Finance Committee on April 1st, 2014

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bryson.

I'll go to Mr. Keddy now, please.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I have a couple of points. I assume we're going to have bells ringing soon.

One of the challenges that I think we've done a better job at for people with disabilities—at least, people with physical disabilities—is making changes to the building code. When I was first elected in 1997, I was the first member of Parliament in the riding I represent to have a wheelchair ramp. When we think of that today, it is shocking, absolutely shocking. When I rented my first office, that was part of the deal. If the owner built a wheelchair ramp, I would rent from him. Today we take this for granted.

But can we take it a step further? Part of the discussion with one of our witnesses a while ago concerned the notion that it should be in the building code that every home should be as wheelchair-accessible as possible, or at least easy to retrofit. You should have 36-inch doors, your bathroom door should open out instead of in, little things, even concerning your door handles.

Are we headed in that direction, at least?

[Frank Smith]

Are you talking about a home environment, a residential—?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

I'm talking about a home environment that becomes your office, or about a business environment. Government buildings are the only buildings—and not all of them—that are accessible.

[Frank Smith]

I think—

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

I think the bells are ringing for the vote. I need unanimous consent to proceed.

Is it a 30-minute bell?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

I only have one or two more questions.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

It's a 30-minute bell, but when you say “proceed”, for how long do you mean?

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

Let's go until Mr. Keddy is over.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Do you want to finish Mr. Keddy's round?

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

I'll be brief.

[Mike Wallace, Conservative, Burlington, ON]

My view is that you can let him finish his question, but then we need to go.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

You mean, let him finish his one question. Okay.

Go ahead.

[Frank Smith]

I think that some of the provincial legislation will make a big.... The real issue, certainly in residential situations, is that in various provinces you can get funding to retrofit your house, should you acquire a disability and need a ramp or a lift or whatever. The real thing is that for the private sector, particularly for small business, for example, legislation such as the AODA in Ontario and the new legislation in Manitoba, which is moving in the direction of the Americans with Disabilities Act but in a provincial context, will make a difference, because there will be certain standards with respect to both the built environment and customer service that businesses will have to adhere to.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Okay. I have two quick questions.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Wait a minute. I thought I had consent to finish the question and that answer.

[Mike Allen, Conservative, Tobique—Mactaquac, NB]

You're done.

[Andrew Saxton, Conservative, North Vancouver, BC]

That question is not organic.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

I'm sorry.

[Gerald Keddy, Conservative, South Shore—St. Margaret's, NS]

Nathan had one question. I had two more short ones so I'm not out of time.

[The Chair, Conservative, James Rajotte]

Okay. On behalf of the committee, I want to thank all the witnesses for being here and responding to our questions.

Thank you very much. It was again a very interesting panel. If you have anything further, please submit it the clerk. We'll ensure that all members get it.

Thank you. The meeting is adjourned.