Bill C-81 (Historical)

Accessible Canada Act

An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada

This enactment enacts the Accessible Canada Act in order to enhance the full and equal participation of all persons, especially persons with disabilities, in society. This is to be achieved through the realization, within the purview of matters coming within the legislative authority of Parliament, of a Canada without barriers, particularly by the identification, removal and prevention of barriers.
Part 1 of the Act establishes the Minister’s mandate, powers, duties and functions.
Part 2 of the Act establishes the Canadian Accessibility Standards Development Organization and provides for its mandate and structure and its powers, duties and functions.
Part 3 of the Act authorizes the Accessibility Commissioner to provide the Minister with information, advice and written reports in respect of the administration and enforcement of the Act. It also requires the Accessibility Commissioner to submit an annual report on his or her activities under the Act to the Minister for tabling in Parliament.
Part 4 of the Act imposes duties on regulated entities that include the duty to prepare accessibility plans and progress reports in consultation with persons with disabilities, the duty to publish those plans and reports and the duty to establish a feedback process and to publish a description of it.
Part 5 of the Act provides for the Accessibility Commissioner’s inspection and other powers, including the power to make production orders and compliance orders and the power to impose administrative monetary penalties.
Part 6 of the Act provides for a complaints process for, and the awarding of compensation to, individuals that have suffered physical or psychological harm, property damage or economic loss as the result of — or that have otherwise been adversely affected by — the contravention of provisions of the regulations.
Part 7 of the Act provides for the appointment of the Chief Accessibility Officer and sets out that officer’s duties and functions, including the duty to advise the Minister in respect of systemic or emerging accessibility issues.
Part 8 of the Act authorizes the Governor in Council to make regulations, including regulations to establish accessibility standards and to specify the form of accessibility plans and progress reports. It also provides, among other things, for the designation of the week starting on the last Sunday in May as National AccessAbility Week.
Part 9 of the Act provides for the application of certain provisions of the Act to parliamentary entities, without limiting the powers, privileges and immunities of the Senate, the House of Commons and the members of those Houses.
Parts 10 and 11 of the Act make related and consequential amendments to certain Acts.

[Carla Qualtrough, Liberal, Minister of Accessibility]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I apologize for my tardiness.

It's certainly a pleasure to be here today with my colleague, Minister Hajdu, to speak to the 2019-20 main estimates, particularly funding for disability programs, and to update you on the progress made as Minister of Accessibility.

Since 2014-2015, our government has been working hard to ensure that persons with disabilities are taken into account in all of our decisions and policies.

In this year's main estimates, you'll notice that there is an increase of $98.6 million to the Canadian disability savings grants and bonds. This is due to steady growth in total registered plans and participation in the program, which is very good news.

In like manner, we are proposing two changes that will better protect the long-term savings of Canadians with disabilities in budget 2019: first, eliminating the requirement to close a registered disability savings plan, RDSP, when the beneficiary no longer qualifies for the disability tax credit. This will allow grants and bonds to remain in the RDSP instead of having to be repaid to the government; second, exempting RDSPs from seizure and bankruptcy, with the exception of contributions made in the 12 months before the filing. This is to level the playing field in comparing amounts in RDSPs to amounts in registered retirement savings plans, which are currently exempt from seizure by creditors and bankruptcy.

As well, we're increasing our support with an investment of $12 million over three years for Ready, Willing and Able. This will help to improve the employment of persons with intellectual disabilities and/or autism spectrum disorders who face unique barriers in finding jobs.

We also want to support the inclusion of Canadians with visual or reading impairments who cannot read ordinary printed material. By supporting that inclusion, we are eliminating barriers to employment and learning.

We propose to invest $25.8 million over five years, starting in 2019-20, to help make more reading material accessible for persons with print disabilities. To reduce barriers to daily activities such as paying for groceries, our government proposes to invest $500,000 in 2019-20, through budget 2019, to find ways to improve the accessibility of electronic payment terminals. One by one, these investments open the door to more opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Accessibility and inclusion are two of my biggest priorities. I'd like to provide further details on how we are making systemic changes to improve accessibility for all Canadians, including those living with disabilities.

The proposed accessible Canada act, which you all know very well, aims to level the playing field for everyone by proactively removing barriers in a number of priority areas under federal jurisdiction. The Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology has heard testimony from many stakeholders over the past weeks, and recently completed the clause-by-clause analysis for this transformative bill.

The disability community has voiced its support for the swift passage of this bill, through the over 1,200 letters and emails I have personally received lately outlining the importance of this legislation to Canadians and the need for it to be passed into law. Our hope is that it will receive royal assent before the summer recess.

To make sure that the necessary structures are in place when the bill becomes law, our government has already started working on three key proponents: the establishment of the new Canadian accessibility standards development organization, the recruitment of the CEO and board of directors for this new organization, and the recruitment of the chief accessibility officer.

Finally, the pre-consultation process has started for the development of initial regulations under Bill C-81.

Thanks to these important steps, we know that once the bill has been given royal assent, we will be ready to take the lead.

I hope that this update on our planned expenditures in the main estimates, as well as on our efforts to promote the inclusion and removal of barriers for persons with disabilities, has been useful. I trust that it is has reiterated our commitment to continuing that work in the coming fiscal year.

As was said, my colleague Minister Hajdu and I would be pleased to answer your questions.

[Eva Nassif, Liberal, Vimy, QC]

Okay, a while ago, because yesterday it wasn't there.

There's also Bill C-81 on accessibility.

Can you talk about what more you want us to do?

[Helen Kennedy, Executive Director, Egale Canada]

Thank you very much for this opportunity.

Egale was founded in 1986 and is Canada's only national charity that seeks to improve the lives of LGBTQI2S people by informing public policy, inspiring cultural change and promoting equal rights and inclusion through research, education and community engagement.

Our mandate encompasses advancing gender equality for LGBTQI2S women—that's lesbian, bi, trans, queer, intersex and two-spirit women—as we recognize that they often experience greater inequalities due to intersectional identities and therefore encounter compounded discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.

Because we're short on time—I only have seven minutes—I'm jumping right to my recommendations and I'm going to come back, then, to the main piece of the presentation. These are the recommendations that Egale is making to address our concerns.

We recommend the development of a national research and knowledge hub for gender equality, which will facilitate the mainstreaming of LGBTQI2S women within domestic public policy. We recommend that this include the formation of a national steering committee for LGBTQI2S women's rights.

The steering committee, led and organized by a national LGBTQI2S organization such as our own, will identify research and programmatic needs for LBGTQI2S women that align with Status of Women Canada's three priority areas and provide guidance on the research projects that ensures they employ a GBA+ analysis.

We will offer input on the development and improvement of programs/initiatives based on the research findings. We would foster partnerships with local and grassroots organizations to carry out research programs and initiatives and practise results-based management to assess the effectiveness of the programs and initiatives. We would also discuss current issues and policy developments impacting gender equality for LGBTQI2S women in Canada.

We would also recommend a national gender-affirming health care strategy that models the work and approach of Trans Care BC to ensure that there is comprehensive health care for older and aging women trans and gender-diverse non-binary communities that is physically and economically accessible and addresses their wide-ranging health care needs.

We would recommend that we incorporate within the new health accord measures that help to assess and integrate the health care needs of LGBTQI2S women and the broader community, including funding specifically allocated to services that tend to the mental health needs of diverse members of our community.

We would recommend that we ensure that Bill C-81, the accessible Canada act, incorporate measures to address barriers that disproportionately impact members of our community who are living with disabilities, including ensuring that there are safe spaces in health care settings. These include requiring health care colleges—for example, nurses, social workers, etc.—to have frameworks in place to protect members of our LGBTQI2S service users and mandatory competency training in LGBTQI2S issues.

We would recommend a non-discriminatory intake and sign-up forms as well as processes in all health care services in order for our community clients to feel recognized and welcome. More competency and inclusion training in LGBTQI2S issues should be mandatory for all service providers, especially in the long-term care sector.

Jumping back to the reasons why we're making these recommendations, despite the advances in women's health in Canada, significant disparities of equality continue to affect members of the lesbian, bi, trans, queer, intersex and two-spirit older and aging community of women. It's particularly true in the area of access to social resources and the consequences of this lack of access.

There is also an immediate need for intersectional research that currently involves women to include LGBTQI2S older and aging women. The recognition of intersectionality and varying social locations is crucial to facilitating positive aging experiences and good end-of-life care.

Within Canada's aging population, there is significant heterogeneity not only in age, but also in terms of other social determinants and social locations. Sexual orientation and gender identity are key determinants in health, particularly when it comes to discrimination and social inclusion. The intersection of age, gender identity and sexual orientation is an important consideration, given the potential for the layering of ageism with discrimination. In the Canadian context, a need for targeted research with and on diverse groups has been recognized.

Despite efforts to be inclusive, the traditional focus of Canadian health research on women assumes that all women, regardless of age, cultural background, geographical location, socio-economic status, religion, sexual orientation and gender identity and categories of difference, share exactly the same experiences, views and priorities. We know this is not the case. The significant absence of disaggregated data and existing research on experiential and structural impacts of discrimination is felt by LBTQI2S women, both globally and in Canada.

It's also of particular concern for research involving LBTQI2S women. Women, seniors, sexual orientation and gender identity minorities continue to suffer from a lack of intersectional research in Canada. An intersectional approach is necessary so the full range of vulnerabilities, experiences and issues of diverse women are not obscured. The issues and priorities of many of our vulnerable women, including members of other groups, are usually excluded from mainstream women's health research.

Older LBTQI2S women are more likely impacted by social exclusion. Social exclusion has been linked to a wide range of issues, including poverty, poor mental and physical health, a lack of education and lack of political participation. There are no—

[Kyle Peterson, Liberal, Newmarket—Aurora, ON]

I appreciate that. Thanks for the response.

I think C-81 is a step in the right direction.

I am fortunate enough to have an employee who's in a wheelchair, so I'm happy to be a sort of advocate for that. Mitch is here now. You can't see him because he's not on the screen but I can assure you he's a very eager and an efficient employee of mine. I'm happy to have him as part of my team.

[Kerry Gibson]

The private sector always leads by example from the government. It's not necessarily known to throw a lot of money at a situation or a shift without realizing, I suppose, that it's necessary. Within my own situation, with my own company, even just hiring women, period, I hire engineers and I fight to find female engineers. There are always obstacles to actually achieving this.

Yes, there has been a statistical spike in certain demographics such as millennials with PTSD, which makes it necessary to acknowledge that these things are a reality. They are part of our society and must be provided the means to integrate and to understand that these are not insurmountable obstacles, that there are tools out there. For instance, Israel leads in integrating the disabled into their communities. They have to. Their economy would fail if they hadn't. They provide the disabled with whatever tools are necessary to overcome their challenges so they can get back to work.

I think our government would see the economic benefits of having that intellectual capacity thrown into the workforce. Can you imagine all those people who aren't then supported by social services and all the benefits that can enable in our budgeting?

From a private sector perspective, I offer a lot of creative solutions in the work that I do. I am currently working on various files including equal pay and finding ways around the bureaucracy. I think the public sector has the ability to be a little more fluid where government has far more linear constraints. If there is some way we can work together to provide tools and mechanisms for the private sector to adopt C-81, for instance, I'd be fully on board to see that through.

[Kerry Gibson]

I think it's a wonderful start. I think Bill C-81 is.... Technically, it's 27 years overdue. The U.S. had the ADA 27 years ago. Even then, they're still scrambling to catch up.

I think that a lot of this will be about reporting and enforcement and providing the tool box necessary for everybody to comply with Bill C-81. It's a lot to throw on people all at once. I live in Vancouver. Even in Vancouver, at a current budget, I believe it's 320 years before we have curb cuts throughout Vancouver in all places. There are all these little nuances of what the expression of Bill C-81 will be. I think it will be necessary to throw a whole lot of money at it in order to catch up.

[Daniel Blaikie, NDP, Elmwood—Transcona, MB]

I just want to ask Ms. Gibson something really quickly.

Earlier in this Parliament, we passed Bill C-81, an act to ensure a barrier-free Canada. In this latest budget, the government made a commitment to hire 5,000 people with disabilities over the next five years.

I'm just wondering, in order to make good on that commitment and in order to try to incorporate veterans living with disabilities into those numbers, what do you think is needed beyond Bill C-81 and beyond that commitment, in order to ensure that it's made real?

[Cheryl Hardcastle, NDP, Windsor—Tecumseh, ON]

Thank you very much.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know David Lepofsky as a friend as well as a valuable resource for my work. I'm the critic for people living with disabilities and worked very hard on amendments for Bill C-81 with a variety of different advocates, but nobody stands out like David Lepofsky. I'll ask you to comment on that in a minute.

I would love to see him in the Senate right now advocating the way that he tried to with this committee about the important amendments that are needed to Bill C-81. He recognizes them. He seems to have, people say, a legal mind, but I like to say it's a legal intuition. He understands how something needs to be applied. He can advance the application of a legal theory.

I read your report, Ben, which is such an entertaining read. It was so easy to get through. It was really a pleasure for me. I congratulate you on that piece of work.

When the Council of Canadians with Disabilities challenged VIA Rail in court about accessible passenger cars, that to me exemplified some of the work that he's done, the force of the advocacy that he had and how adamant he was that we could not have exemptions in Bill C-81.

That's another aspect, that some of these federal jurisdictions like VIA Rail could be exempt and that you don't have the ability to appeal. I really hope he'll be able to come through with the Senate and that the Senate will recognize that these are absolute needs.

Maybe you could talk about how, when you want to achieve something with a decision-making body, with someone who holds the power, sometimes people hold back on their advocacy work because they don't want to seem adversarial. They want to be friends and try to get on your side to get you to change your mind. I feel that David had this good instinct about that.

Maybe you would like to comment on some of the experiences you had in putting this report together. Maybe you could talk about how you recognize some of those tightropes that people have to walk when they are advocates and are trying to help create change from within, and then seeing that it won't work that way, they have to take a harsher approach.

[John Barlow, Conservative, Foothills, AB]

Thanks very much.

It's a real pleasure having you here, Ben, especially on a topic like Mr. Lepofsky, who all of us has had a chance to get to know quite well over the past year or so.

I really found it interesting in your report when you talked about how successful he was at advocacy and he had a very clear plan on how that would work. Now I know what to expect as we go through the Senate with Bill C-81 and what he's going to do. Maybe he'll be upset that you gave all his secrets away in your report.

I know many of us have spoken to David over the last couple of weeks regarding Bill C-81 as it goes through the Senate.

In your report, you talked a little bit on the need to strengthen Bill C-81 and some opportunities there to add some teeth to it. When you're going through this report, with everything that you've experienced, what are your two or three top priorities as Bill C-81 goes through the Senate? What are some of the things that you'd like to see as part of that bill to strengthen it, maybe from your own experiences and from your discussions with David?

[The Chair, Liberal, Bryan May]

Good morning.

Pursuant to the Centennial Flame Research Award Act, the committee is happy to welcome back the 2017 recipient of the award, Mr. Benjamin Fulton.

The Centennial Flame Research Award is granted each year by this committee to a Canadian with a disability to conduct research on the contributions of one or more persons with disabilities to the public life of Canada or the activities of Parliament.

On Tuesday, September 26, 2017, this committee selected Ben as the recipient of the 2017 edition of the award. Ben's research focuses on the contribution of David Lepofsky, who we have all met because he has appeared before this committee. He is a respected Crown counsel, professor of law and disability rights advocate.

Incidentally, Mr. Lepofsky appeared again before this committee last fall during the review of Bill C-81, and I understand he's actually speaking, I think as we speak, on Bill C-81 in the Senate, which is great.

Committee members received a copy of Ben's report three weeks ago and again this Monday.

Thank you, Mr. Fulton, for submitting your report. I've had a chance to read it. I know we're all excited to have you back here to present your report.

I will turn the floor over to you. We're going to give you roughly 15 minutes to discuss your report, sir.

[Wolfgang Zimmermann, Executive Director, National Institute of Disability Management and Research]

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Please let me start by offering my appreciation for the opportunity today to offer a few thoughts on the employment potential that the federal civil service presents for veterans. In this context, I would like to focus especially on veterans who have acquired a mental or physical health impairment, either on or off the job, during their employment with the Canadian Armed Forces.

As a brief personal introduction, I'm privileged to wear two employment hats at the moment, one being president of the Pacific Coast University for Workplace Health Sciences, Canada's only statutory university ever created by private legislation and unanimous support of all members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia and dedicated to education and research on all aspects of the workplace health cycle. We currently offer academic and continuing education programs in return to work and disability management.

My second role is as executive director of the National Institute of Disability Management and Research, established some 25 years ago by a significant group of employers, unions and government representatives with a mandate to drive innovation, thought leadership and best practice economic and social outcomes following onset of a mental or physical health impairment, creating win-win situations for disabled individuals, employers and society.

In this context, and to achieve these results consistently, we developed professional and program standards in return to work and disability management, created an ISO-style organization, the International Disability Management Standards Council, and today, the professional disability management competency standards are formally licensed in 64 countries around the world.

To bring the tremendous opportunity that continued employment within the federal civil service represents for disabled veterans, I draw on my own experience from many years ago working for MacMillan Bloedel, then Canada's largest forest products company, when, on my fifth day on the job, a 50-foot alder tree barber-chaired, came down on me and broke my back. The support of both the company and the union, now the United Steelworkers, and the B.C. workers' compensation board allowed me to continue working for the organization, first in forestry administration, a field I initially graduated from, and then, after retraining, as an accountant.

This was after my successful return to work, which also entailed developing physical accessibility to the administrative building of a completely inaccessible logging camp of almost 500 workers on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Much like a diverse corporation such as MacMillan Bloedel, then with over 20,000 and operating across a broad spectrum of businesses requiring both blue- and white-collar employees, there is absolutely no reason why the federal civil service, with about 260,000 employees across Canada, could not accommodate most disabled veterans for continuing employment.

Successful job retention with the pre-disability employer, in this case the Government of Canada, following the onset of a mental or physical health impairment requires three components that are a basis for any return to work effort anywhere in the world. These are creativity, because no two disability situations are alike and can vary based on a number of circumstances; collaboration between various stakeholders; and open and transparent communication.

At this point in time, assuming that Bill C-81, Canada's national accessibility legislation, is proclaimed, its requirement to hire 5,000 individuals with disabilities over the next few years creates a unique employment opportunity for disabled veterans. It does, however, require flexibility and creativity on the part of the Public Service Commission, thinking outside the box to review and remove, if necessary, bureaucratic impediments that take any number of forms from unnecessary educational requirements to more flexibility in delivering additional training.

There are a couple of suggested concrete steps. Effective job retention with the pre-disability employer requires early intervention, an absolutely necessary first step to ensure that psychosocial compounding of, let's say, a physical impairment does not render the individual ultimately unemployable.

Individuals who acquire a mental or physical health impairment, regardless of causation, need to be triaged successfully at the earliest possible time. This simply means determining the likelihood of continued employment with the old job, or if a change will be necessary, which could mean retraining or redeployment to another position either within DND or the broader federal civil service.

The current interface between DND and Veterans Affairs is often detrimental to the continuing employment prospects of disabled veterans, and could be dramatically improved. This is not to say that landing a job within the federal civil service is the final piece in the puzzle. When 70% of disabled individuals currently hired into the federal civil service don't make it through their probationary period, systemic issues well beyond this conversation need to be addressed.

Based on experience in many other jurisdictions, we are certainly most willing to provide a number of additional concrete steps that could contribute towards achieving much improved socio-economic outcomes for disabled veterans.

Thank you very much.

[Richard Matern]

One of our recommendations is on the accessible Canada act, Bill C-81, just to make sure that it incorporates measures to address barriers that disproportionately impact members of the community. That comes with the requirement that health care colleges have frameworks in place to protect LGBTQI2S service users, as well as mandatory competency training, which my colleagues have talked about. That's potentially one role.

Did you want to add to that?

[Richard Matern, Director of Research and Policy, Egale Canada Human Rights Trust]

Dear Chair and members of the Standing Committee, Egale is very pleased that you have undertaken this study on LGBTQI2S health in Canada. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here at your opening meeting.

My name is Richard Matern. I'm the director of research and policy at Egale. As Canada's only national LGBTQI2S organization, Egale works to improve the lives of our communities in Canada through informing public policy, inspiring cultural change and promoting human rights and inclusion.

As Lori talked about, and in spite of the many legal advances we've made, significant disparities in equality remain, especially in the health sector. Not only does the LGBTQI2S community in Canada face barriers and stigma within the health system itself, but it also faces significant challenges in social determinants that significantly impact health, such as income and food security, employment status and work conditions, as well as connections to social networks and community. This is especially pertinent for members of our community who are racialized, living with a disability or have other multiple marginalized identities.

Within the health care system, as Devon talked about, people routinely face barriers in accessing appropriate care, rooted in insufficient training for health professionals on cultural competence and population-specific health considerations. This also includes limited and inconsistent coverage for therapeutics and medically necessary surgeries associated with gender transitioning.

Additionally, I would add that intersex people continue to be subjected to non-consensual surgeries, stigmatization and withholding of information, despite these practices being contrary to international human rights law. It is estimated that 30% to 80% of intersex children undergo more than one surgery, and some have as many as five surgeries. Section 268 of the Criminal Code continues to allow non-consensual surgery by medical practitioners to alter the bodies of infants and children whom they perceive to be ambiguous.

Outside of the health care system, the social determinants of health act in complex and compounding ways to negatively impact LGBTQI2S people. Perpetual encounters with homo-, bi- and transphobia at school, in the workplace and elsewhere contribute to isolation and chronic stresses that can directly impact educational achievement, career progression and income levels. This added stress can lower mental health status and include a heightened risk of developing depression, anxiety, substance use and suicidality.

From my colleagues, you've heard a lot of stats around mental health and suicidality in our community. What I'll add is what we found in our Egale Youth Outreach Centre, which is a drop-in centre that we've opened for homeless and under-housed LGBTQI2S youth in Toronto, where we see first-hand the impacts of some of these larger systemic forces on the youth in our community. For instance, since we opened the centre in 2016, we've seen thousands of visits each year averaging over 100 unique client visits per month, with new intakes increasing by 127% and therapeutic interventions increasing by 417%. Last year, over half the youth visiting the centre were either lesbian or gay, while one third were transgender and/or non-binary.

The top three presenting concerns among youth were mental health, employment and family relationship issues. A significant number also expressed that they were at some level of risk for suicidality. Other concerns included housing, social isolation and substance use which, while not as common as the aforementioned specific issues, frequently arise as intersecting and ensuing challenges that staff are called to assist with from month to month.

Many of the youth are homeless or under-housed. They don't feel safe in the present shelter system. Many struggle to meet basic needs. For example, EYO's food program, in which 15 to 30 participants eat per day and rely on for their food per day, has been a crucial service that has required additional resources and partnerships in order to address the food insecurity faced by participants driven by poverty and low incomes.

Seniors in our community are also impacted. What we hear from the seniors we work with is that many in our community are isolated. They lack the familial and social supports of their heterosexual or cisgender counterparts and also in many cases have a lack of access to employer-triggered pension plans due to a lifetime of stigma and discrimination in the workforce.

While there is limited Canadian data available on the specific needs faced by LGBTQI2S seniors, as Lori has talked about, U.S. data quantifies the anecdotal evidence that we hear through our National Seniors Advisory Council. One survey demonstrated that 42% of LGBT older people are very or extremely concerned that they will outlive the money they have saved for retirement, as compared to 25% of non-LGBT older people. U.S. data also demonstrates that disability is overrepresented among LGBT older persons, with nearly half of a large U.S. sample of LGBT older adults reporting a disability.

As was mentioned by Devon, LBTQI2S seniors also fear going into assisted living centres and long-term care facilities. They often feel they must hide their identities and partners to stay safe from abuse and discrimination.

In a national consultation conducted by Egale and its National Seniors Advisory Council, it was shown that the top issue with the largest perceived impact on seniors in our community was the fear of being re-closeted in residential care. Particularly in cases of dementia and/or Alzheimer's disease, many seniors in our community worry whether their identities will be honoured and respected as their consent and autonomy are brought into question.

As you have heard, the study presents a crucial opportunity for the federal government to address the health challenges that remain for LGBTQI2S people to ensure adequate and appropriate actions are taken to establish new priorities, reprioritize key needs, recognize the gaps in services and provide solutions for the improvement of life for members in our community.

In order to address our concerns in this area, we make the following recommendations:

First, conduct large-scale consultations with intersex people living in Canada as an initial step towards reforming subsection 268(3) of Canada's Criminal Code, which continues to allow non-consensual surgery by medical practitioners.

Two, ensure that Bill C-81, the accessible Canada act, incorporates measures to address barriers that disproportionately impact members of the LGBTQI2S community who are living with disabilities, including ensuring safe spaces in health care settings. This includes requiring health care colleges to have frameworks in place to protect service users from our community and mandatory competency training in LGBTQI2S issues.

Incorporate measures that support LGBTQI2S individuals living with a mental illness and in the criminal justice system, including the development of a national harm reduction strategy with specific funding allocated to address the mental health and addiction needs of LGBTQI2S individuals.

Ensure that the national food policy includes a plan to address food security among LGBTQI2S people, including those living in poverty as well as those living in indigenous and isolated northern communities.

Incorporate within the new health accord measures to assess and integrate health care needs that are faced by the LGBTQI2S community, including allocating specific funding towards services that attend to the mental health needs of diverse LGBTQI2S people across the country.

We would add, end discriminatory practices related to blood donation for men who have sex with men, and transpeople.

Also, develop a national gender-affirming health care strategy to ensure comprehensive health care for trans and gender-diverse communities that is physically and economically accessible and addresses their wide-ranging health care needs.

In line with the Canadian guidelines for sexual health education, implement consistent sexual and reproductive health education across all provinces and territories that is comprehensive and inclusive of LGBTQI2S health issues and experiences and is geared for adolescent and youth development.

Provide for accessible and affordable contraceptives, immunization plans and preventative sexual health care, including PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis, and PEP, post-exposure prophylaxis, within sexual health coverage across Canada.

Finally, recognize LGBTQI2S family planning and diverse family structures by training health care professionals, including IVF clinics, on inclusive patient care that does not make hetero-normative and cis-normative assumptions about family planning and fertility.

On behalf of Egale, thank you for your attention. We look forward to working with you further.

[Chantal Maheu]

Thank you for the question, Mr. Chair.

Specifically, in the estimates, at this point there's no funding that is targeted to remove barriers to accessibility. However, if I may speak more generally, as you know, this committee has spent a number of weeks studying Bill C-81. The whole purpose of Bill C-81 is to remove barriers to accessibility throughout the federally regulated system, including in the public service.

Bill C-81 will create a system where we will develop, manage and enforce standards of accessibility for Canadians across a number of priorities, including in transportation, communication and employment. It will also create an infrastructure where, for the first time, Canadians won't have to fight for their rights. The obligation will actually be on the organization to be accessible and to meet the standards. I think that legislation, which is now being discussed and reviewed in the Senate, will actually be historic in terms of advancing accessibility for Canadians.

[Ramesh Sangha, Liberal, Brampton Centre, ON]

Thank you very much for giving this information today and educating us.

You have asked for $5 million for the new bill, which is Bill C-81, an act to ensure a barrier-free Canada, and $1.1 million for the accessible Canada initiative through the opportunities fund for persons with disabilities. The $5 million is for the new accessibility secretariat under the new act.

Can you give the committee information regarding what the $5 million will be going towards for the secretariat? What is that, in the broad sense?