Sault Ste Marie NDP MP Tony Martin named to replace Judy Wasylycia-Leis

NDP MP Tony Martin, Sault Ste Marie

NDP Leader Jack Layton has appointed Tony Martin as the NDP disability critic. He replaces Winnipeg MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis who resigned ahead of her rumored bid for the mayor of Winnipeg.

As a member of the NDP committee on poverty reduction, Martin is aware of some issues facing 4.2 million Canadians who live with disabilities.

“We are wrapping up a major two-year study on a role for federal leadership in poverty reduction and we have heard overwhelming evidence on how many people with disabilities live in poverty and still face barriers that are unacceptable for our society,” said Martin in the Sault Star.

“Judy Wasylycia-Leis is a tough act to follow but I have every confidence that both Megan Leslie and Tony Martin will serve Canadians extremely well in their new roles,” said Layton. “We’ve got a great team and I’m proud to serve with each of them as we continue our work on behalf of all Canadians.”

The real question is will Martin make a difference in the lives of Canadians with disabilities?  

The Federal government has been studying the issues related to Canadians with disabilities since the mid-1990’s with little progress on the major issues of income, supports and inclusion. Both the Liberals and Conservatives give lip-service to the issues facing Canadians with disabilities.

Social advocacy used to be the stock-in-trade of the NDP; however, they are squandering any leverage they have in a minority parliament.

On disability issues, the NDP appear to be a boat without a rudder, endlessly circling issues but getting no where.  The Conservatives have been in a minority situation since 2006. What improvements have we seen in the lives of Canadians with disabilities? How have the NDP leveraged their position in the minority parliament to affect social change?

The Conservatives are long on upper-middle class tweaking of programs like the Registered Disability Savings Plan. The RDSP does not to alleviate the more than 1 million Canadians with disabilities who live below the poverty line with no capacity for savings.

The Harper government did ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities this year after stalling the process. NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis was effective in criticizing Harper for his delay.

“How can a government use polling to decide whether to support human rights? It’s outrageous,” said Wasylycia-Leis in March 2009 when Harper proposed a national poll on ratification of the UN Convention. “Two years ago today, when Canada signed the UN Convention, there was great hope that we were entering a new era of equality for persons living with disabilities. The commitment was clear; the words were there. But two years later, the Harper government hasn’t ratified the Convention and its actions are ignoring that commitment and destroying that hope.”  NDP expresses outrage over poll on whether to ratify UN Convention quoted by NUPGE

Like Martin said, the firebrand Wasylycia-Leis will be a tough act to follow. The hope of Canadians with disabilities is that all of Canadian parliamentarians will recognize the stagnation in Canada’s disability policies. Meaningful change and reforms were needed a decade ago. Now is the time to act.

With story from the Sault Star.