Disability advocates call for financial help

At-risk group has lacked adequate support during COVID-19, coalition says

Nearly three months into the lockdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, advocates for people with disabilities are asking the government for financial help for a community they say has been forgotten.

Dozens of organizations have come together to voice their concern about the inadequate support for people with disabilities - a group they say has inexplicably fallen through the cracks as other layers of the community receive financial help to cope with the impact of COVID-19.

"People with disabilities in many cases are already living below the poverty line, and now the living costs have become extraordinary for them," said Christopher Sutton, CEO of Wavefront Centre for Communication Accessibility, a charitable organization for the deaf and hard of hearing, and spokesperson for the Disability Leadership Coalition.

The coalition has penned an open letter to the federal government pleading for a "dedicated financial assistance package" for people with disabilities. The letter has been signed by 65 organizations so far, including the Canadian Autism Spectrum Disorder Alliance, Canadian Labour Congress, Rick Hansen Foundation, Spinal Cord Injury Canada and Women's Shelter Canada, among others.

The letter praises the government for supporting people affected by the pandemic, including business owners, essential workers, students, Indigenous peoples, the homeless, women facing violence, seniors, seafood processors, dairy farmers, agricultural suppliers, energy companies, tourism companies, sports and cultural organizations, and others.

But despite the spirit of being in this together, the plight of people living with disabilities has been largely ignored and they feel "left behind," the letter says.

The coalition says people receiving disability benefits are especially feeling the financial burden inflicted by the pandemic. The maximum amount a person on a CPP disability benefit receives is $1,362 per month, far less than the $2,000 CERB funding the federal government is giving to people who've lost their job due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sutton said families across the country are incurring extra costs, including having to pay for masks, gloves and hand sanitizer. But those living with disabilities feel even more financial stress as they struggle to meet everyday needs such as grocery deliveries, accessing medications, accessibility equipment repairs and other special needs.

And that's before facing new realities brought about by the pandemic, including having to leave jobs to care for family members with disabilities, or children, while schools are closed.

"The financial support from different levels of government to people with disabilities has so far been very little to nothing," said Sutton.

In the letter, the coalition notes both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Minister for Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough have acknowledged publicly that people with disabilities and their families are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and social distancing and isolation.

Sutton said the federal government and some provinces have set up COVID-19 disability task-force units to look into the challenges people in the community are facing. But apart from support for students with disabilities, nothing concrete has come of it.

"I don't think it's intentional by any means," he said, noting each province has its own rules on support for people with disabilities. He especially decried "clawback" practises, whereby some provinces take money back from people receiving a government subsidy and another source of income.

In Ontario for example, people on ODSP who have applied for a federal subsidy through CERB have seen part of this support taken back.

"That leaves people with disabilities even further behind," said Sutton. "It's quite challenging because we are a group that really needs to have our needs addressed quickly."

Sutton said he's hopeful the government will soon find a way to address the financial concerns of people with disabilities.

Copyright 2020. Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission. All Rights Reserved.

This article was written by Gilbert Ngabo from The Toronto Star and was legally licensed through the by AdvisorStream .