Evidence of meeting #44 for Finance in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was students.

A video is available from Parliament.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Jim Mann  Member, Board of Directors, Alzheimer Society of Canada
Roberta Jamieson  President and Chief Executive Officer, Indspire
Graham Carr  Member, Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Concordia Univeristy, Mitacs
Bruce Ireland  Caregiver, Neurological Health Charities Canada
Ann Decter  Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada
David Barnard  President and Vice-Chancellor, University of Manitoba, Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada
Travis Gordon  Chair, Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
Chris Simpson  President, Canadian Medical Association
Martha Friendly  Executive Director, Childcare Resource and Research Unit (CRRU)
Victoria Nolan  Volunteer, Canadian National Institute for the Blind
Andrew Martin  Senior Project Director, Centre for Equitable Library Access, Canadian National Institute for the Blind

3:30 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

I call to order meeting number 44 of the Standing Committee on Finance.

I want to welcome our guests here for this afternoon's session. We are continuing our 2014 pre-budget consultations pursuant to Standing Order 83.1.

Colleagues, we have two panels before us today. We do have votes, I believe at six tonight, so we'll be a little compressed in the second panel.

With us here in the first panel, from the Alzheimer Society of Canada, is Mr. Jim Mann. We also have Chief Roberta Jamieson, president and CEO of Indspire. From Mitacs, we have Mr. Graham Carr. We also have Neurological Health Charities Canada, and Mr. Bruce Ireland; and from YWCA Canada, we have a director, Ms. Ann Decter. Welcome to the committee.

You will each have five minutes maximum for your opening statement, and then we'll have questions from members.

We'll begin with Mr. Mann, please.

3:30 p.m.

Jim Mann Member, Board of Directors, Alzheimer Society of Canada

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak with you today about Alzheimer's disease. It's an issue that's very important to me and to hundreds of thousands of families across Canada.

But first, Mr. Chair, I would like to thank you and your committee for recommending in your report last year the creation and implementation of a national dementia strategy. I appreciate your support.

My name is Jim Mann, and I live in Surrey, British Columbia, with my wife, Alice. I'm here today to speak with you about what it's like to live with one of the most feared and least understood illnesses in the world, Alzheimer's disease.

It's a disease I know intimately. I am one of the 747,000 Canadians currently living with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. Our numbers are forecast to nearly double to 1.4 million by 2031.

I was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease nearly eight years ago, at the age of 58. I already had a very good idea about what lay ahead of me, because my late mother had been living with Alzheimer's for a few years at the time I was diagnosed. I watched it slowly erode her health and eventually take her life, after about 10 years.

Through my mother, I also got a first-hand look at the stigma that surrounds Alzheimer's, in the actions of her peers in her independent apartment complex as well as from some in the health care field. Since my diagnosis, I too have seen and felt the same stigma. I have experienced the isolation that goes along with it.

But what is most disturbing is the ignorance around this disease, the stereotyping, the assumptions, like the time at a hospital emergency room when I insisted my wife accompany me to the examining room because I had Alzheimer's disease. A senior nurse in the ER told me I didn't need Alice with me because I looked fine. That's part of the problem, isn't it? How is someone with Alzheimer's disease supposed to look? You can't see the degeneration of someone's brain from the outside.

Despite her education and experience, the nurse had displayed a familiar stereotype about Alzheimer's, the one that assumes that as soon as a person is diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, they immediately become incapable and incompetent. This is a disease that generally progresses very slowly, so slowly, in fact, that it often goes undetected for as much as 25 years before being diagnosed.

Nearly eight years into living with Alzheimer's, I've come to realize that I have good days and bad days. I suppose the same could be said for all of us in this room, except when I have a good day, it means I get to exercise my independence. And when I have a bad day, when my mind is too muddled to do much on my own, it means I need support.

For a person who loved business and the accompanying stimulation, and who thrived in that environment, I am now very limited in my daily activities, to one real task a day. Is that frustrating? You bet it is! But I try to make sure the one task I focus on each day is worthwhile and important, like speaking to you today.

I find purpose in educating people about Alzheimer's and spreading awareness that even though there is no cure yet for this disease, there can still be life after diagnosis, especially if the diagnosis comes early enough. That's what gets me through each day and gives me hope.

I hold on to hope that we as a country can do more to improve the quality of life for the 747,000 Canadians like me living with dementia as well as for our families. I hope that greater awareness will knock down the barriers of stigma about Alzheimer's disease and other dementias so that individuals can get a diagnosis and access to treatment and support far earlier. I hope that we can accelerate research in all areas of dementia research to find better treatments and ultimately a cure. I hope that anyone with Alzheimer's disease or dementia can access the same level of health care and services no matter where they live in Canada.

I hope that the Government of Canada will look favourably on the Alzheimer Society of Canada's proposal to make all of these ideas possible, through the creation of a national dementia plan to create the Canadian Alzheimer's disease and dementia partnership. The partnership would bring together thought leaders, planners, and advocates across the government, health, research, academia, and industry sectors, as well as families impacted by dementia, to facilitate and develop a national dementia plan.

Finally, I hope I have been able to help you understand a little more about living with Alzheimer's disease.

Thank you.

3:35 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Thank you very much, Mr. Mann, for sharing your experiences with us.

We'll now go to Ms. Jamieson please.

3:35 p.m.

Chief Roberta Jamieson President and Chief Executive Officer, Indspire

Sekon! Bonjour, good afternoon, and greetings to everyone.

Thank you for inviting me here today. First, it is only appropriate, as a Mohawk in Algonquin territory, to acknowledge the Algonquin Nation as I begin my remarks today.

As you know, I am the president and CEO of Indspire. As you prepare the next federal budget, you are going to hear a number of opinions about where to spend, where to cut, and how best to use our tax dollars. Some would say that they don't envy the position you're in. To be honest, I do. I know exactly where funds are needed and where the federal government can achieve a high rate of return on its investments.

I want to share with you specifically the investments that should be made, must be made, if we are to make a real difference in supporting and advancing the future prospects of Canada's fastest growing demographic group, indigenous students. They are not only the fastest growing, but ready to prosper.

Indspire is a national charity. It used to be called the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. Our job, since 1985, has been to pursue the vision of enriching Canada by advancing indigenous achievement through educational programs and the promotion and advancement of indigenous cultural, social, and economic achievements. We work with students directly in the K-to-12 space through something called the Indspire Institute.

Outside the federal government, we are the largest funder of indigenous post-secondary education in the country. Let me give you some figures. To date, we have raised and provided more than $65 million in support, through 20,000 bursaries and scholarships.

I want to tell you about 2013-14 because it was a banner year for us. There was $10 million awarded to students—over 3,000 of them. Two thousand students attended our motivational career conferences. Hundreds learned about careers in mining and other industries in our in-classroom modules. Hundreds of educators were matched to coach and give peer mentoring to one another. I could go on. I should tell you that to date we have also supported 300 PhD students.

Not only are we assisting our students with access to post-secondary education and training, in the trades as well, but also academic excellence in the fields they are choosing.

Let me tell you what I'm most excited about. A couple of months back, Indspire committed to looking at the impact that our financial awards program was having on the students we've supported. We reached out to students. We surveyed students. The methodology is available to you if you wish.

Let me get to the bottom line of the findings, which my staff tell me to please say are preliminary until we publish, so I will.

Of the students we've supported with financial assistance who are now out of school, 91% graduated. There was 91% of the students we supported who graduated. There are 83% who are now employed; and 85% of them indicated, of course, that their education assisted with their employment. The vast majority who graduated and are employed are working with indigenous populations in their work. That's impressive. These statistics are beyond exciting. They tell us that to make real meaningful change in the lives of Canada's most vulnerable, investments into education pay off handsomely. They also tell me that investments into the education of Canada's indigenous population must continue to flow.

Year after year, the gap between what is needed and what we can provide continues to grow. Last year I gave you some impressive numbers, but we were able to fund only 26% of the amount needed. In short, the need is greater and the potential is incredible.

I want to thank the Government of Canada for its support of this program, because in budget 2013 the Government of Canada committed $10 million to this program on the condition that I matched it by raising private funds. I'm very proud to tell you that while we're not at the end of the campaign yet, we are at $6.2 million and counting, and are receiving a lot of private sector support and from individual donors.

I only have a limited amount of time. I want to—

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Ms. Jamieson, I'm sorry. We are bumping up against time. I ask you to conclude, please.

3:40 p.m.

President and Chief Executive Officer, Indspire

Chief Roberta Jamieson

I'm 30 seconds away.

How can a government help? Education inspires. It liberates. It changes lives, families, and communities. This is a right that far too many indigenous Canadians haven't had the option of exercising.

My recommendation calls on the federal government to continue investing in post-secondary education for our indigenous students: first nations, Inuit, and Métis. What's required is a serious commitment of significant and sustained funds for post-secondary education and trades training for indigenous Canadians. Only that kind of investment will bring the kind of change we need in our lifetimes.

The results will follow. I've demonstrated that the track record is there and the potential is incredible, so please be bold as you take up your challenge. Put results first. Believe it can be done because I know it can be.

Thank you very much.

3:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Thank you very much.

We'll now go to Mr. Carr, please.

3:40 p.m.

Dr. Graham Carr Member, Vice-President, Research and Graduate Studies, Concordia Univeristy, Mitacs

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and honourable members of the committee. My name is Graham Carr. I'm the vice-president for research and graduate studies at Concordia University in Montreal.

Thank you for the opportunity you have given me today to address you on behalf of Mitacs and the university staff, as part of the consultations on budget 2015.

Mitacs is a national not-for-profit research organization that supports Canadian innovation through collaborative research projects that link businesses or not-for-profit organizations with the talent at our universities.

At Concordia, we're making major investments to intensify and build out our research capacity. We pride ourselves on being a next-generation university, with leading-edge research strengths in areas such as preventive health, non-human genomics, synthetic biology, information security, aerospace, digital media, and the creative arts. Collaboration with companies and not-for-profit organizations to support new research endeavours and create unique training opportunities for our graduate students is a fundamental component of our institutional strategy. Our partnership with Mitacs helps to advance this goal.

For the past 15 years Mitacs has worked on behalf of the Canadian university community in partnership with governments across Canada to build programs that support skills development and training for students. These programs help highly qualified graduate students and post-doctoral fellows transition to research and development careers. They also broaden the impact of university-based research and help Canadian companies and not-for-profits become more productive and innovative.

Mitacs' flagship program, Accelerate, integrates paid research internships and professional skills development into the existing academic training that graduate students receive. Each internship relates to a peer-reviewed project supervised by a professor. It applies fundamental research to tackle an R and D challenge faced by a company or not-for-profit. The program has grown from 18 internships in 2007 to well over 2,500 internships last year alone.

At Concordia, the number of Mitacs projects has grown exponentially since 2008, when we had one intern, to this past year, when we had almost 60. Let me share with you two examples of Concordia projects that Mitacs has supported that speak to promoting health and workplace safety, which is of particular concern to your committee.

Researchers at Concordia partnered with Parker Filtration Canada, based in Laval, to model and analyze filters used by combustion engines. By improving their efficiency, our researchers aimed to reduce the level of environmental pollution caused by heavy-duty diesel engines and to limit the amount of exposure to pollution that industrial workers face on a daily basis.

A second project partnered with the Vancouver-based company Williams & White to design a robotic arm that can accurately load a saw blade into a grinding machine and deliver the finished saw. This innovation not only enhances the safety of sawmill workers but also makes the overall grinding process more efficient.

As the vice-president for research and graduate studies, I have a vested professional interest in the career prospects of Concordia's graduate students. We know that the majority, including most Ph.D.s, will not find employment within academia. Mitacs opens other avenues for students. Its projects frequently result in the creation of new positions, as companies and not-for-profits discover what their interns have to offer. In some cases, Mitacs interns may also create their own companies.

Thanks to combined funding from Industry Canada and the tri-council industrial research and development internship program, Accelerate currently supports over 2,000 internships per year. For budget 2015, Mitacs is proposing to expand Accelerate to 10,000 internships per year by 2020. Mitacs is extremely skilled at engaging companies and not-for-profits with the university community. Its pan-Canadian network of businesses and academics is unmatched. Accelerate is Canada's pre-eminent platform for multi-sectoral research training.

Concordia, like other member universities, is strongly behind the Mitacs mission and is very supportive of the proposal to expand the scope of the Accelerate program.

Thank you for your attention.

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Thank you very much, Mr. Carr.

We'll now go to Mr. Ireland, please.

3:45 p.m.

Bruce Ireland Caregiver, Neurological Health Charities Canada

Good afternoon, Mr. Chair and members of the committee.

On behalf of Neurological Health Charities Canada, I am grateful for the opportunity to provide input to the committee. Our recommendations to you are based on the collective insight of the NHCC's member organizations as well as the findings of the recently concluded National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions.

NHCC is a collective of 24 health charities working together to improve the lives of all Canadians living with neurological conditions and their families. Neurological conditions impact individuals, families, communities, health care systems, and our economy. NHCC members recognize that more can be achieved collectively to improve outcomes and maximize value and sustainability than can be achieved individually.

My name is Bruce Ireland, and let me explain why I’m here and why it is important to me that, in its support of families and vulnerable Canadians, the Government of Canada acts on the findings of the national study.

Since 2000 I have been the primary caregiver for both my wife, Karen, who is now 65, who lives with Parkinson's disease, and for our daughter, Michelle, now 30, who has Down syndrome.

Most people are familiar with the tremors and rigidity typically associated with Parkinson’s disease, but almost 50% of people with Parkinson's also have clinical depression. In Karen's case, Parkinson’s disease initially manifested itself as severe depression, so severe sometimes that she couldn't get out of bed; and since 2000, when she was diagnosed at 51, Karen has been unable to work. Michelle is barely mobile and understands at the level of a 12-year-old, but we ensure that she is involved in all parts of my family life. I handle all the household duties and look after Karen and Michelle, including coordinating the medical and psychiatric care they both need.

Until 2009 when I took early retirement, I juggled caregiving with my full-time job as president and CEO of the YMCA in Oakville. Karen's depression has been the most challenging part of Parkinson's disease. However, new challenges present themselves regularly to our family. Because of arthritis, Karen has had surgery on both of her knees, and Michelle is facing major reconstructive surgery on her knees next year. Just moving around the house and the community is a major challenge for them, and presents its own challenges for me as their caregiver.

Our family's experience underlines a key finding of our national study, that neurological conditions cannot be addressed in isolation. However, the health system is often challenged when a person has two or more health conditions, particularly when a mental health condition is involved. For example, if a person with a neurological condition also has a diagnosis of a mental health condition, he or she may be excluded from care. An important way to improve access to services and optimize outcomes would be to educate and support health care providers in how to best address the functional impacts and needs of individuals and families.

My family has been both supported by and involved with the Parkinson Society of Canada throughout our journey, and through the Parkinson Society, we became aware of the national study. My wife and I were excited by its possibilities and supported the work through our participation, including attending the first progress meeting of the study researchers.

Being able to bring our family’s experience to the study through the researchers has been profound. I see my voice in the report. I see my wife’s voice in the report. I understand how this new evidence can be used to improve my family’s quality of life. I can take the report and advocate for action.

The report identifies key knowledge gaps and better ways to meet and manage the health needs of Canadians affected by neurological conditions. As a caregiver and a representative of NHCC, I encourage the Government of Canada to build on the study’s momentum and the successful partnership between NHCC and the government.

For your consideration, we have provided four recommendations in our written submission to the Government of Canada. The government is recognizing neurological conditions as a public priority and the momentum within the neurological community is high. We have a key opportunity right now to make a difference in the lives of people living with neurological conditions. Let's move forward together.

Thank you for your time.

3:50 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Thank you very much, Mr. Ireland.

We'll now go to Ms. Decter, please.

3:50 p.m.

Ann Decter Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada

Thank you.

Good afternoon, and thank you for the invitation to appear before the committee.

As the country's oldest and largest women's multi-service organization, with member associations serving women and girls in nine provinces and two territories, YWCA Canada strongly recommends that the federal government adopt gender budget analysis in the federal budgetary process as a fundamental step at the earliest possible stage of budget development. This process will assess the impact of policies based on gender and permit the government to correct for gender bias.

Supporting women, girls, and families requires adopting policies that work for women, policies based on women's present-day lived realities that include high workforce participation rates for women; a 64% employment rate for women with infants and toddlers; and two-thirds of mothers with a youngest child in preschool or kindergarten; women comprising the majority of university graduates; women continuing to provide the majority of child care; and women and girls continuing to face violence on a daily basis.

YWCA Canada recommends the following policies to support women, girls, and families: a national child care system to improve women's access to work through early childhood education; national leadership on violence against women to improve health and well-being; reducing and preventing women's homelessness to improve health and well-being; and increasing the national child benefit to reduce poverty.

Quebec's low-cost, broad-based child care system—the only one in Canada—confirms that child care is a social policy that addresses poverty among women by dramatically increasing their access to employment. As advocates have said for years, this is a highly effective anti-poverty tool.

Based on the Quebec experience, it is hard to overstate the positive impact of widespread access to low-cost child care on women raising children on their own.

Between 1996, when low-cost child care was introduced in Quebec, and 2008, a total of 69,700 additional mothers joined the workforce; employment rates for mothers with children under the age of six increased 22%; the number of single mothers on social assistance was reduced by more than half, from 99,000 to 45,000; the after-tax median income of single mothers rose by a startling 81%; relative poverty rates for single parent families headed by women declined from 36% to 22%, from more than a third to less than a quarter; and the GDP rose $5.1 billion, or 1.7%.

Quebec's investment in low-cost child care generates $104 for that provincial government for every $100 invested, and $43 for the federal government without any federal investment in the program. Child care is a revenue positive program.

The failure of governments across this country to develop low-cost child care shows gender bias on a dramatic scale. The savings and the benefits are immense.

As the country's largest single provider of shelter for women facing violence, YWCA Canada urges the federal government to lead policy coordination on violence against women at all three levels of government by establishing federal-provincial-municipal tables with input from violence support services and other relevant sectors. Canada needs a national action plan on violence against women that will set national standards for prevention, support services, legal services, and access to justice and crucial social policies, such as safe, affordable housing.

Domestic violence and sexual assault cost our country $334 per Canadian each year. The federal government currently spends $2.70 per capita.

Why do we say that Canadians should encourage the federal government to initiate a national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women without further delay, in addition to increasing direct action responses? A national inquiry on missing and murdered indigenous women has the potential to become a public conversation that can change deep-seated attitudes in Canada—and deep-seated change is very much needed.

YWCA Canada welcomed the federal government's 2011 throne speech commitment to address the problem of violence against women and girls. We continue to wait for effective fulfillment of this promise.

Of 210,000 people estimated to be homeless in Canada almost half of them, some 103,000, are women. Violence and poverty are the major drivers of women's homelessness. Four out of ten women leaving Canada's emergency shelters for women fleeing violence do not know where they will live. Women's homelessness tends not to be visible. The streets are not safe for women, and women hide the fact that they are homeless.

The wholesale shift of major funding from the previous homelessness partnering secretariat to the Housing First model needs to be accompanied by a gender-based analysis and resulting strategy to ensure the model is adapted to fit women's homelessness.

The federal government should streamline tax system supports for families into a single increased national child benefit, with a maximum of $5,400 a year, and absorb the universal child benefit into the NCB. Resources now directed to the regressive child tax and child's fitness tax credits should also be redirected to the NCB. With these adjustments, the cost of raising the maximum NCB to $5,400 a year would be reduced to $174 million annually.

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Could we wrap up very quickly, please?

3:55 p.m.

Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada

Ann Decter

Yes.

Coupled with full-time work at $11 an hour, the enhanced benefit would enable a single parent with one child to move out of poverty. This would also eliminate multiple layers of administration, which increase red tape and expense.

YWCA Canada urges the federal government not to adopt income splitting in federal budget 2015 or at any time in the future, as the benefits of this policy do not flow to vulnerable families.

Thank you.

3:55 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative James Rajotte

Thank you, Ms. Decter.

Colleagues, I am suggesting we do the first round for seven minutes and that in the interests of time we do the second round for five minutes. The first four questioners will have seven minutes.

We'll begin with Mr. Cullen, please.

4 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Thank you, Chair.

Thank you to our witnesses. It's difficult to do what you're trying to do today, which is to present compelling and complicated issues in such a short amount of time. The committee shares the impossible task of trying to sum up all of the social services and impacts, and somehow do that in a couple of meetings, and then present our recommendations to the federal government as it prepares this budget.

The current context is that we've moved from a number of years of significant deficit to a likely surplus, which I imagine has somewhat affected some of your presentations here today.

I want to first of all, on a personal level, say thank you to Mr. Ireland and Mr. Mann for your compelling testimony and for the work you do. “Work” is not the appropriate word. I am searching for another one—the service, the commitment....

Mr. Ireland, I'll start with the positive. There's a program right now, the caregiver amount program, that was set up by the government, and it was at about $110 million last year. What benefit—if you receive any benefit from this tax measure—does your family receive under that program?

4 p.m.

Caregiver, Neurological Health Charities Canada

Bruce Ireland

We do receive a benefit when we file our income tax for it. It helps provide some relief, but certainly not all of it. If you look at the total loss of income since my wife was diagnosed, you can see that it's quite significant, and then with me also retiring early, it has certainly affected our long-term outlook in terms of our finances.

4 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Thank you. I wasn't looking for a personal disclosure, but the program as established right now—and I want to get this right—is somewhere around $4,500 maximum per family. It's an offset. To be clear, is it your recommendation and that of other families you know to augment this particular program? Is it a direct benefit? Does it offset some of the challenges that you face financially in your caregiver role?

4 p.m.

Caregiver, Neurological Health Charities Canada

Bruce Ireland

It provides limited offset, I would say, and certainly in some families it's probably a lot less, particularly because it's a credit as opposed to a direct dollar reduction in personal taxes or whatever.

4 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

So you imagine not only an enhancement but also perhaps changing what the program actually does, the way that it impacts families, in a way that would be more direct?

4 p.m.

Caregiver, Neurological Health Charities Canada

Bruce Ireland

Absolutely.

4 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

Okay. We can do follow-up submissions from you as to what that impact would be.

Ms. Decter, do you have any idea of how much the federal government spent on the Cohen commission, which was an inquiry into the missing salmon in the Fraser River?

4 p.m.

Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada

Ann Decter

No, I'm sorry. I don't know.

4 p.m.

NDP

Nathan Cullen NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC

It was $26 million. It was an inquiry after a particularly bad sockeye return on the west coast.

4 p.m.

Director, Advocacy and Public Policy, YWCA Canada

Ann Decter

I remember that.