Thank you. My name is Anna MacQuarrie.
Thank you for inviting me to be with you here this evening.
The Canadian Association for Community Living is a national federation that focuses on advancing and promoting the full inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and their families.
I want to start by painting a little bit of a picture on the status of people with disabilities in this country, particularly Canadians with intellectual disabilities. When we consider that over two million Canadians with disabilities do not have access to the disability supports they need, that people with intellectual disabilities are less likely to attain similar educational outcomes as students without disabilities, and that over 70% of adults with intellectual disabilities are unemployed, it is no surprise that 75% of adults with intellectual disabilities in this country live in poverty.
Here in Canada more often than not we have created poverty as an outcome of living with a disability. Far too many people with disabilities are confined on outdated, ineffective, inadequate, and stigmatizing forms of income support that were never designed to meet the long-term and real needs of people with disabilities. Too often these systems perpetuate that poverty and increase dependency on government systems.
We believe the next federal budget can address this and can take steps that are both immediate and fiscally responsible. In particular, we believe establishing an advisory committee or a high-level panel on income reform is an excellent first step in beginning to map out the long-term strategy needed to address the income needs of people with intellectual disabilities.
We have seen that the HUMA committee has been hosting hearings on poverty, and we have presented to them. The Senate subcommittee on cities is bringing forward a report shortly that we believe is going to have a recommendation specific to addressing the income needs of people with disabilities. So we believe there is some ground to build on there.
We think the advisory committee should report both to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development and be tasked to explore the options for addressing poverty, income reform, and the federal role in income support for people with disabilities.
A possible first step may include introducing a refundable disability tax credit for low-income Canadians. If you do not have a taxable income, as many people living in poverty do not, tax credits don't help you very much. A refundable disability tax credit for those without a taxable income could be a very short-term, relatively inexpensive first step.
Lastly, we believe there's an opportunity to address emerging issues related to the recent registered disability savings plan. There are continued concerns that some people, particularly those with intellectual disabilities, are having their capacity to contract questioned. Many parents and many individuals are having to choose between a life of autonomy or potential long-term savings. There are steps that the federal government can take to address its role around ensuring that people have access to these really valuable savings mechanisms.
Those are our three concerns or our three suggestions. We believe that they are fiscally responsible, that they are doable, and that they will have a significant impact in both the immediate and the long-term lives of people with disabilities.
Thank you.