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Liberals leave disability benefit bill in limbo as Parliament breaks for summer

Published

2 years ago

June 24, 2022

OTTAWA — Shelley Petit said the financial situations faced by Canadians with disabilities right now are “horrific.”

“I know people that are eating one piece of bread a day, that’s what they can afford,” said Petit, chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities and who also noted that she lives with a disability.

“It’s horrific because every month, you have to make decisions about, ‘Can I eat this month? Can I pay a basic bill? Can I go see my mother?’” she said. “My mother is elderly and sick, it’s a big deal to go see her. She lives 45 minutes away.”

The federal Liberal government did not call their disability benefit legislation for debate before the House of Commons broke for summer, despite promised action since 2020 and recent pleas from organizations across the country.

The bill to create a monthly benefit cheque for working-age Canadians with disabilities would be a game-changer, Petit said, topping up the benefits received from the New Brunswick government with about an extra $500 in her pocket every month.

“That’s food, that’s medication, that’s being able to get socks that are not full of holes, or buy new underwear,” she said, adding that influx of money could also help people pay for treatments that could offer relief but aren’t covered by government health-care plans.

“I live in Canada and I have a master’s degree in education. But I cannot work anymore because of my disability. My life should be better than this,” said Petit.

“I’m angry. Because nobody should have to live like this because they have a disability.”

Employment Minister Carla Qualtrough reintroduced the bill in early June, but without any new details about who will qualify, how much they would get or when the money will start flowing.

Over 75 groups that represent Canadians with disabilities called on the government in a letter last week to hold a second reading before the House rises for the summer recess.

Petit said the bill should have been passed already.

“It should have been a done deal.”

Green Party MP Mike Morrice called out the government’s slow work to introduce the benefit in the House on Wednesday.

“It has been 20 days and we have yet to debate it once. Nine other bills have been prioritized since,” said Morrice.

“Canadians with disabilities continue to disproportionately live in poverty across the country. They want to see emergency supports. They want to see action.”

The Canada Disability Benefit is to be modelled after the Guaranteed Income Supplement, fulfilling a promise first made by the Liberals in September 2020.

A bill introduced almost a year ago died without passing when Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called an election last summer.

The new bill is identical to the original, creating the benefit in principle but leaving almost every detail on how the benefit will work to regulations that are not yet complete.

When the bill was reintroduced, Qualtrough would not commit to a timeline for finishing the regulations, saying consultations were ongoing even as it took months for the government to bring the same bill back to the table for debate.

The regulations will outline who would be eligible, the amount of the benefit, how often it will be paid and how, and an appeals process if applications are denied.

There is also a big concern that the benefit might interact negatively with provincial programs resulting in clawbacks on other programs, which is not the intent.

Now that debate of the bill and moving its process forward will be pushed until Parliament resumes in September, Petit said her biggest fear is that “we could be looking at a year and a half before it’s come back to be law.”

Jane Deeks, spokesperson for Qualtrough, said in a statement Friday that alongside the legislative process to create the Canada Disability Benefit, the government has to work closely with the disability community to inform the benefit’s design, work that is “well underway.”

The federal government must continue to work with the provinces and territories to ensure the benefit supplements existing provincial and territorial supports and benefits, “and that everyone who receives it is better off,” Deeks said.

“We will continue to work hard, both in the House of Commons and with the disability community across Canada, to ensure it becomes a reality.”

NDP MP Bonita Zarrillo, the party’s critic for disability inclusion, said Friday: “It is deeply disappointing that people with disabilities in Canada have been left unsupported while the cost-of-living skyrockets, without the Canada Disability Benefit they were promised by this government.”

Zarrillo said for the second year in a row, the Liberals waited until the last minute to table legislation on this benefit, giving no opportunity for MPs to debate or improve the proposed help for Canadians.

“People with disabilities have been given false hope and are now left struggling with the rising costs of essentials,” she said, adding by failing to act the Liberals are reminding people with disabilities they are not a priority of the government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 24, 2022.

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This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Meta and Canadian Press News Fellowship.

Erika Ibrahim, The Canadian Press

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Whitehead becomes 1st CHL player to verbally commit to playing NCAA hockey

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

Braxton Whitehead said Friday he has verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first member of a Canadian Hockey League team to attempt to play the sport at the Division I U.S. college level since a lawsuit was filed challenging the NCAA’s longstanding ban on players it deems to be professionals.

Whitehead posted on social media he plans to play for the Sun Devils beginning in the 2025-26 season.

An Arizona State spokesperson said the school could not comment on verbal commitments, citing NCAA rules. A message left with the CHL was not immediately returned.

A class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, could change the landscape for players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. NCAA bylaws consider them professional leagues and bar players from there from the college ranks.

Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.

“We’re pleased that Arizona State has made this decision, and we’re hopeful that our case will result in many other Division I programs following suit and the NCAA eliminating its ban on CHL players,” Stephen Lagos, one of the lawyers who launched the lawsuit, told The Associated Press in an email.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson, of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. And it lists 10 Division 1 hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.

CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes. College players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image and likeness (NIL).

The implications of the lawsuit could be far-reaching. If successful, the case could increase competition for college-age talent between North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.

“I think that everyone involved in our coaches association is aware of some of the transformational changes that are occurring in collegiate athletics,” Forrest Karr, executive director of American Hockey Coaches Association and Minnesota-Duluth athletic director said last month. “And we are trying to be proactive and trying to learn what we can about those changes.

Karr was not immediately available for comment on Friday.

Earlier this year, Karr established two committees — one each overseeing men’s and women’s hockey — to respond to various questions on eligibility submitted to the group by the NCAA. The men’s committee was scheduled to go over its responses two weeks ago.

Former Minnesota coach and Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner Don Lucia said at the time that the lawsuit provides the opportunity for stakeholders to look at the situation.

“I don’t know if it would be necessarily settled through the courts or changes at the NCAA level, but I think the time is certainly fast approaching where some decisions will be made in the near future of what the eligibility will look like for a player that plays in the CHL and NCAA,” Lucia said.

Whitehead, a 20-year-old forward from Alaska who has developed into a point-a-game player, said he plans to play again this season with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League.

“The WHL has given me an incredible opportunity to develop as a player, and I couldn’t be more excited,” Whitehead posted on Instagram.

His addition is the latest boon for Arizona State hockey, a program that has blossomed in the desert far from traditional places like Massachusetts, Minnesota and Michigan since entering Division I in 2015. It has already produced NHL talent, including Seattle goaltender Joey Daccord and Josh Doan, the son of longtime Coyotes captain Shane Doan, who now plays for Utah after that team moved from the Phoenix area to Salt Lake City.

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Calgary Flames sign forward Jakob Pelletier to one-year contract

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

CALGARY – The Calgary Flames signed winger Jakob Pelletier to a one-year, two-way contract on Friday.

The contract has an average annual value of US$800,000.

Pelletier, a 23-year-old from Quebec City, split last season with the Flames and American Hockey League’s Calgary Wranglers.

He produced one goal and two assists in 13 games with the Flames.

Calgary drafted the five-foot-nine, 170-pound forward in the first round, 26th overall, of the 2019 NHL draft.

Pelletier has four goals and six assists in 37 career NHL games.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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Kingston mayor’s call to close care hub after fatal assault ‘misguided’: legal clinic

Published

3 hours ago

September 13, 2024

Anne Joseph

A community legal clinic in Kingston, Ont., is denouncing the mayor’s calls to clear an encampment and close a supervised consumption site in the city following a series of alleged assaults that left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Kingston police said they were called to an encampment near a safe injection site on Thursday morning, where they allege a 47-year-old male suspect wielded an edged or blunt weapon and attacked three people. Police said he was arrested after officers negotiated with him for several hours.

The suspect is now facing two counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted murder.

In a social media post, Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson said he was “absolutely horrified” by the situation.

“We need to clear the encampment, close this safe injection site and the (Integrated Care Hub) until we can find a better way to support our most vulnerable residents,” he wrote.

The Kingston Community Legal Clinic called Paterson’s comments “premature and misguided” on Friday, arguing that such moves could lead to a rise in overdoses, fewer shelter beds and more homelessness.

In a phone interview, Paterson said the encampment was built around the Integrated Care Hub and safe injection site about three years ago. He said the encampment has created a “dangerous situation” in the area and has frequently been the site of fires, assaults and other public safety concerns.

“We have to find a way to be able to provide the services that people need, being empathetic and compassionate to those struggling with homelessness and mental health and addictions issues,” said Paterson, noting that the safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub are not operated by the city.

“But we cannot turn a blind eye to the very real public safety issues.”

When asked how encampment residents and people who use the services would be supported if the sites were closed, Paterson said the city would work with community partners to “find the best way forward” and introduce short-term and long-term changes.

Keeping the status quo “would be a terrible failure,” he argued.

John Done, executive director of the Kingston Community Legal Clinic, criticized the mayor’s comments and said many of the people residing in the encampment may be particularly vulnerable to overdoses and death. The safe injection site and Integrated Care Hub saves lives, he said.

Taking away those services, he said, would be “irresponsible.”

Done said the legal clinic represented several residents of the encampment when the City of Kingston made a court application last summer to clear the encampment. The court found such an injunction would be unconstitutional, he said.

Done added there’s “no reason” to attach blame while the investigation into Thursday’s attacks is ongoing. The two people who died have been identified as 38-year-old Taylor Wilkinson and 41-year-old John Hood.

“There isn’t going to be a quick, easy solution for the fact of homelessness, drug addictions in Kingston,” Done said. “So I would ask the mayor to do what he’s trained to do, which is to simply pause until we have more information.”

The concern surrounding the safe injection site in Kingston follows a recent shift in Ontario’s approach to the overdose crisis.

Last month, the province announced that it would close 10 supervised consumption sites because they’re too close to schools and daycares, and prohibit any new ones from opening as it moves to an abstinence-based treatment model.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

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