We just spent our day with a variety of other communities looking at international instruments and how they can help move and advance domestic agendas. It is truly a challenging discussion, so our comments on this are still somewhat preliminary.
We have wondered whether we need a standing committee on the status of persons with disabilities. The HUMA committee is welcome, and your good work is welcome. But a study on disability that may happen once every two years, at this point in time, with ratification of the convention, may be absolutely inadequate. We believe it may be time to discuss the establishment of a minister responsible for the status of persons with disabilities. We have a Minister for the Status of Women. We have ministers with lead responsibility for seniors and so on. How do we do this?
We have talked about whether a disability lens should be applied to program analysis as new programs come forward. For example, as we are talking about pension reform, as is being discussed, we would look at the Canada Pension Plan disability benefits. My understanding is that the pension reform discussion is only looking at the retirement portion. But there is a disability portion; 20% of the program is disability related. How do we talk about the retirement of people who have had to leave the workforce because of disability and what their pensions are going to look like?
Look at the Nortel example. How do we look at people who are on long-term disability leave from a company that is going bankrupt? At the end of the day, they have no call on any benefit. They will go from a decent LTD plan, which they paid premiums into, to social assistance. How do we look at all these disability focuses? I'm sorry to say that a single study will not do it. A single dialogue will not do it.
Government and parliamentary committees must hear from the disability community. Parliamentary committees in the past, frankly, have held departmental feet to the fire and have asked what they were doing to address this issue. Equally, parliamentary committees have called before them in the past members of departments to ask what is happening for people with disabilities in EI. Have you looked at EI sick benefits for people with disabilities?
I think there are a variety of mechanisms. I don't think we have an answer on this yet, but we are most interested in having a discussion.
I would just like to take a bit of privilege here. I come from Winnipeg, and as a parent with a child with a disability and as somebody centrally connected to our community and understanding it, I have long known Judy and her championing of disability issues. I looked at yesterday's announcement with some sadness. But as a Winnipeger, I have some hope. I would just like to acknowledge her wonderful contribution and the great work she has done in non-partisan ways to advance the status of persons with disabilities.