Heather Thompson would love to work.
The 26-year-old dreams of returning to university to study politics and environmental science and eventually pursue a career in society “trying to improve conditions”.
“I am not yet the person I want to be. I would like to achieve certain goals and become a well-rounded, well-developed person. But living in legally defined poverty, “We can’t do that,” they said. Said.
Thompson is one of 600,000 working-age Canadians with disabilities who the federal government has announced will help them escape poverty with the Canada Disability Benefit, which takes effect next July. This program is intended as an add-on to existing income support for states and territories.
“We had high expectations and a sense of hope that we would finally be able to escape from poverty,” Thompson said.
But the hopes of people like Thompson were dashed when last spring’s federal budget revealed that the maximum people could receive was $200 a month. Advocates are now calling on the federal government to reconsider the amount months before benefits begin.
Thompson, who uses they/them pronouns and has worked at Tim Hortons, Staples and call centers, suffers from clinical depression and generalized anxiety disorder, as well as osteoarthritis that “significantly impacts” her ability to move. They were forcibly evicted due to physical and mental disabilities, including.
They are looking for jobs, many of which require the ability to lift and stand for long periods of time, which they are unable to do. So Thompson lives on $1,449 a month from the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP) and lives with three roommates in Kingston, Ont., along with Thompson’s emotional support cat, 12-year-old Captain Kirk. are sharing.
Thompson started college in 2017, but had to drop out after one semester due to recurring mental health issues. Seven years later, they are still trying to pay off that student loan.
Thompson was “very excited” when Bill C-22, which mandated the creation of the Canada Disability Benefit, was passed last year.
A news release issued by the federal government on June 22, 2023, called the bill “landmark” and said disability benefits would “complement existing federal and state/territory disability support. “This will help lift working-age disabled people out of poverty.” ”
The group said the benefits were part of the government’s Disability Inclusion Action Plan, which “addresses long-standing inequalities that have led to economic insecurity and exclusion” experienced by people with disabilities.
Amanda McKenzie, national affairs director for the March of Dimes Canada, one of the organizations that helped create the benefit, said the government simply hasn’t delivered on its promises.
The public consultation period on the benefits ended last month, but she hopes the government will revisit and increase them in the next budget.
“These are people who mostly live on less than $30,000 a year,” McKenzie said.
“What I often hear is people saying, ‘I can only eat two or one meal a day. I can only afford to take my medicine every other day… I can’t feed my children.’ I can’t help my family because I can barely pay the rent,” she said.
The March of Dimes and many disabled people are all involved in early government discussions about how federal benefits can be effective in supplementing state disability assistance programs to provide a livable income. Participated in
“Who were they listening to?” asked Thomas Cheeseman, 43, of Grand Prairie, Alta., who receives state disability benefits for a rare bone-destroying disease. ) asked.
“I don’t think there’s a single disabled person who would say this is the right program,” he says.
Cheeseman was born with Hajdu-Cheney syndrome and knew he wouldn’t be able to work as long as others, but he managed to continue working as a chef until he was 39.
At that point, his physical symptoms became so debilitating that he had to stop.
“It was too risky to take medication to deal with the pain, to distract from the pain, or to be unable to function because of the pain,” he says.
Cheeseman, who works as a supervisor at Costco, and his wife have three children. Before Canada’s disability benefits became law, he “did a lot of math” and calculated that his family would need a total of nearly $1,000 a month “to live out of poverty.”
In an emailed response to The Canadian Press, Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Persons with Disabilities Kamal Khera’s office said in an emailed response to The Canadian Press that $6.1 billion would be released “to improve the economic security of more than 600,000 people with disabilities.” He said he is making an investment.
“This is a historic initial investment and is intended to complement, rather than replace, existing state and territory income support measures,” said Kela state spokesperson Waleed Saleem.
“We also expect that the total amount of federal and state or territory income support for people with disabilities will increase to the level of Old Age Security (OAS) and Income Security Supplement (GIS), increasing the poverty rate experienced by people with disabilities. We want to fundamentally address people with disabilities.”
That means people with disabilities would receive the same total monthly income that low-income seniors receive from the federal government.
Mr McKenzie said the lack of adequate financial support for disabled people was “problematic”, pointing out that money spent by disabled people is put back into the economy.
“We tell people with disabilities that what they deserve in society and what we can give them is existence, it’s not life. ” she said.
For Thompson, it’s “a really hard pill for me to swallow.”
“Many people don’t see us as human beings. They see us as a waste of society,” they said.
“We are worth the investment.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 26, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage is supported through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
