Mr. Speaker, I would like to express my support for the principle behind the motion. Canadians with disabilities should be treated with more leniency than the current disability tax credit now provides. I congratulate the member for Halifax for bringing the motion before us.
The people we are talking about are some of the most vulnerable people in our society. While we have a duty to ensure that taxpayer money is well spent and that there is as little waste as possible in the system, surely we can prevent tax fraud while respecting the dignity of and understanding the special needs of our disabled citizens.
As a compassionate and caring government, we should acknowledge that the current method used to determine whether one is eligible for the tax credit needs improvement and should be reviewed and changed by the Minister of Finance.
I agree entirely with the member for Palliser. He touched upon the questions that are in the disability tax credit certificate for eligibility. The answers are yes or no and seem very restrictive. A lot of the situations with which we deal are not yes and no.
There is one question in particular which I would like to point out. It is can the patient dress himself or herself. The doctor then has to answer yes or no. If the doctor answers no, that the patient does not have the ability and if the patient falls or has a mishap while being dressed, then there is no leeway for the doctor to say that somebody should be supervising while a patient dresses. Pride sometimes comes into the act where patients will insist on dressing themselves, but they need a person either from the family or outside the family to be present just in case they have a mishap.
There is absolutely no discretion when they fill out this certificate application form for any amount of leniency at all.
Could the member for Palliser comment on the disability certificate application form and maybe suggest other areas where the certificate could be improved?