Finance committee  Sure. The suggestion we have been looking at is using the disability tax credit eligibility criteria and targeting that at low-income Canadians in particular within that. There is a bigger plan that has actually just been released by the Caledon Institute around a basic income pl

Finance committee  Yes. I think we need to ensure that our data can talk to each other. We have a lot of provincial data and a lot of federal data. We have data that have difficulty communicating with each other. We need to ensure that whatever strategy moves forward, they have the capacity to talk

Finance committee  If you have no objection, I will answer in English.

Finance committee  We definitely have some concerns about the cancellation of PALS. To date, it is the only comprehensive disability strategy we have. Is it flawed? Is it problematic in some regards? Absolutely. Can it be improved? For sure. So at this point we are willing to work in partnershi

Finance committee  Good morning. My name is Anna MacQuarrie. I'm with the Canadian Association for Community Living, the national federation that advocates for people with intellectual disabilities and their families. It's exciting to be here today. I get to start by thanking all of you for Cana

Finance committee  Yes. It's probably about $350 million.

Finance committee  I agree.

Finance committee  Sure. The disability tax credit is specific to an individual. It's attached to them. I would just point out that the DTC is a pretty high gate to begin with. It's for people with severe, prolonged disabilities. They are those who are most likely most in need of access to that m

Finance committee  I think we need to start with a point that all people have control in their own lives, have voice and say in their own lives. By prescribing a service or a particular service response to someone's disability, I think it's undermining their capacity to have choice in their life, t

Finance committee  Well, there's a very broad variation in terms of the impact of intellectual disability. For example, people with Down's syndrome may choose to be with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society or they may choose to identify with the Canadian Association for Community Living, based on th

Finance committee  Generally, intellectual disability is inclusive of developmental disability. It's what used to be known as mental retardation. People with intellectual disabilities have rejected that term and have chosen the label of intellectual disability when a label needs to apply. It would

Finance committee  We leave intellectual disability to our members to define, but we do support people who run the gamut in terms of their support needs. They range from people with significant support needs to people with less significant support needs.

Finance committee  From a suggestion point of view, it could be something similar to the previous technical advisory committees on tax that have been formed, which usually have at least one or two members of the disability community on board. As long as there is some form of credible and substantiv

Finance committee  It would target low-income Canadians with disabilities. The existing disability tax credit is already in place. We believe it would be costed out at about $350 million. That is the ballpark cost for it. But I'm not entirely sure about the percentage of the broader DTC population.

Finance committee  That's not a statistic I have. I'm not entirely clear on the statistic involving intellectual disability versus learning disability versus.... I mean, there are a number of ways it can be sliced up.