Human Resources committee  I don't know. It's as simple as that. As I said, over the years since the first survey I was responsible for in 1986, I've seen a change in the definition of “disability”. It's becoming much more inclusive. The definition in the accessible act is much more inclusive. I think if

Human Resources committee  What I heard from the 953 people who responded to that questionnaire was that they go to the organizations that represent their particular health conditions. Episodic disabilities are different from developmental disabilities and from learning disabilities. If you have Crohn's

Human Resources committee  It's not that more people are being diagnosed with the conditions or are identifying as having an episodic disability; it's that the social media, the press and initiatives such as this one are bringing it to the forefront. People are stopping and saying, “Hey, that's me.” Betwee

Human Resources committee  There are a number of things that I'm chomping at the bit to tell you. There are three reports that have come out over the last three years that would be great source documents for you to review. One is a document I prepared for Employment and Social Development Canada. It wa

Human Resources committee  I did that. The Ontario government funded it, but it was for part of the three-year research plan that this advisory committee was putting together to feed into the whole discussion of episodic disabilities.

Human Resources committee  “Severe and prolonged” does not reflect episodic disability. It's severe when it's happening, but “prolonged” implies that it's going to last for a long period of time. That's not episodic.

Human Resources committee  Yes, I'll do that.

Human Resources committee  Right now we're using “limitation in activity”. We're looking at both “frequency” and “intensity” as part of the definition for “episodic”.

Human Resources committee  Well, I was a bureaucrat.

Human Resources committee  I can start with the operationalization of the definition of “disability”. That is taking the definition that is currently in the proposed accessible act, parsing it and looking at each of the words. I'll use the CPPD as the example. CPPD has a very clear definition of what a di

Human Resources committee  That's exactly the way the program is structured. You believe you have a disability. You believe that you qualify, and then you're given this form to complete that has been developed to operationalize the definition of disability. You don't know the right words to use—and truly i

Human Resources committee  Yes, it could be self-esteem. I mean all of those softer supports that are needed.

Human Resources committee  I think it's the federal government not only doing that with the 5,000 but also recognizing the support programs that are in place, and—again I keep going back to it—focusing on the definition that currently exists in the income support programs and ensuring that it does embrace

Human Resources committee  I'm not convinced that the existing support programs that are in place now reflect the population with disabilities. I would recommend that there be a review done of those existing programs to see how they fit into the definition that is currently embedded in the proposed accessi

Human Resources committee  The main difficulty is getting across the concept of “intermittent and fluctuating”. We can define “disability”. We've done a good job in defining disability in surveys, but it's to get across the idea that an episodic disability isn't like being in a wheelchair. It comes and g