HUMA Committee Report

Dissenting Opinion of the New Democratic Party of Canada: “Exploring the Employment Opportunities of Persons with Disabilities”

During February, March and April of 2013, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities (HUMA) examined the issue of employment opportunities for Canadian adults with disabilities.

There have been over twenty parliamentary studies on this issue in the last thirty years, yet the recommendations from these studies have mostly not been implemented. Barriers to employment for persons with disabilities are well known – but successive governments have failed to address the historical level of unemployment and underemployment of people with disabilities in Canada. In fact, an April 2008 report, entitled Employability in Canada: Preparing for the Future, made numerous recommendations to improve the labour force participation of persons with disabilities, but these recommendations  been largely ignored by the government.

Although,  the Committee heard an impressive array of witnesses who presented numerous detailed and carefully considered recommendations to the government, the recommendations in this report do not address the concerns expressed by those witnesses and do not ask for concrete action. The witnesses who appeared before the Committee nevertheless participated in the process in good faith, often travelling very long distances, in order that they might appear and participate in the study.

The NDP also deplores the fact that this study did not in any way take into account First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples who have a disability rate that is twice the national average. Aboriginal peoples face considerable obstacles in the area of employability, including severely restricted access to transportation, education, communications and health services. This report is also silent on other persons with complex needs, including women, persons living with multiple disabilities, and persons with greater experience of discrimination.

The consultations held during this study nevertheless revealed clearly that the employment programs and policies for persons with disabilities have gaps and shortcomings, lack coordination with provincial programs and services and do not include adequate performance measurements or measurable objectives. By ignoring these facts, government members of the committee demonstrated a lack of vision with regard to the complexity of the issue of the employability of persons living with functional limitations.

New Democrats recommend that the federal government work with the provinces, the territories, Aboriginal peoples and persons with disabilities to put in place an exhaustive coordinated national strategy for persons living with functional limitations. This strategy must comprise benchmarks, indicators and follow-up procedures, including measures in areas such as education, income security, employment, housing and transportation.

Education:

• Work to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to the assistance they need to complete their high school and post-secondary education, and to help them make the transition from school to the workforce.

Income:

• Take action to improve the income security of persons with disabilities, including persons at the lowest income levels, and conduct a full-scale review of programs.

Employment:

• Facilitate the development of an inclusive labour market that generates employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
• Persons with disabilities must have access to the labour market information, support services and training necessary to find and keep jobs.

Housing:

• Enact a national housing strategy in legislation to ensure secure, adequate, accessible and affordable housing for all Canadians.
• Within the context of a national strategy, improve access to accessible and/or adapted housing that will make it possible to enhance the social integration and self-sufficiency of persons with disabilities.    

Transportation:

• Improve the mobility of persons with disabilities by means of specialized transportation systems in order to facilitate the social, employment and economic integration of these persons.

Lastly, the NDP asks that the government work with the provinces, the territories, Canada’s First Nations and persons with disabilities to develop a plan for the implementation in Canada of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Furthermore, the NDP recommends to the government that it appoint an independent surveillance body to monitor the implementation of the Convention, and that the government sign the Convention’s optional protocol. It is time for action.