Individuals with developmental disabilities are living longer than ever A combination of better medical care and good lives in the community have led to longer life expectancies for individuals with a developmental disability – that’s a good news story. But many are now outliving their parents who have taken care of them over their lifetimes. […]
It is time to re-think our budgeting It’s budget season and Canadian provincial governments are continuing the tradition of spending more on health care than any other single portfolio. For example, Alberta spends almost half of its provincial budget on health – an estimated $22 billion this year – which is more than any […]
Fix the RDSP and close the poverty gap of Canadians with disabilities Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is the first poverty-fighting tool for people with disabilities in the world. This remarkable example of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation, which was created in 2008, has already changed the lives of more than 150,000 Canadians with disabilities. Unfortunately, […]
Why is the Canada Revenue Agency denying the Disability Tax Credit to those who need it most? A version of this commentary appeared in Policy Options, the Hill Times and the Vancouver Province “Providing benefits not burdens” is how former Health Minister, Judy LaMarsh once described the vision for disability policy in Canada. Unfortunately, this […]
The most recent data on Canadian children with disabilities is almost a decade old “The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children, including their health, safety, material security, education and socialization and their sense of being loved, valued and included in the families and societies into which […]
A federal disability benefit could be modelled on the GIS for seniors A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press and the Huffington Post The talk of walls between nations garners significant attention. There is virtually no discussion, by contrast, of the walls that exist within nations. In Canada, […]
Restrictions on assets and gifts keep many in a state of deep and profound uncertainty and crisis. A version of this commentary appeared in the Toronto Star, the Huffington Post and the Waterloo Region Record In August 2016, Ontario’s Ombudsman released “Nowhere to Turn,” a report outlining multiple systemic failures in provincial supports and services […]
Many of us in the disability community were pleasantly surprised when the Liberal party promised to create a National Disabilities Act that would safeguard disability rights, reduce systemic barriers and establish a foundation of opportunity for those affected by disability.
