employment and Workforce Development, the Government House Leader, the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, and the Prime Minister, calling on the government to move forward more quickly to support people with disabilities.
To read the open letter, click here
For more info on C-22, click here