By Kendall Worth!
To catch you up, or, if you are new here, I started reporting on this issue, as of Sept. 19th 2022 when then Bill C 22 was being introduced in the House of Commons. This post provides more enlightenment and reports on the Bill which eventually became law. For all BLOG posts I have written on what is now the Canadian Disability Benefit see https://worthmatters.blogspot.com/search/label/disability%20benefit
The latest on this, is that as budget date fast approaches – April 16th 2024 - Nova Scotians with disabilities are hoping to see the Canadian Disability Benefit funded in this year’s federal budget. However, I have recently been in touch with my contacts who are part of the disability community in Ontario, and in western Canada. They tell me that anytime they attended federal budget consultations, the Finance Minister will not even discuss the Disability Benefit. While Nova Scotians with disabilities are remaining calm, cool and collective, In Ontario and Out West they are waiting impatiently to see if it is going to be funded in this year’s budget. In other parts of Canada, the disability community already believes it is not going to be funded in this year's federal budget.
The following tweets on X describe how they are currently feeling.
Advocates in Ontario and the western provinces, strongly believe that we are not going to see the Disability Benefit funded in this upcoming federal budget. So, after celebrating as this post here points out, now they feel that celebration happened a bit too soon. What is sad about it now, is the fact, that the Disability Benefit has been law for the longest time now, and the longer persons with disabilities will have to wait, the longer they are going to continue to have to live in poverty.
For the longest time, as pointed out here, the rights of persons with disabilities have been violated. The fact that the disability benefit does not exist has played a strong role in why their rights have been violated all of these years. Provincial assistance has never been enough money to live on and qualifying for income assistance has always had a lot of bureaucratic nonsense and systemic problems. Even though I have reported for years on the situation in Nova Scotia, I have been informed that, in other provinces issues with provincial income assistance are the same, if not different or worse.
As this BLOG post explains, the living nightmare for persons with disabilities, continues. Hopefully, we will see the light at the end of the tunnel when this federal budget comes down on April 16th 2024. Wait and see I guess.
The Minster not even discussing it, however, is not a good sign!
Here is something that was posted on February 6th 2024 on the website of the Income Security Advocacy Center.
No definite information!
To further describe how the disability community is feeling, see the following tweet!
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Kendall Worth is an award-winning anti-poverty activist who lives with disabilities and tries to make ends meet on income assistance.
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