Finance Committee on Feb. 27th, 2024

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you, Chair.

We heard earlier in the testimony from Ms. Mulholland. She said that the problem isn't inadequate credit. It's inadequate income.

For the folks at ACORN Canada who are with us, I know that you've been wonderful advocates for the Canada disability benefit, because you recognize that 40% of those living in poverty are people living with disabilities. Folks living with disabilities have been disproportionately living in poverty for far too long. This disability benefit is meant to be a really critical measure to start to make progress on reducing legislated poverty for people with disabilities.

Recognizing, if you take a step back, that this conversation isn't just about the credit issue but about inadequate income for people living in poverty, I wonder if Dr. Jhamb and/or Ms. Borden would like to comment on ACORN's view of how important it is for our Parliament and this government to make progress on funding the Canada disability benefit.

[Dr. Bhumika Jhamb]

Thank you, MP Morrice. I think that's really well put.

It's definitely connected with the lack of a living wage, I would say. A lot of people with disabilities are forced into deep poverty because of a lack of or very inadequate or abysmal supports from provinces. That's exactly why there is a push for the federal Canada disability benefit, and we're glad that's moving forward.

It's really the lack of a living wage that pushes people to resort to predatory loan products and, also, a lack of fair credit alternatives. It's really a market failure. That's what we believe, because if the market were working perfectly, we wouldn't see this happening. We need government intervention in this space—in fact, more government intervention—to solve this crisis that we're in today.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you, Ms. Jhamb.

Of course, when it comes to the Canada disability benefit, what we have seen is that a piece of legislation got passed, but the regulations have been very slow and we're very unclear on the outcome of that regulatory process. The minister has now said that the benefit might not be rolled out until June 2025. There's all of this slowdown while Canadians with disabilities continue to live in legislated poverty.

We know that this Parliament can move with urgency when it sees a crisis. There is clearly a crisis here for folks in my community and across the country who continue to live in poverty, and there is a very clear intervention that could make progress to reduce that. Ideally, it could have gone further if we would have been able to expand the legislation to include people over the age of 65. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

Is there anything you'd like to add, Ms. Borden or Ms. Jhamb, in terms of what you want to see from MPs in the lead-up to budget 2024 when it comes to addressing this inadequate income issue that is really the bigger overlying issue in this study the committee is in the midst of?

In looking at the chair, I think I have a minute or so left.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You have another minute and a bit. This will be the final question.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

That's great.

I'll get a final thought from you both with regard to the need for Parliament to be expedient when it comes to not just talking about critical income interventions like the Canada disability benefit but, in fact, funding them and making sure that they end up in the bank accounts of people living with disabilities across the country.

[Dr. Bhumika Jhamb]

We fully support this move. We hope that the government can act fast and also ensure that it promises a living wage and not just the kind of assistance that we see across the provinces, which is pushing persons with disabilities into deeper poverty.

[Mike Morrice, Green, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you again, Ms. Jhamb, for making sure the adequacy.... You've mentioned a few times that it's not just about funding the benefit but about ensuring that the benefit ends up bringing people above the poverty line. That need for adequacy has come through from ACORN and from your members across the country throughout this advocacy. I would be remiss to not also share the really critical testimony that people with disabilities have been providing for many years to push for this benefit to come to fruition. I certainly hope that this conversation helps and is a part of that.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Thank you, MP Morrice.

On that, we want to thank our witnesses for being with us.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Mr. Chair—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I'm thanking the witnesses, so hang on one second.

I want to thank our witnesses. Thank you for going through what you went through. I know we had some motions, etc., that we had to deal with here, but you've been terrific. You've answered a lot of questions. Your testimony will be used for this important study, and I thank you on behalf of the finance committee.

MP Hallan.

[Jasraj Singh Hallan, Conservative, Calgary Forest Lawn, AB]

Thanks, Mr. Chair.

I just want to find out, for the information of the committee, what we're doing on Thursday.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

I will look to the members. We had talked about the FES and....

[Philip Lawrence, Conservative, Northumberland—Peterborough South, ON]

No, I don't think that's in the.... No.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We'll look into that, and we'll get back to the members.

Thank you very much.

Members, we are adjourned.