Submission to Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

HR4-94/2023E-PDF
978-0-660-47885-2

Introduction

The Canadian Human Rights Commission (the CHRC) is providing this written submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities, to inform its study of Bill C-22 (the Canada Disability Benefit Act).

The CHRC was established by Parliament through the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) in 1977. The CHRA is a quasi-constitutional statute in Canada, and a fundamental part of the nation's human rights framework. The CHRC is Canada's national human rights institution (NHRI), accredited “A-status” by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutionsand recognized internationally by the United Nations. The CHRC has a broad mandate to promote and protect human rights, including by receiving complaints on any of the 13 grounds listed in the CHRA, such as disability, race, colour, national or ethnic origin and religion.

In addition to its roles under the CHRA, the CHRC also conducts audits under the Employment Equity Act (EEA), to help correct the historic employment disadvantages experienced by four designated groups, including persons with disabilities. In 2019, the CHRC was given several new mandates including roles under the Pay Equity Act, the National Housing Strategy Act, and the Accessible Canada Act, which aims to fulfill Canada's obligations to ensure accessibility under article 10 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

At the same time, the CHRC was designated as a body responsible for monitoring the Government of Canada's implementation of the CRPD, in accordance with article 33.2. Since this designation, the CHRC has been actively engaged with disability communities, advocates, and rights holders. The CHRC is committed to working with the Government of Canada and with domestic and international partners, stakeholders and rights holders to ensure continued progress in advancing human rights in Canada.

Recommendations of Canadian Human Rights Commission

• Bill C-22 should be passed into law and implemented as expeditiously as possible; and
• Bill C-22 could be strengthened by:
  • better articulating Canada's obligations under international human rights treaties and under the National Housing Strategy Act,
  • better reflecting the human rights principle of intersectionality, and
  • better reflecting the human rights principle of meaningful engagement (“Nothing Without Us”).

Bill C-22 is urgent and important.

The CHRC applauds the tabling of Bill C-22 (the Canada Disability Benefit Act). Bill C-22 is critically important and urgently needed. It should be passed into law and implemented as expeditiously as possible.

The CHRC is providing here some relevant evidence from its own work to support the importance and urgency for Bill C-22.

First, for the last 5 years, the CHRC has consistently reported that, of all CHRA complaints received annually, 54% cite the ground of disability. It is the most commonly cited ground. Of these complaints, about half mention physical and half mention mental disabilities. This indicates that rights-holders continue to face persistent levels of discrimination in services and employment.

Second, the CHRC has issued a series of reports on Canada's implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including a report entitled “Roadblocks on the career path: Challenges faced by persons with disabilities in employment” in 2018.

Third, in 2020, the CHRC, in its role as the CRPD National Monitoring Mechanism, undertook a public engagement process with people with disabilities across Canada, with organizations that advocate on their behalf, and with families and caregivers of people with disabilities.

Nearly three thousand people participated in the engagement process, which included an online survey and small online dialogue sessions. This allowed the CHRC to hear about the experiences of people with disabilities in Canada, the barriers and discrimination they face, and what can be done to reduce and remove those barriers.

Survey results showed that about 85% of respondents felt that Canada was doing a poor job both promoting and protecting the rights of people with disabilities.

Participants identified poverty as their top concern.

Participants noted that many people with disabilities face barriers to obtaining an adequate standard of living. Many told the CHRC that they are living in poverty because they cannot work and financial supports are inadequate.

The views of participants in these CHRC engagements demonstrate clearly the importance and urgency of providing economic support to persons with disabilities.

Recommendation

Bill C-22 should be passed into law and implemented as expeditiously as possible.

The CHRC's recommendation is also that Bill C-22 could be strengthened by:

• better articulating Canada's obligations under international human rights treaties and under the National Housing strategy Act,
• better reflecting the human rights principle of intersectionality, and
• better reflecting the human rights principle of meaningful engagement (“Nothing Without Us”).

Better articulating Canada's obligations under international human rights treaties.

The purpose of Bill C-22 is to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities. These purposes engage both the CRPD and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR).

Social and economic rights are key components of the right to substantive equality. People with disabilities living in situations of social and economic disadvantage are amongst the most vulnerable in Canadian society, subject to negative stereotyping, adverse living conditions, and discrimination.

As a signatory to the CRPD and the ICESCR, Canada has committed to fulfilling many basic economic, social and cultural rights, such as the human right to adequate food, clothing, housing, health care, social security, education, freely-chosen work, child care and social security.

These rights are distinct, but they cannot be separated from one another; they are indivisible, interrelated, and interdependent.

The CHRC is pleased to see the existing preamble clauses in Bill C-22, which reflect this interrelatedness and interdependence. The preamble refers to the Accessible Canada Act, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the CRPD, the Poverty Reduction Act, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the fundamental principle of “nothing without us.” The preamble helps to frame Bill C-22 as part of a human rights landscape, and positions the Bill as an instrument that can help to meet human rights obligations of the state.

However, although the Bill C-22 mentions the CRPD obligations in its existing preamble, the overall framing of international human rights treaties and commitments in the preamble is more inspirational than accountable.

The CHRC believes that Bill C-22 could be strengthened by including in the preamble, clauses that more explicitly recognize and reflect the state's obligations under the CRPD and the ICESCR to which Canada is a party, as well as the National Housing Strategy Act.

Specifically, these additional clauses could clearly acknowledge the human right to an adequate standard of living and social protection for people with disabilities and their families, especially for those living in poverty, as articulated in the CRPD Article 28 (Adequate standard of living and social protection) which reads in part:

• States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right without discrimination on the basis of disability.
• States Parties recognize the right of persons with disabilities to social protection and to the enjoyment of that right without discrimination on the basis of disability, and shall take appropriate steps to safeguard and promote the realization of this right, including measures:
  1. To ensure access by persons with disabilities, in particular women and girls with disabilities and older persons with disabilities, to social protection programmes and poverty reduction programmes; and
  2. To ensure access by persons with disabilities and their families living in situations of poverty to assistance from the State with disability-related expenses, including adequate training, counselling, financial assistance and respite care.

In addition, Article 11 of the ICESCR includes the following text:

• The States Parties to the present Covenant recognize the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions. The States Parties will take appropriate steps to ensure the realization of this right.
• The States Parties to the present Covenant, recognizing the fundamental right of everyone to be free from hunger, shall take, individually and through international co-operation, the measures, including specific programmes, which are needed.

More explicit recognition of Canada's international human rights and state obligations would provide clarity about the crucial connections between Bill C-22 and Canada's obligations. This in turn, will allow rights-holders and advocates to hold the government to account.

Recommendation

Bill C-22 should more explicitly and clearly articulate Canada's obligations under the ICESCR and the CRPD by including the following proposed two paragraphs in the preamble:

• Whereas Canada, as a State Party to the United Nations Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural rights, has an obligation and has committed to respect, protect, and fulfil the human right to an adequate standard of living;
• Whereas Canada, as a State Party to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, has an obligation and has committed to an adequate standard of living and social protection for people with disabilities and their families, especially for those living in poverty.

Better articulating Canada's obligations under the National Housing Strategy Act.

The CHRC believes that Bill C-22 would be strengthened by the addition of a clause in the Preamble which acknowledges the importance of the links between adequate housing and poverty, and which articulates Canada's commitments under the National Housing Strategy Act.

In 2019, Canada passed into law domestic commitments and obligations in the form of the National Housing Strategy Act (NHSA).

Adequate housing is a fundamental component of the human right to an adequate standard of living. It is intrinsically tied to poverty and to economic and social rights. Adequate housing is understood in international law as housing that provides secure tenure; is affordable; is habitable; provides access to basic infrastructure; is located close to employment, services and amenities; is accessible for persons of all abilities; and is culturally appropriate.

The preamble to the NHSA includes clauses noting that housing is essential to the inherent dignity and well-being of the person, and acknowledging that a national housing strategy supports the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing as recognized in the ICESCR.

In addition, section 4 of the NHSA provides clear and strong policy declarations including that the Government of Canada recognizes that “the right to adequate housing is a fundamental human right affirmed in international law”.

In its 2020 engagements on the CRPD, Housing and employment were in the top three concerns. The CHRC heard that disability support payments were barely enough to cover rent even when housing was affordable and accessible. This leaves little or nothing for food, clothes, accessibility aids, transportation or any “non-essential” items such as recreational activities.

A 2022 release from Statistics Canada “Housing Experiences in Canada” found that people with disabilities are more likely to live in unaffordable housing; in particular, 44.4% of renters with disabilities pay more than they can afford for housing costs.

Recommendation

Bill C-22 should more explicitly and clearly articulate Canada's obligations under National Housing Strategy Act by including the following proposed paragraph in the preamble:

• Whereas Canada, through the National Housing Strategy Act, has committed to the progressive realization of the human right to adequate housing and to focus on improving housing outcomes for those in greatest need, including people with disabilities.

Better reflecting human rights principle of intersectionality.

The CHRC's position is also that Bill C-22 could be improved by explicitly recognizing the intersectional impacts of different social and economic challenges faced by persons with disabilities and their families.

Intersectionality is a fundamental human rights principle that recognizes the varied lived experiences of people and families with multiple intersecting identities, and considers how social supports and benefits should respond accordingly to diverse needs.

People with disabilities and their families can experience different and unique barriers to inclusion depending on their age, sex, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and/or other identities. These compounding social and economic challenges can often lead to multiple intersecting forms of discrimination that amplify existing social and economic disadvantages.

For example, the barriers to economic stability experienced by a single Black mother with a mobility impairment and caregiving responsibilities are different than those experienced by an older person living with a mental health disability on a fixed income in a rural community.

This principle is recognized in a number of international and domestic human rights laws, including in the CRPD preamble, clause (p) which states:

• Concerned about the difficult conditions faced by persons with disabilities who are subject to multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic, indigenous or social origin, property, birth, age or other status.

It is also articulated in the as it is reflected in the Principles outlined in the ACA as a principle in clause 6(e) which reads:

• Laws, policies, programs, services and structures must take into account the disabilities of persons, the different ways that persons interact with their environments and the multiple and intersecting forms of marginalization and discrimination faced by persons.

This is a principle also reflected in what the CHRC heard during its 2020 engagement with disability rights holders as part of our work as the National Monitoring Mechanism. Participants in the CHRC's national survey recommended more education and awareness on how gender, race, and poverty can play a role in the way people with disabilities are treated. Participants also noted that attention should be given to intersectionality when making decisions that impact people with disabilities.

Recommendation

Bill C-22 should explicitly recognize intersectionality by including the following proposed wording in the Preamble:

• Whereas Canada recognizes that economic and social challenges and barriers are experienced by people with disabilities and their families differently according to many characteristics including, but not limited to, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital and/or family status.

Better reflecting the human rights principle of meaningful engagement.

Meaningful engagement is a fundamental human rights principle. Meaningful engagement must be ongoing and include the participation of rights holders at every step of the process.

The CHRC is pleased to see in the existing Bill C-22 preamble clause which now reads:

• Whereas, in the spirit of “Nothing Without Us”, the Government of Canada recognizes the importance, in developing support measures for persons with disabilities, of engaging with the disability community, in accordance with the Accessible Canada Act, which specifies that “persons with disabilities must be involved in the development and design of laws, policies, programs, services and structures.”

However, the CHRC notes that this clause makes no mention of regulations, which will define the most important aspect of the benefit. Following royal assent of Bill C-22, the development of regulations is the next step to implementation.

The CHRC also notes that the preamble does articulate the importance of making regulations to achieve the highest level of accessibility for persons with disabilities.

The CHRC's position is that these paragraphs, taken together, imply that persons with disabilities should and will be involved in the development of regulations. But this is not clear on the face of the Bill.

The CHRC supports the views of a key human rights advocacy body, ARCH Disability Law Centre, which has also identified this as a gap in Bill C-22 and it notes in its submission that “…relying on existing regulatory consultation processes is not enough to ensure that disability communities are truly involved in the development and design of the regulations.”

For the sake of clarity, the CHRC recommends that the “Nothing Without Us” clause explicitly make this commitment, and include the word “regulations”.

The CHRC's position is C-22 would be strengthened by making more explicit commitments to meaningful engagement in accordance with the ACA, and by adding the word “regulations” to list of steps in which persons with disabilities must be involved.

Recommendation

Bill C-22 should more clearly articulate that meaningful engagement is committed to in the regulatory process by amending the clause in the preamble to make a clear commitment, and by adding the word “regulations”:

• Whereas, in the spirit of “Nothing Without Us”, the Government of Canada recognizes the importance, in developing support measures for persons with disabilities, of engaging with the disability community, in accordance with the Accessible Canada Act, and commits that persons with disabilities will be involved in the development and design of laws, including regulations, policies, programs, services and structures.