Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty Tracy Odell, APDD
Disability Issues Get Attention in Ontario Election
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Category Archives: Ontario
PEI gets social benefits direct deposit
Many recipients who are still getting checks in the mail will have to pick them up this month
After years of talk, in May PEI adopted direct deposit for social benefits like Financial Assistance and Disability Support.
Many didn’t get the paperwork done and will have to pick up their cheques due to the postal strike.
Continue reading
Wife of Canadian with disability wins historic tax case against CRA
Disability Tax Credit Certificate case won by Lembi Buchanan in 2001 had reverberations across Canada
Lembi Buchanan (right) receives Access Award for Disability Issues from Toronto Councillor Pam McConnell (left) (photo Toronto.ca)
Archive Nov 2001 Part of a series reporting the ten years of harassment of Canadians with disabilities by Canada Revenue Agency- Lembi Buchanan represented her husband in a landmark case at the Federal Tax Court when CRA refused his Disability Tax Credit. Buchanan won in court and became an important advocate for people with disabilities. She served on the “Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Treatment for Persons with Disabilities which led to a major overhaul of the eligibility criteria for the DTC, especially for persons with mental impairments.”
by Lembi Buchanan, from ARCH
When is a disability not a disability?
The bureaucrats at Canada Customs and Revenue Agency (“CCRA”) believe that they know exactly where to draw the line. Instead of relying on the medical profession for an accurate and fair assessment of the severity of each patient’s disability according to the eligibility criteria in the Income Tax Act, CCRA has revised the Disability Tax Credit (“DTC”) Certificate, form T2201, to simplify the process. What could be easier for the physician than checking off a few “yes” and “no” boxes?
Of course, nothing in life is quite that simple. The current DTC form has created a hurdle that is virtually impossible for every individual disabled by a severe mental impairment to surmount because the federal government has made two assumptions that are not true:
1. individuals with a severe and prolonged mental impairment cannot think, perceive or remember, and
2. individuals with a severe and prolonged mental impairment cannot manage or initiate personal care without constant supervision.
The recent court case of Buchanan v. Her Majesty the Queen underlines the urgent need for a full review the DTC Certificate because it discriminates against individuals with severe and prolonged mental impairments. Continue reading
Mass Audit of the Disability Tax Credit
Archive – ARCH reports Canada Customs and Revenue Agency targeting Canadians with disabilities
Part of a series reporting the ten years of harassment of Canadians with disabilities by Canada Revenue Agency. In November 2001, ARCH sounded the alarm that the tax man was trying to eliminate the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) for hundreds of thousands of Canadians with taxpayers. We re-print the story in 2011 since it appears CRA are starting another campaign to restrict the DTC. Continue reading
Canada Revenue Agency censured in House of Commons
Government and Opposition Members Defeat Changes to Disability Tax Credit
Alexa McDonough Canadian NDP Leader (1995 - 2003) Reuters photo
By Stephen Pate, Polio PEI, November 21, 2002 (from our archives)
In an unprecedented vote Wednesday in the House of Commons, government MP’s supported an NDP Motion and defeated the government’s changes to the Disability Tax Credit.
The Liberal Government’s Department of Finance introduced draft legislation on August 30, 2002 intended to introduce restrictions in the ability of Canadian taxpayers with disabilities to obtain tax relief.
The Disability Tax Credit provides approximately $1,000 of tax savings to 400,000 severely disabled Canadians.
On Tuesday, November 19th, 2002, NDP leader Alexa McDonough introduced an opposition Motion that was debated for most of that day. Continue reading
Oye! Times supports Schizophrenia Society
Oye! Times, one of the fastest growing news sites in Canada, has joined NJN Network to raise money for the Schizophrenia Society.
Stephen Pate just released Blue Christmas on iTunes. All proceeds will be donated to Schizophrenia Society.
PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 22, 2010 – Oye! Times, one of the fastest growing news sites in Canada, has jumped on board with NJN Network to raise money for the Schizophrenia Society.
Stephen Pate, owner and editor of NJN Network, just released Blue Christmas on iTunes this week. All proceeds from the song will be donated to the Schizophrenia Society. NJN Network is absorbing recording, distribution and royalty costs related to the single.
“Christmas is supposed to be a happy time,” said Pate “but for the many people suffering from mental disabilities it can be a time of deeper anguish.”
“Oye! Times enthusiastically supports NJN,” said Inder Singh, Marketing Manager of Oye! Times. “We believe in taking up causes that others may ignore. Justice for us means sacrifice and helping those in need.” Continue reading
Basic Income proposal could eliminate poverty for people with disabilities
Changes to benefit system modeled on systems for seniors and Canada Child Benefit Benefit would replace welfare for working age people with severe disabilities
The Caledon Institute has presented a proposal, Caledon Basic Income Plan, to overhaul Canada’s patchwork and failing system of social supports for working age Canadians who are severely disabled and living in poverty.
The new system would prevent the abject poverty that afflicts Canadians with disabilities where a single adult in New Brunswick is subsisting on roughly $8,000 a year, which is less than half of the LICO (Low Income Cut-Off).
This poverty exists despite the billions being spent at the Federal and Provincial levels.
The proposal is comprehensive but not a system that purposes major increases in social spending.
Instead it proposes to use the existing systems, like the Income Tax Act and Canada Pension Disability Benefit, to streamline and reorganize benefits making them more effective in eliminating poverty for working age Canadians with severe disabilities. Continue reading
One in two of us affected by disability
Toronto Rehab strikes a pose on big problem of disability
Ontario Rehab flash mob campaign for disability awareness (photo Toronto Rehab)
Toronto Rehab is conducting a unique flash mob campaign to raise awareness of disability. 1 in 2 will be touched by disability, “either personally or in their immediate family.” (video after the story break)
In Toronto, the flash mobs have been doing street theatre with people in t-shirts marker “1″ and “2″ to illustrate how pervasive disability is.
“We want to take the campaign to the streets at a grassroots level, in addition to more formal channels,” Jennifer Ferguson, vice-president of marketing & communications, explained in a phone interview.
“Reactions were mixed – some people just walk on by, but others stop and take a moment to look and read, and told their friends “there’s something weird going on,” she added. (City TV News) Continue reading
Waterloo Record: Hidden disability leads to false accusation
Judgmental note, left on car parked in spot for disabled, insults driver
By Nicole O’Reilly, Waterloo Record
Updated, first published Jul 4, 2007
Sue Foxton doesn’t wear her disability on her sleeve. She doesn’t want special treatment, or to be judged. But a few weeks ago while shopping in the region she returned to her car — legally parked in a spot for the disabled, with a visible permit — and was horrified to find a nasty note. “I came out to my car and it had a note on the windshield that was really, really insulting,” said the North Dumfries councillor. Continue reading
Citizens take over police duties during Toronto power outage
Police exhausted from beating and arresting social activists and poor people at G20
Man directing traffic at King and University during rush hour (Torontoist, Adrian Incogmed)
During the afternoon-long power outage in Toronto yesterday the city was thrown into chaos. Traffic lights didn’t work. People ran out of gas because they idled too long and the gas pumps weren’t working. Elevators failed. The subways stopped.
During the traffic congestion, helpful citizens jumped into the fray to direct traffic by hand. Somebody had to do it. The thousands of Toronto police, RCMP, and CSIS officers who filled downtown Toronto only a week before at the G20 were no where to be found.
“While helping out in this way might seem like one of the more civically responsible things you can do during a blackout, Toronto Police actively discourage it, citing safety concerns.” (Torontoist)
It may be hard to get the police back to their normal assignment after a weekend of excitement in Storm Trooper costumers without much control of their actions.
Great Bubble Battle safe for Toronto at Queen and Spadina
Bubblebattle participants judged not likely to require baton over the head by Toronto Police Chief (Miles Storey/Torontoist)
Participants in Newmindspace’s annual Dr. Seuss–inspired Bubble Battle didn’t fear Darth Vader led Storm Troopers on Saturday
Safe activity in the G20 War Zone. Please don’t Tweet this story to the Prime Minister lest he budget $1 billion to stop next year’s party
Torontoist – “After Toronto’s torrid weekend at the hands of the G20, Newmindspace’s annual Dr. Seuss–inspired Bubble Battle stepped up to sooth nerves with a gentler kind of combat this past Saturday.”
“This year’s venue was the erstwhile official G20 protest zone in the northern end of Queen’s Park, right in the shadow of the war memorial of Toronto’s own 48th Highlanders.”
Background music was supplied by Pride‘s nearby but well-fenced-in Dyke Day event.