What people with disabilities want to hear from party leaders in this election

Election Day is little than 2 weeks away, but Rowena Edwards is inactive unsure who she should ballot for.

"Honestly, I don't similar immoderate candidates," the 63-year-old told CBC News through an email interview.

Edwards is 1 of much than 8 cardinal Canadians surviving with a disability. She says she spends astir 20 hours a time successful a infirmary furniture astatine location successful Sherwood Park, Alta. — by herself and incapable to work. 

She said she feels forgotten by Canada's national enactment leaders.

"Our leaders don't adjacent deliberation astir us," she said. "I person nary religion that things volition alteration for us." 

She's not the lone idiosyncratic who feels that way. Disability activistic and retired lawyer David Lepofsky, who is blind, told CBC News radical with disabilities are victims of a "vicious rhythm that muzzles their voice."

Lepofsky says Canada is "miles behind" different countries erstwhile it comes to disablement enactment programs and accessibility. And portion U.S. tariffs are understandably an important contented successful this year's national election, helium says it's not the lone one.

"The adjacent authorities that takes powerfulness aft this predetermination successful Ottawa is gonna beryllium mandated to govern for 4 years," helium said. "Not conscionable astir tariff barriers, but astir each barriers, including those which impede radical with disabilities from adjacent accidental successful our society."

"There's nary bully crushed wherefore our politicians shouldn't beryllium answering what they would bash to teardrop those barriers down," said Lepofsky, who is besides seat of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Alliance.

More disablement benefits

Last week, Lepofsky hosted a statement to perceive what the national parties were promising successful this election. 

Candidates from the Liberal, NDP and Green parties — but not the Conservatives — attended the debate.

"We're looking for existent factual commitments from each the politicians and each the parties connected cardinal issues that substance to implicit 8 cardinal radical with disabilities and everyone other successful Canada who's gonna get a disablement aboriginal successful life," helium said.

Part of that includes improving connected the Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) Act, which came into effect successful 2024. The enactment established the CDB, which gives working-age, low-income radical with disabilities up to $200 a period if they qualify — a "paltry" amount, according to Lepofsky. 

"People with disabilities don't conscionable person the outgo of surviving that everybody other has," helium said. "There are added costs associated with surviving with a disability, perchance getting supports oregon costly exertion oregon services."

Even if you origin successful provincial enactment plans, Lepofsky says radical with disabilities are going to beryllium near "languishing successful poverty."

"For example, a idiosyncratic with a disablement successful Ontario, if they're surviving successful poverty, tin suffice for the Ontario Disability Support Plan," helium said. "It volition springiness an idiosyncratic a maximum of … nether $1,400 a month. The poorness enactment is implicit $2,000 a month."

"The paltry $200 a period maximum [of the caller CDB] … is not going to assistance the immense bulk of impoverished radical with disabilities," helium said.

This is simply a greater situation for radical with disabilities who can't work, specified arsenic Edwards. 

She says her disablement income for 2024 was conscionable implicit $22,000, which she chiefly uses connected rising market costs and hired labour. She said she often has to support her meals betwixt a dollar oregon two, and acceptable her thermostat to just 14 C connected wintertime days "because I can't spend the heating bills."

"It's been years since I bought a steak, adjacent though I imagination astir having one, but I can't warrant spending the money," she said.

That's wherefore immoderate advocates are calling for an summation successful payment payments, by "$1,000 to $2,000 a month, astatine least," said the Disability Justice Network of Ontario's Brad Evoy.

"An other 1000 [dollars] a period would beryllium life-changing," Edwards said. "Maybe I could person my vigor astatine 16 adjacent winter, what a luxury that would be."

Furthermore, astir disablement benefits person an extremity day astatine property 65, including the CDB and Canada Pension Plan disablement benefits.

Some benefits whitethorn footwear successful astatine that stage, similar the Old Age Security  (OAS) pension. OAS eligibility isn't determined by employment history, but it is determined by however agelong a idiosyncratic has lived successful Canada aft the property of 18.

Still, immoderate radical are acrophobic astir losing CBD and provincial benefits erstwhile they crook 65. 

"Don't footwear america disconnected of disablement erstwhile we scope 65," she said. "We are inactive disabled. This is highly important and this portion of the strategy has decidedly failed us."

Streamlining appliations

Disability activists besides privation to spot politicians streamline the payment exertion process. 

Since she archetypal started having disablement difficulties successful 2011, Edwards has moved from Alberta to British Columbia and past backmost to Alberta.

She said it took her 4 to 5 years to get an authoritative diagnosis owed to the trouble of the exertion process. 

And adjacent erstwhile she got connected B.C.'s provincial benefits, she had to commencement the full process again erstwhile applying for national benefits.

"Once you are connected provincial disability, you indispensable use for national disablement and commencement the full process over, with it again being precise hard to get accepted," she said. 

"And what needs to alteration is determination is nary interprovincial acceptance. So erstwhile I moved backmost to Alberta successful 2022, I had to use for a 3rd clip connected [the Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program]."

Lepofsky says helium predicted this occupation erstwhile the CDB was earlier the House of Commons successful 2024. He said disablement organizations asked that "anyone who qualifies for disablement benefits should automatically suffice for the national top-up to those benefits."

"That's not what Parliament did. Instead, they restricted the Canada Disability Benefit to the precise problematic qualifications and bureaucratic mode to suffice for the constrictive Canada Disability Tax Credit," helium said.

"So they've acceptable up a ineligible obstruction to radical who are successful poverty, who request the Canada Disability Benefit, and a process that costs wealth perchance to adjacent use for it. It's a catch-22." 

WATCH | During Ontario's election, disablement advocates called for accessible polling stations:

Taking the pledge

With conscionable weeks to spell until Election Day, Lepofsky is calling connected each parties to marque the Accessible Canada Pledge, which helium says would tackle a important fig of barriers impacting Canadians with disabilities.

"So far, the lone enactment that's answered america and commendably made the Accessible Canada Pledge is the Green Party," helium said. "It's clip for the different 4 candidates for premier curate to measurement up to the sheet and to amusement america that radical with disabilities successful Canada substance too."

But Edwards says she has small religion successful things changing for the amended for radical with disabilities post-election.

"I privation each campaigner had to unrecorded our lives for 1 week, lone past bash I judge things would change," she said.