Sandra Hassan Deputy Minister of Labour and Associate Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Development, Department of Employment and Social Development

April 29th, 2024 / 3:40 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair (Mr. Robert Morrissey (Egmont, Lib.)) Liberal Bobby Morrissey

I call the meeting to order.

Welcome to meeting number 110 of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities.

As you have noticed, the room makeup is a bit different, and there's a reason.

Before we begin, I would like to remind all members and other meeting participants in the room of important preventive measures.

To prevent disruptive and potentially harmful audio feedback incidents that can cause injuries, all in-person participants are reminded to keep their earpieces away from all microphones at all times. As indicated in the communiqué from the Speaker to all members on Monday, April 29, the following measures have been taken to help prevent audio feedback incidents.

All earpieces have been replaced by a model that greatly reduces the probability of audio feedback. The new earpieces are black in colour, whereas the former earpieces were grey. We've noticed that. Please use only an approved black earpiece.

By default, all unused earpieces will be unplugged at the start of a meeting. When you are not using your earpiece, please place it face down—face down, Ms. Falk—on the middle of the sticker for this purpose, which you will find on the table as indicated. I'm sorry for picking on you, but it was just obvious.

Please consult the cards on the table for guidelines. This is serious. There were incidents, and the internal economy committee had extensive meetings and came up with these options.

The room layout has been adjusted to increase the distance between microphones and to reduce the chance of feedback from an ambient earpiece. These measures are in place so that we can conduct our business without interruption and protect the health and safety of all participants, including the interpreters. Thank you all for your co-operation.

Today's meeting is taking place in a hybrid format. In accordance with the committee's routine motion concerning connection tests for witnesses, I'm informing the committee that all witnesses have completed the required connection tests in advance of the meeting.

I have a few comments for members appearing online and in the room. Please wait until I recognize you by your name before speaking. For members in the room, please raise your hand if you wish to speak. For those appearing virtually, please use the “raise hand” icon on the bottom of your Surface device and wait until I recognize you.

I remind you that all comments should be addressed through me, the chair. As well, you have the option of choosing to speak in the official language of your choice. In the room, interpretation services are available through the headset. I ask those in the room to please check the globe icon at the bottom of your service and choose the language of your choice. If there's an issue in interpretation, please get my attention. We'll suspend while it is being corrected.

Pursuant to Standing Order 108(2) and the motion adopted by the committee on February 26, 2024, the committee is commencing its study of the subject matter of supplementary estimates (C) for 2023-24 and the main estimates for 2024-25.

I would like to welcome our witnesses. We have Kamal Khera, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities.

Welcome, Minister.

From the Department of Canadian Heritage, we have Isabelle Mondou, deputy minister, and Gaveen Cadotte, assistant deputy minister, anti-racism strategy and action plan.

From the Department of Employment and Social Development, we have Kristina Namiesniowski. She is senior associate deputy minister of the department.

We also have Andrew Brown, the associate deputy minister, and Brian Leonard, director general and deputy chief financial officer, corporate financial planning.

Madam Minister, you have five minutes or less for opening comments, after which we'll go to questions.

You have the floor, Madam Minister.

3:45 p.m.

Brampton West Ontario

Liberal

Kamal Khera LiberalMinister of Diversity

Thank you so much, Mr. Chair.

Good afternoon, colleagues and committee members. Thank you again for inviting me here today. I'm very happy to be here to discuss the important progress we have made as we work toward building a more accessible and inclusive Canada.

As the minister responsible for diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities, my goal is to create a more accessible and inclusive Canada where everyone, regardless of their ability or identity, is included.

I'm pleased to report that when it comes to creating a more accessible Canada, our government has taken significant steps, thanks to the Accessible Canada Act, under which our government launched the first-ever disability inclusion action plan.

The action plan has been our road map for creating a more accessible Canada, in partnership with the disability community. Under this plan, we have been working to make our economy and workplaces across the country more accessible through the disability inclusion business council and by investing millions of dollars through the opportunities fund.

We've also been breaking down barriers in communities across the country through the enabling accessibility fund.

Most recently, we unveiled budget 2024, which is our plan to make life fairer for every generation of Canadians. In this budget, we reached another significant milestone under the action plan by announcing $6.1 billion for a new Canada disability benefit, thanks to the relentless advocacy of the disability community. This is the first federal benefit especially designed to support some of the most vulnerable working-age Canadians with disabilities. This benefit fills a program gap in the federal government's social safety net between the Canada child benefit, old age security and other mechanisms that we put in place. The disability benefit is intended to supplement, not replace, existing income support measures. Also, we will continue to call on provincial and territorial governments to do their part and not claw back what Canadians receive through the Canada disability benefit.

I also want to take an opportunity to talk a bit about the work we're doing when it comes to creating a more diverse and inclusive Canada. I firmly believe that as a country, our greatest strength is our diversity. You know, I always say that in Canada, diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice. It is that choice that our government has been very deliberate in making.

Since 2015, our government has been working with community partners to combat racism and hatred in all its forms. Back in 2019, we launched Canada's anti-racism strategy. Very soon we will be launching the brand new anti-racism strategy 2.0, which incorporates lessons learned from the first strategy, expanding its scope by enhancing our whole-of-government approach to combatting systemic racism in all its forms.

In 2018, Canada recognized the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent. Since then, we have committed $860 million to better support Black communities right across the country. Just recently, our government reaffirmed our support by announcing our support for a second International Decade for People of African Descent, while also noting that Canada's domestic efforts in support of the decade have already been extended through 2028.

At the same time, we know there has been an alarming rise in hate, both here in Canada and around the world. As a government, we have always been clear that hatred has no place in Canada. With budget 2024, we have taken a significant step in this fight against hate by investing $273 million through Canada's first-ever action plan on combatting hate. Thanks to these critical investments, we will be able to better support communities in law enforcement reform, tackle the rise in hate crimes, enhance community security, counter radicalization and increase support for victims.

Mr. Chair, as I said at the beginning of my remarks, my goal is to build a Canada where everyone, regardless of their ability or identity, is included. We know building a stronger, more accessible and fairer Canada for every generation isn't just the right thing to do: It's also the smart thing to do, and the Canadian thing to do.

Our government remains steadfast in our commitment to celebrate diversity and promote inclusivity, because we know that as Canadians, we're always stronger together.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm happy to take any questions.

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

The Chair Liberal Bobby Morrissey

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

We have Mrs. Gray for six minutes.

3:45 p.m.

Conservative

Tracy Gray Conservative Kelowna—Lake Country, BC

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here today.

Minister, are Canadians living with disabilities facing a cost of living crisis?

3:45 p.m.

Liberal

Kamal Khera Liberal Brampton West, ON

It's important to recognize that working-age Canadians with disabilities in particular have been, for far too long, twice as likely to live in poverty than other Canadians.

Since then, as a government, we have been there by supporting the work we've been doing through—