New federal disability benefit sparks hope, questions

Donia Khanji of Windsor, Ont., says her physical disabilities make earning money hard. Being strapped for cash has forced her to make some difficult decisions managing another condition, her diabetes.

"Unfortunately, it's bad for me to use the same needle, but I'm honest, I do use the same needle over and over, because I cannot pay $55 for needles every month," she said.

A recent bill aims to make sure those in Khanji's position don't have to keep making these choices.

Bill C-22, the Canada Disability Benefit Act, just passed in Parliament on Tuesday.

It will provide federal money to low income, working-age people with disabilities. 

The benefit would top up incomes so that they reach a set level. The government has a year from the bill's passing to establish what this level is. 

"Any penny can [mean] a lot to a disabled person who can't get another income. I cannot get another extra income by what I have," Khanji said.

Disability advocates also say the bill could transform the living situation of those with disabilities.

Sarah Wuerch is an employment specialist with Insight Advantage, an employment agency providing people with disabilities with job opportunities.

"It would help them be able to work because they want to work and work in fields that they love and enjoy," Wuerch said. "Not work to be able to get food on the table or pay their basic bills."

While the bill may be passed, Windsor-Tecumseh MP Irek Kusmierczyk said many details need to be worked out.

"We will be working directly with the disability community to design the actual framework, the actual regulations to determine what is the amount, to determine eligibility for example," said Kusmierczyk, who is also the parliamentary secretary for the minister responsible for disability inclusion.

It is this framework that is leaving other disability advocates skeptical.

"We don't know who will be eligible for it or what bureaucratic hoops they'll have to jump through to apply for it. We don't know when it will start to be paid," the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance said in a statement released after the bill's passing.

"We only know from the Trudeau government that in the best-case scenario, it is at least a full year away."

The group also outlined concerns with the benefit not being available to those beyond the working age, the ability for the act to be cut without voting in Parliament and the benefit being reduced for those covered by private insurance.

For Wuerch, the bill would change the range of options accessible to those needing her help.

"We would help clients, first of all, understand what they have access to, and then be able to encourage them to find work so that they're able to do all those extra things," she said. "Hopefully it'll be more than enough to cover their living expenses."

Even with the bill's potential challenges and criticism, Khanji is hopeful about what comes next.

"Anything from [the government] is good, I think. Anything can help a disabled person."