CBC interviewed Heather McCain on an evening news broadcast in April regarding the recent updates to the Canada Disability Benefit. Heather expressed the frustration of the disability community at the insultingly inadequate amount included in the update. As they mentioned, many see it as a slap in the face and yet another sign that the government does not care about disabled people and the constant fight that low income disabled people have to stay alive. Some disability advocates use this lack of funding and additional barriers (requiring that disabled people have the Disability Tax Credit) as signs that the government would prefer disabled people use MAID than provide income in keeping with today’s costs and rates of inflation.
The update increased the Disability Benefit by a paltry maximum of $2,400 a year — $200 a month, ($6.66 a day) to eligible applicants. This update has faced widespread criticism from disability advocates, who say it’s not nearly enough to do what it promised. 41% of low-income Canadians live with a disability and 16.5% of the people with a disability in Canada live in poverty, according to Disability Without Poverty.
“A maximum of $2,400 a year, which for many people with disabilities, that will leave them still well below the poverty line and living in deep poverty,” said Sherri Torjman, a social policy consultant who co-authored a new report titled ‘Dignity by Design: The Canada Disability Benefit.’
“Reaction from the disability community has been unanimous that this initial investment creates little impact for removing people with disabilities from poverty,” reads an April joint statement from the National Disability Network. “Reaction from the disability community has been unanimous that this initial investment creates little impact for removing people with disabilities from poverty. It does not consider the official poverty line nor the unique costs of living as a person with a disability. It simply is not enough.”
“Using the (Disability Tax Credit) as the only access point for the Canada Disability Benefit is concerning,” said Len Baker, president and CEO of March of Dimes Canada, in a separate release. “Asking people with disabilities to jump through additional hoops to access financial security benefits they’re entitled to is harmful and traumatizing.”