moved:
That, in the opinion of the House, the government should endorse the report of the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities entitled “Rethinking disAbility in the Private Sector”, and its findings, and commit to furthering public-private cooperation by: (a) building on existing government initiatives, such as the Opportunities Fund, the Registered Disability Savings Plan, the ratification of the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the Labour Market Agreements for Persons with Disabilities; (b) issuing a call to action for Canadian employers to examine the expert panel's findings and encouraging employers to take advantage of private sector-led initiatives to increase employment levels for persons with disabilities in Canada; (c) pursuing greater accountability and coordination of its labour market funding for persons with disabilities and ensuring that funding is demand driven and focussed on suitable performance indicators with strong demonstrable results; (d) establishing an increased focus on young people with disabilities to include support mechanisms specifically targeted at increasing employment levels among youth with disabilities, through programs such as the Youth Employment Strategy; and (e) strengthening efforts to identify existing innovative approaches to increasing the employment of persons with disabilities occurring in communities across Canada and ensuring that programs have the flexibility to help replicate such approaches.
Mr. Speaker, I am thrilled to rise today to speak to this private member's motion, which takes aim at an issue that is of tremendous importance: creating economic opportunities for Canadians with disabilities. Let me set a frame of reference for this bill.
Many of us come from different backgrounds and different experiences in life, and it is the intersections of life that create opportunities for individuals. Many who live with disabilities have to face enormous challenges and barriers. My motion seeks to address some of these barriers by creating an environment where business people would see the business case to hire persons with disabilities. The motivation for this bill comes from individuals who I have had the life experience of meeting and knowing and who have been hugely inspirational.
In my community, there is a young man, Jesse Robitaille, who greets people at a company called SC Johnson. It is a very large employer. He is at the reception counter. Jesse can take people anywhere in the plant, and it is a large plant. He can introduce people to anyone in that facility and he inspires everyone he meets.
Driving through downtown Brantford to Rawdon Street, we will meet Lisa Hooper, as we knock on her front door of her home. In the front three rooms of her home are her offices, where we will meet three persons with disabilities, including her. She is an entrepreneur, and she coaches and teaches the skill sets of how to become employed to people who have disabilities. She connects employers to persons with disabilities. She is an amazing individual, a true entrepreneur.
There is also Norman Hurren, who works at Brantford Volkswagen. As we go into Brantford Volkswagen, we meet the employees and the owners of the business. They are the first to tell us how important Norman is to their operation.
Last, if we go about an hour and a half east and north of Brantford, we will come to Bradford. If we go to the nursery in Bradford, we will meet Mathew Daviau. Mathew Daviau is a long-time friend of our family, a young man who has overcome many barriers. Yesterday, as we were approaching the time to speak to this issue in the House of Commons, his mother sent me an article that had been recently written about Mathew and how he is an inspiration to people who patronize that particular nursery.
Canadians with disabilities represent this country's most significant untapped pool of labour force talent. In fact, there are more than 800,000 Canadians living with a disability but whose disability does not prevent them from working, and almost half of these people have a post-secondary education. These are people who are ready, willing and able to contribute more to our country's economic prosperity. They want to be a bigger part of Canada's economy and gain access to the opportunities and benefits that will accompany their economic inclusion.
My motion takes aim at this issue. It calls for the House to endorse the insightful recent report from the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities called “Rethinking disAbility in the Private Sector”, which contains a number of important messages. Perhaps the most striking message from the panel report is that hiring people with disabilities is not just the right thing to do; it is actually great for a business. Studies consistently show that the vast majority of disabled employees perform as well or better than their non-disabled counterparts, and business persons who hire people with disabilities regularly see an increase in productivity and significant declines in tardiness, absenteeism and employee turnover.
It is time to break down the myths and the stigmas of hiring people with disabilities, which have persisted for far too long in the private sector.
This sentiment was echoed in a recent Deloitte report, which found the following:
There is a need to build greater awareness and educate those involved in hiring to eradicate myths and stereotypes and create a culture of workplace opportunity for people with disabilities. There are several organizations in the business community right now trying to make this happen...but more organizations need to commit to making a difference...
My dream is tens of thousands of private business owners recognizing how people with disabilities can enhance their businesses. Therefore, my motion not only calls on the House and the government to endorse the panel report but goes further. It calls on private sector businesses to hear, examine and act on its findings. Moreover, the motion encourages private sector leadership in this area and calls on the government to support new private-sector-driven approaches that address the current employment situation.
Already our government is showing a willingness to take this approach and support initiatives from the private sector enterprises that are at the front line on this issue. Economic action plan 2013 earmarks $2 million for the creation of the Canadian employers disability forum, as recommended by the panel report, which will be spearheaded by major employers, such as Loblaw Companies Limited. The forum will be managed by employers for employers to facilitate education and training and the sharing of resources and best practices to connect Canadians with disabilities to the jobs that are available.
This is the right approach, but certainly, there is much more we can do. My motion calls for an increased focus in government programs such as the youth employment strategy on young people living with disabilities. This comes from hearing loud and clear from organizations, such as the Canadian Association of Community Living, that creating more workplace and volunteer opportunities for young people with disabilities is incredibly important. It can make a huge difference in their lives. If we can help people with disabilities gain work experience at a young age, the likelihood that they will stay in the labour force will increase dramatically.
Motion No. 430 calls for new approaches that will strengthen government programs that can improve the social and economic inclusion of people living with disabilities. We know that community-based organizations are developing innovative strategies across the country to create social and economic opportunities for these individuals. In fact, the panel report was clear in declaring that effective community partnerships are essential for increasing employment for persons with disabilities. That is why my motion calls for government programs to be less rigid and more flexible so that they can capitalize on new, innovative approaches, the best of which tend to be tailored to specific community-level needs.
Motion No. 430 is a motion that responds to the calls of disability advocates and experts from across the country. Take, for example, what Michael Bach, executive director of the Canadian Association of Community Living, had to say. He stated:
We think the key findings and messages of the labour market panel—that the private sector is interested in hiring people with disabilities; that working age people with...disabilities are “ready, willing and able” to work; and that effective community partnerships are now needed to put the pieces together is exactly the formula we need in Canada to ensure an inclusive and efficient labour force. The time is right to move on the directions outlined in the report and in the Motion—building on what we know works, innovation in the private and public sectors, a focus on youth transitions, and getting value for federal investments are key to closing the labour market gap for people with disabilities in this country.
My motion is intended to capture and build on the momentum, which was palpable and was felt across the organizations as we met with them to craft this motion to address the issues they brought to us, that attention to employment issues for persons with disabilities is currently garnering on the national stage.
It is to move the yardsticks further. It does not contain all of the answers but certainly aims, again, to move us forward as much as we possibly can.
Again, the dream is tens of thousands of companies recognizing the value, the business case, for hiring a person with a disability.
I hope I can count on all members of this House to support the motion.