Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from the Bloc, who has shown a very compassionate and sensitive involvement in our disability subcommittee, for his comments today.
Families of persons with disabilities and all advocacy groups have said to us that they forgo income, they forgo sleep, they forgo a great deal emotionally and financially to care for family members with disabilities. They pick up thousands of dollars of costs in terms of drugs, assistive devices, transportation, special shoes, special foods, special adaptive devices. There are many significant costs.
The latest figures put out by the National Council of Welfare show as a percentage of the welfare costs that they are below the poverty line. Persons with disabilities continue to see a decrease in terms of their overall income in provinces such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario and many others.
Based on the real disparity that is rampant for persons with disabilities, does the member support the concept of a refundable tax credit that recognizes the costs of disabilities and a tax credit that more accurately reflects the actual costs to individuals with disabilities?