House of Commons photoWon her last election, in 2021, with 42% of the vote.
Employment Insurance October 29th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, as I said, we actually lifted the requirement that severance be considered as part of forward-looking income as we changed the EI system to welcome more Canadian workers into the system. I can happily report that 1.8 million Canadians are in the new, more relaxed and generous EI system, with another 2.5 million Canadians on the new recovery benefit.
We have four million Canadians who are very happy today, because they are getting support from the federal government.
Employment Insurance October 29th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, we worked really hard to make sure that severance earnings did not impact workers' entitlement to EI under the new, more generous EI system, which we temporarily have in place. I can promise this House to look into the exact issue the member is raising. Between me and my colleagues, we will make sure we address it.
Persons with Disabilities October 27th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, since the beginning we have taken a disability-inclusive approach to this pandemic. I am pleased to announce that starting this Friday, three days from now, 1.7 million Canadians will begin to receive the $600 one-time payment in recognition of the extraordinary expenses being faced by Canadians with disabilities.
I will take this opportunity to thank our COVID-19 disability advisory group, who in the spirit of “nothing without us” has provided this government with invaluable advice. We thank them, and we will continue to support our citizens with disabilities moving forward.
Criminal Code October 21st, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank Sarah for fighting the fight. I hear many of her views about how, historically, we have done wrong by this really marginalized group of citizens. We are taking every effort to do right by our citizens with disabilities. It started with the Accessible Canada Act, which put a disability lens on our pandemic response, resulting in a COVID disability advisory group, resulting in recommendations from that group as to how we could ensure that sufficient safeguards were put in place, resulting in a commitment in the Speech from the Throne to a direct payment to citizens with disabilities, the Canada disability benefit modelled after the GIS, so they can have the choice to not live in poverty, access to the services and supports they need to live with dignity. I promise Sarah that we are not giving up this fight.
Criminal Code October 21st, 2020
Mr. Speaker, we are talking not only about changing the Criminal Code, but being very careful not to send a message to a very important group of our citizens that their lives are not as valuable as those of the rest of us. I want to ensure that, as we have this conversation, nothing we do sends that message. Everybody's life is of equal and inherent similar value.
Perhaps I misunderstood the question, but if people do not have a real choice at their disposal, as I suggested in my speaking notes, then we are not really giving them their full rights of equality.
Criminal Code October 21st, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I thank the hon. member for his collaboration and partnership in advancing issues related to disability.
This is a very complicated, complex and deeply personal issue. I have been committed since the beginning to living by our commitment to a “nothing about us without us” perspective by ensuring members of the disability community have voices at every table around decisions like this.
My COVID disability advisory group has been digging in on this. I know we will have robust presentations at committee from members of the disability community. My bottom line is that I will do whatever it takes to ensure these voices are heard.
Criminal Code October 21st, 2020
Mr. Speaker, it is really an honour to participate in this important debate on Bill C-7, alongside my colleagues, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, and the Minister of Health.
By way of background, in 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the sections of the Criminal Code that made assisted suicide illegal. In 2016, the federal law in medical assistance in dying came into effect. This law created an end-of-life regime, which limited access to medical assistance in dying to individuals whose deaths were reasonably foreseeable. A number of specific eligibility criteria were put into place, along with procedural safeguards.
As we all know, in September of 2019, the Superior Court of Quebec found it unconstitutional to limit the availability of medical assistance in dying to people whose deaths are reasonably foreseeable. The federal government has once again been tasked with changing the law.
In early 2020, the Government of Canada held consultations across the country. There was also an online survey that received almost 300,000 responses. The feedback was thoughtful, compassionate and candid. From my perspective as the minister responsible for disability inclusion, I am working to ensure that the voices of persons with disabilities are heard on this important issue.
Medical assistance in dying is a human rights issue. The proposed legislation recognizes the equality rights of personal autonomy, and the inherent and equal value of every life. Disability rights advocates have long fought for these rights. Being able to make decisions about one's own life is fundamental. There are many examples in our history of where the personal autonomy and equality of our citizens with disabilities has been threatened, denied or taken away. I can assure my colleagues that these concerns are top of mind as we undertake this important legislative work.
The proposed legislation before us explicitly recognizes equality rights. The preamble refers to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, as well as Canada's obligations as a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The preamble also expressly differentiates between these fundamental equality rights and the various societal interests and values we need to balance with this legislation, such as the important public health issue of suicide. To put it another way, we wanted to be clear that ensuring equality rights underpins this legislation.
I will mention one more important aspect of the preamble that frames this proposed legislation, which is the importance of taking an approach to disability inclusion based in human rights. With these words, we are committing to using human rights principles to guide the development and implementation of our systems, programs and processes. This is important because the full realization of the rights we enshrine in law is predicated on having systems and structures in place that do not themselves create barriers, discriminate or infringe upon these rights.
I will digress here for a moment to take us back to June of 2019. That month, this House unanimously passed the Accessible Canada Act, which I believe to be the most significant advancement in disability rights since the Charter. Section 6 of the Accessible Canada Act sets out guiding principles, which include that everyone “must be treated with dignity”, everyone “must have meaningful options and be free to make their own choices,” and everyone “must have the same opportunity to make for themselves the lives that they are able and wish to have regardless of their disabilities”.
Another guiding principle states, “laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environment and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by [individuals]”.
These principles must also guide us as we tackle the important task of responding to the 2019 Superior Court of Quebec decision. As this House has heard, Bill C-7 proposes a two-track approach to medical assistance in dying, with less or more stringent safeguards depending on whether a person's death is reasonably foreseeable.
The House has heard about the safeguards when death is reasonably foreseeable, and it is our hope that these will allow for dignified end-of-life decision-making. I will focus my attention on the new track where MAID is permitted even though the individual's death is not reasonably foreseeable. As I mentioned, in these situations there are heightened safeguards. These include the requirement that two independent doctors or nurse practitioners assess and confirm eligibility, with one of these having expertise in the individual's medical condition.
It is also required that the individual be informed of available and appropriate means to relieve their suffering, including counselling services, mental health and disability services, community services and palliative care, and that the individual be offered consultations with professionals who provide these services. The individual and their medical practitioner must have discussed these measures and agree the individual has seriously considered them.
Finally, the eligibility assessment must take a minimum of 90 days, unless loss of capacity is imminent.
As we look to broaden access to MAID as directed by the court, we are very aware of the need for Canadians to know their options, to ensure their consent was informed and to have a real choice. I spoke earlier about equality rights and personal autonomy. I also spoke about taking a human rights-based approach to disability inclusion, having meaningful options and having the opportunity to make a good life for oneself. If our systems, processes, programs and services do not offer these options, and if our citizens do not see these options are available to them, then their equality rights are not being fully realized.
This proposed legislation recognizes the significant role that social, mental health, disability and community support services play in the full realization of equality rights. Accessing MAID should not be easier than accessing disability supports. The new legislation makes it the responsibility of the medical practitioner to ensure that the individual is made aware of the supports available to them because the harsh reality is that many Canadians with disabilities are not living with dignity. They are not properly supported. They face barriers to inclusion and regularly experience discrimination.
We have seen during this pandemic how many of our systems fall far short of truly supporting and including all Canadians. Canadians with disabilities are rightfully calling for governments to address these inequities, and we must.
In the recent Speech from the Throne, our government committed to a disability inclusion plan. This will include a Canada disability benefit modelled after the GIS, an employment strategy, and a modernized approach to eligibility for Government of Canada disability programs and services. The disability inclusion plan is an important next step in advancing the rights and inclusion of person with disabilities. I look forward to sharing more on this with the House and all Canadians in the coming months.
Before concluding, I will mention the need for robust federal monitoring and data collection on MAID. We need a reliable national dataset that promotes accountability and improves the transparency of implementation. Quite frankly, we also need to better understand who is accessing MAID and why. This is of the utmost importance to the disability community. It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure the regulations that flow from this legislation allow for fulsome data analysis.
We have before us legislation that seeks to balance making medical assistance in dying available, without undue obstacles to those who choose it, and having safeguards to ensure this decision is truly informed and voluntary. A truly progressive medical assistance in dying law is one that recognizes, without compromise, the equality rights of everyone.
I am thankful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate.
Points of Order October 6th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I rise on a point of order today to address a question raised yesterday in Question Period around a comment I made last week with respect to time overseeing the Phoenix file. As someone who has dedicated her life to dispelling myths and championing the rights of individuals with all forms of disabilities, including mental illness, I regret and apologize for my poor choice of words.
I know how important and powerful language can be in the elimination and creation of barriers and stigma. I take responsibility for my words and commit to doing better.
COVID-19 Response Measures Act September 29th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, there was a lot in that question, so let me unpack it a bit.
First, I just made clear in my speech that in fact the $500 a week would be taxed and deducted at source. We made that decision to help Canadians as they enter the next tax payment season.
Quite frankly, the reason we have designed this new benefit system is to address a lot of the concerns the member has brought forward and we have talked about over and over again. The CRB and the sickness and caregiving benefits are modelled after the EI system.
There is a “working while on claim”-like process. People on EI will be able to access their SUB plans. We have created giving people a credit of insurable hours retroactive to March 15 for parents, for maternity, for women.
We needed to ensure the EI system could be ready to ingest the three million people we expect it to be ingesting over this week. We were not prepared to have failure as an option. It took as long as it took, and I am very proud of how hard people worked to get it ready.
COVID-19 Response Measures Act September 29th, 2020
Mr. Speaker, I am tired but I want to get my math right. The $38,000 was established by using the $24,000 average annual income of a self-employed individual plus adding the maximum amount a person can get on CERB, which is $14,000, to get to a total of $38,000.