HUMA Committee Report
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LIST OF RECOMMENDATIONS
1. The Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at
Risk and the Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities jointly
recommend that the Standing Orders of the House of Commons be amended so that
both Sub-Committees:
a. be constituted as a matter of course at
the beginning of each session of Parliament.
b. have the ability to set their own
budgets, establish their own meeting schedule without restrictions, and report
to the House of Commons.
2.
The
Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk and the Status of Persons with
Disabilities jointly recommend that each of them be given the task of reviewing
and approving the estimates for the horizontal issues within their individual
mandates by the appropriate federal and parliamentary authorities.
3.
The
Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities recommends that the
Department of Human Resources Development explore practices to change the
funding cycle for organizations receiving grants and contributions so that
disability organizations can plan their activities appropriately. The Department should consider multi-year
funding (as is already in place in the Canadian International Development Agency). It should also consider the desirability of
providing funds to cover the core operating costs of national disability
organizations.
4.
The Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities
recommends
that the federal government fulfil its commitments in the Speech from the Throne
for persons with disabilities as soon as possible. Specifically, the Sub-Committee recommends that:
- funds be
allocated as soon as possible for the investment in new technologies to
assist persons with disabilities that was promised in the Speech from the
Throne;
- the
federal strategy paper on innovation and job skills include persons with
disabilities in any comprehensive framework;
- a
comprehensive labour market strategy for persons with disabilities should
build on the existing activities of the organizations that assist people
with disabilities gain employment while avoiding any duplication or
overlap.
5.
The Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons
with Disabilities recommends that Income Security Programs Branch of Human
Resources Development Canada should create an expert panel including
representatives of disability organizations to provide an ongoing forum for a
dialogue over the ways and means of providing income to people with
disabilities through the Canada Pensions Plan (Disability).
6.
The Sub-Committee
on the Status of Persons with Disabilities recommends that the Government of
Canada convene a taskforce of relevant departments and agencies as well as
representatives from the disability community to study the harmonization of
definitions of "disability" in place in federally-administered,
disability programs and services. This
taskforce should provide this Sub-Committee with a progress report in June 2002
and the results of its work should be included in the Report on Plans and
Priorities and in its Departmental Performance Report in 2002 and annually
thereafter.
7. The Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons
with Disabilities and the Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk jointly
recommend that:
The Government of Canada should develop
a strategy to address directly the need for supports and services for children
with disabilities and their families.
8.
The Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons
with Disabilities and the Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk jointly
recommend that the government consider ways to make qualification for
Employment Insurance benefits more flexible to enable a broader number of
parents to qualify for maternity and parental leave. Some members suggest that the government consider negotiating
with the provinces that wish to establish a parental insurance plan as an
extension of their family policy because they believe that an insurance plan
that is reserved strictly for parental leave would be much more accessible and
much more generous.
9.
The
Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities and the Sub-Committee
on Children and Youth at Risk jointly recommend that the Government of Canada
should report to the Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities
and the Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk to outline its progress in
developing its family friendly workplace policy by 30 September 2001 and
provide an implementation date to Parliament for its full family friendly
workplace policy. We also recommend
that the government’s family friendly workplace policy include specific
provisions for the needs of all families, including those with children with
disabilities and those with elderly members in need of care.
10. The Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk and the
Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities jointly recommend that
the government provide the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development
and the Status of Persons with Disabilities with a clear statement of how it
intends to proceed with this review, what timeframe the Committee can expect
the government to follow and what process this review will take.
11. The Sub-Committee on Children and Youth at Risk and the Sub-Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities jointly recommend that the government support a review of the Social Union Framework Agreement by the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities and our two Sub-Committees.