Mr. Speaker, it is hard enough for any person to get through life in Canada if he or she has a disability. Statistics Canada says there are nearly 3 million Canadians with disabilities.
The enabling accessibility fund was created to improve accessibility and reduce barriers for these people. Since 2008, the fund has gone through five projects calls and approved 644 projects worth $67 million.
One would think that would be good news for Canadians with disabilities. However, it is only true if one lives in a Conservative riding. Data released by HRSDC reveal that nearly 85% of this fund went to Conservative-held ridings. Conservatives represent barely half of Canada's population. This is clearly unfair: it discriminates against people with disabilities living in opposition-held ridings. It is an example of shameful pork-barrelling by a party that ran against such odious behaviour.
To restore credibility, the government must put into place an unbiased, non-political evaluation process, to ensure that all Canadians with disabilities have fair access to this fund. That is what Canadians expect of their government.