CCD Election Challenge

Every federal election, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) presents its own issue campaign to candidates and political parties. In 2004, the CCD National Council of Representatives adopted policy recommendations to bring to the attention of parties and candidates involved in the election. In June 2005, with an election on the horizon, the Council endorsed its 7 priority issues.

CCD challenges Canada’s political parties and candidates running in the next federal election to support the equality of persons with disabilities. CCD’s long-term objective is to ensure that Canadians with disabilities have equal access to community life. CCD is promoting a number of reforms and we are challenging federal political parties and candidates to adopt them. CCD challenges people with disabilities and our allies to bring the 7 priority issues to the attention of candidates.

National Disability-Related Supports Fund: Canadians with disabilities need access to disability-related supports if we are to operate on a level playing field. Supports such as accessible transportation, attendant care, interpreter services, and technical aids must be in place if we are to have equal access to all aspects of life in our communities.

First Steps:
* Investment in a National Disability-Related Supports Fund.
* Priorities for investment set by provincial/territorial governments in consultation with persons with disabilities and eligibility for supports would be non-income related.
* An annual outcomes report on the Fund would be provided to the Government of Canada.

Labour Market Strategy for Persons with Disabilities: Security is having a job. CCD is seeking commitments from parties and candidates to end the massive unemployment of persons with disabilities.

First Steps:
* The federal government becomes a model employer.
* Rework the Labour Market agreements to be inclusive of and address the training and employment of people with disabilities.
* Expand the Opportunities Fund by $30 million and EAPD funding agreements by $200 million.
* Remove disincentives to employment from income support programs, like Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefits.
* Expand the Special Opportunities Grant Program, which pays for accommodation of students with disabilities.

Poverty Reduction: CCD’s long term objective is elimination of poverty experienced by Canadians with disabilities.

First Steps:
* Expand the Disability Child Benefit to support youth in recognition of the critical transition they face moving toward adult responsibilities: moving from home to independent living and from school to post-secondary education and training.
* Support a broad review of income support programs and present recommendations for future reforms.

Barrier Removal Process: Barriers in federal programs prevent the participation of persons with disabilities. These barriers violate Canada’s Charter and human rights commitments to persons with disabilities.

First Steps:
* Review federal programs and services to identify and remove barriers encountered by persons with disabilities.
* Each federal government department would develop, implement and make public their plans for barrier removal. For example, new policy, regulations and action is critical to address the transportation needs of Canadians with disabilities. Access to transportation has eroded in recent years.

Persons with Disabilities Living in Institutions: Too many Canadians with disabilities live in institutions, instead of their chosen community. Canada must increase efforts to support people with disabilities to live in the community.

First Steps:
* Prioritize people with disabilities living in institutions when developing disability-related supports.

Aboriginal Persons with Disabilities: The incidence of disability among Aboriginal persons is significantly higher than among other Canadians. Aboriginal persons with disabilities also face significant jurisdictional barriers when seeking to access services.

First Steps:
* CCD is seeking a commitment from all parties and candidates that disability issues will be recognized as a priority in all federal initiatives on Aboriginal persons.

Accessible Campaigns/Materials: CCD challenges all political parties and candidates to conduct barrier-free campaigns. Components of an accessible campaign include but are not limited to: sign language interpretation at public meetings and campaign literature in alternate media.

First Step:
* Political parties and candidates adopt the principles of universal design for their campaigns.

Taking the Consumer Campaign to Candidates: CCD recognizes that various communities have a role to play in ensuring our issues and messages are at the forefront of the federal election. We encourage you to get involved!

Don’t wait for candidates to approach your group. Be proactive! Reach out to candidates and encourage them to engage
with the disability community in your area. Grassroots disability organizations can connect with candidates by:

* Organizing a delegation of people with disabilities to visit the candidates at campaign headquarters and explain what features an accessible and barrier-free campaign would entail.
* Organizing a town hall meeting and involving all candidates to discuss how they intend to work in support of persons with disabilities—focus on the need for non-income tested disability-related supports programs/plans and strategies for inclusive employment measures.
* Attending public events sponsored by candidates so that people with disabilities have a visible presence during the campaign.

Questions for Candidates

There are many ways to educate both the public and candidates during the federal election. Some consumers will be running in the election. Others will be working on campaigns. There will also be consumers who will be raising disability rights issues during the election. All these activities are important. The challenge is for consumers to be as visible as possible during the election. This visibility draws attention to the citizenship of persons with disabilities and what we need to achieve full participation. Disability rights advocates may want to ask candidates the following types of questions:

* Do you support a national investment in a Disability Supports Fund?
* How do we develop a labour market strategy that addresses disability?
* What would you do to eliminate the poverty experienced by persons with disabilities?
* Do you support the development of accessibility regulations, not voluntary codes, to improve access to the federal transportation system?
* How would you go about making disability a priority in all federal initiatives?

Who and What is CCD?: CCD, a national advocacy organization of persons with disabilities, works to build a disability-positive environment in Canada. Founded in 1976, CCD brings together national, provincial and territorial organizations of persons with disabilities to work on issues of concern to men and women with disabilities in Canada. Participation in the electoral process has been a priority for CCD since its earliest days.