Thank you.
My name is Marie White, and I am the chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, which is based in Winnipeg. We are an organization that has been in existence for thirty years, and in those thirty years, one of the issues that we have continued to address is underemployment and unemployment.
We know that poverty is paramount for persons with disabilities. We know that approximately 60% of working-age adults with disabilities are unemployed or out of the labour market. We know that for women with disabilities, the statistics are staggering--75% are unemployed or out of the labour market--and it does challenge the recently articulated belief that women are already equal.
We know that for people with disabilities, employability is complex, and therefore the issues and the solutions are multi-faceted. It is not one organization's, one government's, one business', or one person's responsibility.
CCD looks at employability with a social barriers model. We don't look at a medical model, where we try to fix people with disabilities in order for them to be employed. We look at society's obligation to remove the barriers--whether they be environmental, systemic, or communication--that impinge on employability. We do believe that the federal government has the key role to play in disability, in making employment available for people with disabilities, and in facilitating the development of an inclusive labour market. What we would like to see, in three to five years, is an increase in the employment rate for people with disabilities to 61% from the current 44%. In no way would this meet the employment rate, generally, but at least it would be a major step.
There are many different agreements, policies, and programs that are problematic for people with disabilities at a national level. There needs to be a recognition that people with disabilities are marginalized, and some have been all their lives. In order to become employed, it's not a matter of just saying there's a job available to you. For some people with disabilities, it requires pre-employment training and skills development. They have been left out of the education system--they may have been there, but they were left out. They face discrimination, they face physical barriers, they face many barriers that we thought, back in 1976, would be at least, in some way, eradicated in 2006. We need a new FPT labour market strategy that provides for increased opportunities for people with disabilities.
In 2003, the ministers responsible for social services approved the multilateral framework for labour market agreements for people with disabilities. It replaced what was then known as EAPD, or employability assistance for people with disabilities. While the goal of this framework is to improve the employability of Canadians with disabilities, it cannot do so at the current levels. The current funding levels are not adequate. We have an injection of funding in the 2003 budget of $193 million. It should be doubled, at the very least. That needs to occur because current labour market agreements don't take into account the situation of people with disabilities.
In a perfect world, we wouldn't have separate labour market agreements; we would have labour market agreements signed that included people with disabilities, that included a wide range and sector of our society, as opposed to making separate programs for them. Until those who create the programs understand how to do it properly and how to include people with disabilities, it's necessary to have separate programs.
We know that policy reforms are needed. We know that the Employment Equity Act is a total, abysmal failure. We know that people with disabilities continue to benefit the least from employment equity. At 2.5%, their representation in 2004 was a slight improvement from 2.3%. People with disabilities receive about 1,100 hires in all sectors. By virtue of their presence in the population and their availability, it should have been five times that amount.
We encourage a number of things. We encourage the federal government to use measures such as procurement policies when they're acquiring equipment and software programs to ensure that they're accessible to people with disabilities. If the federal government does not become a model employer, then what hope do we have for the rest of the sectors, in particular, for private business? We encourage the federal government to ensure and incorporate the principles of universal design in all their premises and to retrofit existing ones.
Most importantly, we look to the federal government for an investment in disability-related supports. Disability-related supports are supports that are provided to people with disabilities who have to have an opportunity to participate.
I have a feeling that I'm talking much too fast, and I'll slow down. I see some angst here. I have this problem on a national level when I present. I will slow down as much as I can.
In terms of disability-related supports, it is the priority for persons with disabilities across the country, it is the priority of the national disability organizations, because an investment in disability-related supports makes economic sense. If we are facing a labour shortage, if we are facing a shortage in the trades, if we are requiring an influx of human resources into our employment sector, well, for God's sake, provide disability-related supports so that people with disabilities can participate.
As a person who has a disability, I find it appalling that many of my peers are unable to access employment because they do not have the supports they need. They live in poverty; they can't afford them. The income security programs do not provide for them. Therefore, we have what I would call a population in waiting--waiting for someone to recognize that their abilities and skills are there.
In terms of literacy, the number of people with disabilities who continue to graduate with what I call a partial education is staggering. What are we going to do to ensure that the skills they require are there, that they are provided adequate, appropriate, accessible, inclusive education? The recent cuts to the literacy organizations will significantly impact this population. They don't have appropriate education in many cases. The quality of their lives and their opportunities to experience success have just been cut again.
One of the recurring themes at the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum in 2006 in Montreal was this chronic shortage. People with disabilities have significant difficulty accessing apprenticeship systems and programs, because, again, they are not included in any number of the requirements for their doing so.
I will end by simply saying that disability cuts across all sectors. You know, there's no requirement to have a disability. You are either born with a disability or you acquire a disability. So the need for coordinated action is now. I don't want to be here in ten years talking to another standing committee and saying the same thing.
I would be remiss to finish without addressing the need for investment in national organizations. If you don't continue to support national organizations of and for persons with disabilities, our voice will be lost. Remember, we are a population in waiting, and we are waiting for the federal government to show leadership.
Thank you.