Prime Minister Mark Carney surprised and disappointed many persons with disabilities by eliminating the minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities when forming his new cabinet in May.
While the removal of this portfolio may serve Carney’s goals of creating a fiscally-focused cabinet, it has left persons with disabilities politically sidelined — and more likely to be what disability policy expert Michael Prince refers to as “absent citizens.”
Canadians with disabilities already have a low record of political participation — especially those with severe disabilities, who are less likely to vote due to a mix of physical and non-physical barriers. The existence of a dedicated disabilities minister can help keep other ministries accountable, and ensure policies affecting persons with disabilities reflect their input.
Put simply, there should be “nothing about us, without us.”
Unfortunately, the government does not appear to have adhered to this fundamental principle in designing the Canada Disability Benefit, a new federal benefit that pays up to $200 a month to low-income, working-age adults with disabilities.
Kamal Khera, the former minister of diversity, inclusion and persons with disabilities, hosted numerous roundtables on the benefit with the disability community. More than 8,000 Canadians with disabilities provided feedback on it.
As a roundtable participant representing the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association, we raised concerns about whether the benefit would affect provincial disability funding and whether it would provide persons with disabilities a livable income.
Our concerns do not seem to have been heard.
As many disability advocates have said, monthly funding of $200 is not enough to lift impoverished disabled Canadians out of poverty.
And some provinces are using the benefit as justification to claw back their own disability assistance. Alberta is requiring recipients of AISH (the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped Program) to apply for the Canada Disability Benefit, and will reduce the amount it pays out under AISH for those who receive the federal benefit.
If Canada is to avoid such policy failures in the future, it must do more to strengthen the political participation of persons with disabilities — not lessen it.
There are several ways it can do so.
It can strengthen the financial position of impoverished persons with disabilities, including by raising the Canada Disability Benefit. Research shows poverty discourages political participation; lifting people out of poverty will help boost their participation.
It can challenge ableist assumptions in its own policies. Ableist assumptions are assumptions that persons with disabilities lack the cognitive or physical capacity to care for their own interests — a trait valued in policymaking.
It can recognize persons with disabilities as “community experts” — that is, people who have unique experiences and knowledge that must be taken into account when designing and implementing policy.
It should appoint a dedicated disabilities minister to cabinet who is responsible for hearing and relaying the views of persons with disabilities to other decision-makers and policymakers.
Finally, it should recognize and treat political accessibility as a human right.
Persons with disabilities deserve to have seats at the table. It is time that “nothing about us, without us” be treated as more than a slogan.
