Mr. Speaker, I am very pleased to rise and speak to Motion No. 430, labour market opportunities for persons with disabilities. This important motion was brought forward by a good member of Parliament who is a clear advocate for people living with disabilities. He is personally involved and works hard to ensure that governments at all levels are aware of the need to provide the kinds of supports necessary to ensure that people who are living with disabilities are able to contribute at the level at which they want to contribute. It is extremely important, and I thank him for the work he does. I want to make that clear. I will be supporting this motion.
The member will probably not be surprised that I am going to raise a few little points where I think the motion does not go quite far enough. I do that because I am well aware of this issue. I have many constituents and friends who are dealing with the barriers to people living with disabilities every single day. We can stand here in the House and talk about it and we can read reports that talk about the need to do this or that, but at some point we have to draw the line and put some concrete actions into place. We have to assign the appropriate funding to those actions to ensure we specifically remove the barriers that exist for people on the ground who are living with disabilities.
The “Rethinking Disability in the Private Sector” report is a solid report. It identifies challenges and success stories of employment for persons with disabilities, but I suggest that there are gaps. Persons with disabilities do not just deal with barriers existing in the workplace. They deal with barriers that are brought on by problems of accessibility to housing, education and transportation, and none of these issues were directly dealt with in the report.
In my province of Nova Scotia, and I know this exists across the country, the ability of persons with disabilities to access independent living opportunities is at a premium. There are far too many wait-lists for people who are trying to find proper living accommodations. We can appreciate that for people who are in a program that is helping them transition from school to work and trying to support them in employment opportunities, there needs to be an opportunity to live independently in appropriate housing. Not only does that create opportunities for them, but it relieves the enormous pressure on families who are the primary supports and caregivers.
Likewise, the opportunity for persons living with disabilities to access education, to get supports in the school systems, both secondary and post-secondary, is extremely important. I have evidence of the success that is enjoyed by people living with disabilities who are able to take advantage of those supports, but they are not there for everybody. Again, there are waiting lists and the disability-specific supports are not always in place.
It is the same thing with transportation, unfortunately.
Those are the kinds of barriers that we need to focus on, that we need to ensure we get rid of. We need to ensure that the funding is available.
I spoke in a debate a week or so ago about how the government is letting the provinces down on a commitment that it made in the Constitution of 1982 to provide equalization payments to ensure that the provinces are able to deliver an equal level of service. Some provinces that do not have access to the same revenues as others are facing challenges.
I will give some examples of success stories in Dartmouth—Cole Harbour because there are a few. There are individuals living with disabilities who are recognizing opportunities.
There is the ACEE program established in 2005 by the Independent Living Nova Scotia Association. It is a year-long transition program for youth with disabilities who have completed high school but are not yet ready for the workforce or further education.
There are currently and usually about 20 young adults who participate every year in this innovative program, which includes literacy and numeracy, employment orientation, career exploration and job placements in real-life workplaces. It is currently situated in the Akerley campus of the Nova Scotia Community College. It is located within a post-secondary institution. The participants benefit greatly, as do the students who are attending that community college. They learn and experience good things as a result of that program being there.
The Dartmouth Adult Services Centre, DASC, provides community employment services dedicated to providing access to employment opportunities and the support required to ensure continued and future success. It strives to obtain competitive employment in the community for its clients. It has just moved into a new facility partially funded by the federal government; the grand opening is tomorrow. I have been through the facility and it provides a wonderful suite of services to people living with disabilities and to organizations within the community. It is known for its political buttons; I have certainly bought a few buttons from DASC myself.
DASC also provides a community employment service work model made up of four components: assessment and orientation, job search, job site training and ongoing support. This is an extremely valuable support. It has a new building and is providing support and work opportunities for over 100 individuals. It has staff. It is continuing to grow in terms of demand and there is a waiting list. It needs greater funding to ensure that it has qualified staff on hand to provide support for people who are working in that organization and in the community.
Another program is called reachAbility. It operates on the basis of a culture built on the belief that we are all equal and that accommodation is simply about equalizing the playing field. The committed staff of reachAbility provide support to a wide range of clients with a focus on programs designed to build a stronger community, one ability at a time. The program provides transferable skills through training, education, job placement services and assistance in overcoming barriers.
I want to make two final points. The first is with respect to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Conservatives were supposed to report on what their commitments would be, as was required when they signed on to it a year ago. They have failed to do that. That is simply not good enough.
The member opposite brought forward a great motion, but we need more action and more resources focused on people living with disabilities so they can participate in our communities at their fullest potential.