Evidence of meeting #33 for Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was work.
A recording is available from Parliament.
4:20 p.m.
Liberal
4:20 p.m.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you so much, Chair.
Ms. Kouidri, I want to start out by congratulating you on your research, and also on being awarded the scholarship to research. You spoke a lot, certainly, about intersectionality and the impact of not just being disabled but also being a woman who immigrated to Canada and the impact that had in terms of making things a lot more difficult.
I've often spoken about intersectionality and how it impacts people's lives. We know that, for example, 70% of individuals who are disabled live in poverty. I have brought that up many times. In fact, it's even higher when you research rates of poverty among BIPOC communities.
I'm wondering if you could speak to that and if you could make a couple of comments on your research of your mentor.
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
Thank you.
You mentioned that there was a very high poverty rate among persons with disabilities, and that this has been increasing in every province across Canada. Access to the workforce is still limited for these people, particularly women. It's acknowledged that women have the highest unemployment rate, or rather that they have the least access to the labour market. Moreover, disabled women have the lowest income in Quebec and elsewhere in Canada. It's an alarming situation.
That's the way it was when Maria Barile was with us and it's still the case today, unfortunately. Things haven't changed. What we saw and experienced during the pandemic showed this clearly. The people who were more or less abandoned were those with disabilities, particularly women, who had to become caregivers. Maria was also a caregiver. She took care of her mother her entire life and this was never acknowledged. The vast majority of disabled women are single mothers. They are heads of families and don't even have equitable access to the labour market. There is a great deal of poverty, and some lost their jobs during the pandemic. We can see the inequalities and inequities even more clearly in a crisis like the one we have been experiencing since 2020.
The labour market is closed. There's a great deal of discrimination based on disabilities, and also gender and ethnocultural origin. There's no point in trying to hide it. All these forms of discrimination intersect, making it more difficult for someone with a disability to live in dignity, and even more so for a woman. The rate is therefore still very high, even today. Women are the lowest paid and poorest workers in Canadian society, particularly in Quebec. We face all kinds of problems.
Disabled women are the best educated among those with disabilities. Their graduation rate is very high, but it would be difficult to find anyone who could tell you that she is working in the field she studied for. Each will end up trying to find any job that will pay the bills. They often turn to self-employment and entrepreneurship, even though they are afraid of doing that.
Maria had also firmly encouraged women's entrepreneurship, because these women do not have much access to the regular labour market. It's therefore important to create employment opportunities, and there is often no help available for them. Many women, as I did, end up becoming self-employed to meet their needs, as mothers and support workers.
Poverty has not changed for women. The rates are always more alarming for them than for the rest of the population. There is work to be done. I don't think the legislation acts directly enough. At one point, we were in agreement on quotas and said that it was important to comply with them, but perhaps stricter policies are required for businesses to hire them, because they have a lot to offer. People are afraid of a disabled person. They will always say that perhaps…
4:25 p.m.
NDP
Leah Gazan NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Because we have less than a minute left, I just have one more question for you.
I know Canada has signed on to the UN convention on persons with disabilities. I would argue that we have failed, certainly the government has failed, in upholding these minimum human rights.
What are your thoughts on that?
4:25 p.m.
As an Individual
We rely a lot on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Canada was asked in 2016 and 2017 by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to arrange for better work for women and young women with disabilities. Consultations on a counter-report to be tabled to determine where things stand will also begin shortly.
There was also discussion about the importance of adopting an intersectional approach to support disabled women and girls with disabilities who are victims of violence. Nothing has been done yet. All of the spending and assistance programs are not benefiting people in the field directly. That's what concerns us the most. We'd like to know how to go about getting social projects to support these people. We therefore refer a lot to this convention in connection with our work.
4:30 p.m.
Liberal
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Thank you, Chair.
Thank you, Selma, for the work you've done and for sharing the wonderful story that is Maria. I'm inspired and I'm sure others are, especially people with disabilities or those facing the challenges that Maria faced. It's an inspiring story and I thank you for sharing it. It's a little bit belated, but congratulations on receiving the scholarship.
As I read the report that was forwarded to us, I attempted to do some additional research on her. I couldn't find additional information, unfortunately, on Google, by googling either the name of the report or her name. There is limited information out there. I just wanted to raise that with you to hear if you have any plans or if you've tried other ways of sharing the story more broadly.
4:30 p.m.
As an Individual
I fully agree with you.
I'd like to point out that all of her research and all the work she did can be found with search engines and on university servers. However, access can be restricted and and there is often a fee to get access to the articles. It's therefore not accessible to the whole population, which is unfortunate.
In my work with the Centre d'éducation populaire, for example, I tried to get hold of all the works of Maria Barile that are available. Some of them are, but not all. It's difficult to gain access, and considerable funds would be required to do so. We therefore created a physical rather than a virtual library of Maria Barile's work with Action des femmes handicapées de Montréal. The report has not yet been made available to the public and I'm waiting for the fall to do so.
I should point out that Maria Barile is on the list of the100 women who have contributed to the advancement of women in Canada. The Department for Women and Gender Equality ranked her among the top 100 Canadian women.
In short, we are going to publish this report. It will also be possible to have access to Maria Barile's works at the INEEI-PSH website.
The Dawson College website also has many of Maria's works, but they are not available to the public. This is unfortunate because she's a woman who deserves recognition. What we want to do is to pursue her work to make people more aware of it. I personally send information to groups that represent persons with disabilities, and in particular movements on behalf of the rights of persons with disabilities. But it doesn't seem to get through. People appear reluctant to give the enormous work she did the credit it deserves. That's not going to stop me, because I intend to keep going. When we talk about the INEEI-PSH, we describe it as a structure that was established because of Maria Barile and as the continuation of her work. We mention her work at every presentation we give.
I agree with you that it's unfortunate. I think that this report and everything I've been able to compile will be available at various sites like the INEEI-PSH and perhaps taken up by Dawson College and other institutions, to make her work more accessible and better known.
4:30 p.m.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Absolutely. I was riveted by the stories in the report and the successes that she had.
You did comment that you were careful not to veer into a biography, but it sounds as though what you have been collecting would be enough information. Do you think that would be something on the horizon, an official biography that you would be able to write and hopefully have support in publishing, to get that story out to the masses?
4:35 p.m.
As an Individual
I thought that it would be overly pretentious for me to say that I had written a biography, although her family gave me authorization to do so, because I was very close to her. I also have fond memories of the Barile family, especially her brother Bernardo, who was very helpful.
It was really a dream for me to do this work and write her biography. I want people everywhere to know about her. At the moment, she's better known internationally than she is in Canada. She had many contacts in the United States. Great Britain even awarded her a posthumous Masters degree in accessible design. Unfortunately, she is not spoken about enough in Canada and Quebec.
I think that's something I should do, and I will. Thank you for encouraging me to do so.
4:35 p.m.
Conservative
Corey Tochor Conservative Saskatoon—University, SK
Just briefly then, I want to thank you again for sharing her story.
May 11th, 2021 / 4:35 p.m.
Liberal
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chair, and good afternoon to my colleagues.
Ms. Kouidri, thank you very much for your wonderful report and presentation. I have been lucky enough to be a member of HUMA since 2015, and certainly, we've had many very worthy recipients with the respect to the Centennial Flame Research Award.
With respect to the Centennial Flame Research Award, what can we do, as a committee, to improve that award and make it more meaningful to researchers like you?
4:35 p.m.
As an Individual
I was honoured to receive this award. I had no information about it and didn't even know it existed. When I heard about it, I checked my eligibility and submitted an application.
I think the public should have more information about how to proceed. Support should be given to applicants, particularly those who don't do much research or who would be doing it for the first time. If they want to write, they should be encouraged. I think it's very important to support them with documentation explaining what is expected of them in the report to be submitted.
Publishing this work more widely would also provide support for us. When I wanted to look at earlier reports, I had a lot of trouble finding them. I personally believe that it's very important to know what was done before and to have a model to follow. Publishing these works on different platforms would be even more useful. It would share the information that people are looking for. It amounts to making expertise available. It's important from a human standpoint to have this showcase for these people.
For me, it's an honour. It's so wonderful to have this platform for persons with disabilities. They are told, "go for it, you can do it, go ahead and show us that you have what it takes." After that, it's publicized. You can't ask for more than that.
I think that a more visible platform that can be shared with everyone would be something even more appropriate. We take a great deal of pride in doing that. I was very proud, and I think the other recipients were as well.
4:35 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
Absolutely. The chair and colleagues should take note. Certainly, I think something we can improve is to actually promote and publicize the Centennial Flame Research Award for applicants and winners. That's something we can all endeavour to do better.
Ms. Kouidri, I want to talk to you first about barriers to employment, and I know you touched on that. Did you do any work at all, any research, with a Mark Wafer at Tim Hortons, or a Randy Lewis at Walgreens?
Did you cross paths with them at all in your research?
4:35 p.m.
As an Individual
No, I haven't done any research on that subject. I think it's something worth looking into.
4:40 p.m.
Liberal
Wayne Long Liberal Saint John—Rothesay, NB
For the committee's information and your information, Mark Wafer was an owner of a Tim Hortons restaurant. He has a hearing impairment. Randy Lewis was a vice-president of Walgreens in the United States. They both did amazing work, hiring people with disabilities in their businesses, and obviously, with great success.
Ms. Kouidri, what can we do, as parliamentarians, to help break down barriers to employment for persons with disabilities? What did you find in your research, and do you have any suggestions for us, as a committee, about what we can do to help break down those barriers?
4:40 p.m.
As an Individual
I can say that a lot has been done, but at the political level. Things need to become even more concrete. You spoke about some people who started their own business to promote hiring persons with disabilities.
Maria Barile was one of them. Representing her own company, Éco-Accès, she approached businesses to explain to them that when the time came to write a job offer, it might be useful to mention at the bottom of the page that the position was open to disabled people or to women, meaning a marginalized group.
