Evidence of meeting #31 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was education.
A video is available from Parliament.
10:10 a.m.
Conservative
10:10 a.m.
Conservative
Pierre Poilievre Conservative Carleton, ON
Mr. Stapleton has written an amazing paper called “Zero Dollar Linda”, about a disabled person going into the workforce and actually being almost no better off, in some cases worse off, because of all of the clawbacks and the taxes and punishment that the system metes out on somebody for the crime of working. Everybody should read that paper and it should be submitted to our committee records.
Has Meticulon seen the pernicious effect of benefits, clawbacks, and taxes on autistic people attempting to enter the workforce?
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bryan May
We're out of time, but I'm going to give you a few seconds just to come up with a brief answer on that one.
10:15 a.m.
Chief Employment Coach, Meticulon
Yes, we've definitely seen that here in Alberta. We are trying to work around that, at Meticulon, for people who are on supported incomes, by keeping their benefits available to them, but it cuts back their possibility of earning potential.
I just wanted to make a quick note to that. I think that job-fit analysis piece is going to be the key component for finding people successful positions in work that they not only enjoy doing but have phenomenal abilities to continue doing for different businesses and different sectors. It's finding something like Meticulon in different niches.
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Thank you again. It's back to me.
Just as a side note, my younger brother is intellectually challenged and working with the government and the private sector. He's had a job for the longest while where he has been able to excel, and that showed in his whole mentality. He was prouder. He was able to go out and do something, so I agree with you that it's up here that we have to educate ourselves better than that.
I'm going to focus on the Peel poverty reduction strategy. Would you consider your program a success?
10:15 a.m.
Adviser, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
Yes. We have several initiatives, such as transportation, for example, which we've subsidized and are helping people with. Yes, it's a success.
Are these programs sustainable is the question.
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
The answer I wanted was to hear was that yes, you are being successful in it.
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
You've mentioned a lot of things: your three-year plan, safe housing affordability, transportation, and economic and food security.
When we look at poverty reduction strategies, this is actually the first time I'm actually seeing something, and I love that on your website you have a giant circle with everything in there. When I look at this, I look at the challenge that we, as a national government, are facing, because there are so many moving parts here.
Along that line, if the federal government were to develop a comprehensive poverty reduction plan, how would we take what you've done, with those unfortunate challenges when you first started because everybody was against you, and how would you advise us as a government? What could we bring to the table?
10:15 a.m.
Co-Chair, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
It has to be a shared goal, a common goal that everybody has together. In the Region of Peel, we are an upper-tier government. There's the Region of Peel, and there are the three municipalities: Brampton, Mississauga, and Caledon. But collectively we have a strategic plan, which has just been put in place this last year, that goes out for 20 years.
This council has put priorities together. There are about five or six priorities, but the first one is reducing poverty. We have engaged our mayors and all the local and the regional politicians, along with our core capacity-building agencies, such as the United Way, our school boards, etc. The big stakeholders in the community are on the same page. That speaks volumes to where we want to go with this initiative; our priority is that.
Everything we're doing in social services in our human services department is focused on reducing poverty. The other one that we also have is to reduce our wait-list for affordable housing. Our deliverology is focused specifically on that.
There is the will to do this, and the energies are going to it.
10:15 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Where is that will coming from? Is it coming from Peel poverty reduction? Who's driving this?
10:15 a.m.
Adviser, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
I think a big part of it is the community. The community has said that this is important, and we can't ignore it anymore. All of the players, then, the organizations and the stakeholders that are required to move the needle on it, have to work together. You can't leave the people out, including the people with the lived experience.
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
You're already into this, but has there been resistance from the provincial or the federal government, or have they willingly said, let's jump on board?
10:20 a.m.
Adviser, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
Initially, I think the provincial government also identified it as a priority, and their call to action was an opportunity for local communities too to mobilize. Once there was this recognition provincially that we needed to tackle this together, it was easier for us to come on board.
Now that the federal government has said there's going to be a national strategy, that's just further impetus to say this is important. With those folks whom we haven't been able to engage—some folks from the business community, for example—I think it's easier now to open the door and to have that conversation, to say that we're really concerned about people who are not able to stay in the labour market, who are not able for such long periods of time, and to ask what role we can all play.
We all need to be there. It's not just government and it's not just community organizations.
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
How do we duplicate the drive that started off with your community? How does the federal government put that into this strategy? We just can't say, “Okay, you guys have the drive; go out and do it.”
How do we duplicate what you're doing as part of our strategy?
10:20 a.m.
Co-Chair, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
I think that, as Mark said, you're going to set the tone with your policy or the mandate of your national focus on poverty. With that, you will have to ask us, the various levels of government, “What's your plan? In x amount of time, bring forward what you've done to move the needle.” We have to be accountable.
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
Can you talk to us about measurables? How are you measuring your success?
10:20 a.m.
Adviser, Peel Poverty Reduction Strategy Committee
In the plan, we did lay out, over three years, some of the things we want to achieve. What is the contribution we can make?
The challenge you're going to face, that we all face, of course, is that poverty requires everyone to participate. How do you account for your contribution? Can we say that the Region of Peel reduced poverty by 5% or 10%? No. Have we created some specific interventions that help people? Yes.
On the things we're measuring, we've had to be careful about attributing more than is actually there. You have to build in the accountability from the beginning, identify those things that you want to tackle, which really should be based on the needs, the gaps that the provincial and local governments.... What's missing from those plans, and then what are some targets? Provincially, in Ontario, it was reducing child poverty by 25% in five years.
10:20 a.m.
Liberal
Dan Ruimy Liberal Pitt Meadows—Maple Ridge, BC
You mentioned community benefit agreements. Would you be able to submit a copy of that just so we have it on file?