Government, communities and individuals must recognize the important role they have to play in addressing the needs of Canadians with disabilities. The issues facing them are not theirs alone.
The Government of Canada has traditionally taken a leadership role in addressing the interests of persons with disabilities. My department offers an array of programs and services geared to providing the support necessary to allow persons with disabilities to live and work with dignity and as independently as possible.
We all have a shared responsibility, all levels of government, all political parties and all Canadians, for providing positive assistance to enable persons with disabilities to participate in the mainstream of society as full and equal citizens.
[Translation]
The contribution of persons with disabilities is a valuable one and as a government it is inherent upon us to do our utmost so that they are never excluded from our society. The loss to Canada would be too great.
Together, the federal, provincial and territorial governments, as well as communities, must look at how best to develop and deliver the programs and services that ensure voices of people with disabilities will always be heard.
Last Wednesday, I took part in the federal-provincial-territorial council on social policy renewal. It was a great day for all Canadians. For we witnessed a new spirit of collaboration between levels of government.
In that room, ministers and representatives from across our country identified Canadians with disabilities as one of our key priorities.
[English]
I assure members the ministerial council is seeking practical and concrete ways to meet their needs. Through this environment of trust, openness and mutual respect, we will be able to work in partnership to develop measures that will improve programs and services for persons with disabilities.
My federal, provincial and territorial colleagues are committed to working together to harmonize our approaches to better serve the needs of Canadians with disabilities. Federal, provincial and territorial working groups are looking at various options that we can bring back to first ministers in the coming months.
The task force on disability issues, chaired by the member for Fredericton-York-Sunbury, is another valuable contribution on which we can build. It provides the Government of Canada with some valuable information and direction for its activities as well as those it undertakes in partnership with other levels of government.
I am looking forward to developing some substantial measures in collaboration with my federal, provincial and territorial colleagues in response to the issues identified in the task force report.
I am continuing to discuss with my cabinet colleagues actions we can take in collaboration with provinces and the disability community to meet the needs of Canadians with disabilities. Progress is being made on a continuous basis.
[Translation]
Canada can play a leading role in the international community to ensure that the needs and aspirations of people with disabilities
will be met. We have made great strides in the past few years, but we all recognize that much more must be done.
(1010)
Mr. Maurice Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead, BQ): Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity, on this International Day of Disabled Persons and in what is known as the Week of Disabled Persons in Quebec, proclaimed for the first time this year, to pay tribute to disabled persons across the country who, faced daily with their disabilities, need tremendous courage not only to overcome these disabilities but also to overcome the barriers facing them in their personal and professional lives and in their social activities.
I also wish to pay tribute to the families who are responsible for their care. Families take on these responsibilities in sometimes difficult circumstances and in many cases have to face the same restrictions as the individuals for whose care they are responsible, which may be an emotionally draining experience.
Finally, I would also like to pay tribute to the volunteers who are active in all kinds of organizations to support and promote the rights of disabled persons so that our society will become more open in this respect, and who also provide better services at a time when most, if not all governments are reducing their involvement in this area.
When I heard the Minister of Human Resources Development make a speech which basically only paid lip service to a number of principles, I was disappointed, but I also consider this further proof of this government's contempt for the disabled.
Mr. Pettigrew: Oh, come on!
Mr. Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead): I suggest that the minister take a deep breath and listen to what I have to say. I have worked with disabled persons for many years, and I do not need any advice from a political upstart who does not do his homework and does not know what he is talking about.
To prove this, I have two documents that I suggest he read carefully. The first one is the report of the human rights committee, tabled in this House in 1995. The report was unanimous, in other words, it had the support of the members of this government and the members of the official opposition.
Mr. Speaker, I see the minister-
Mr. Bernier (Gaspé): Mr. Speaker, on a point of order.
I am sorry to interrupt my hon. colleague, but everyone here in this House saw the Minister of Human Resources Development give the finger to the member who was speaking. This kind of behaviour is entirely unacceptable, especially since the subject he is discussing, persons with disabilities, deserves all due respect.
I hope the minister will apologize and there will be no more incidents like this one when we are discussing such a serious topic.
Mr. Bernier (Mégantic-Compton-Stanstead): Mr. Speaker, I think the minister's gesture only discredits the minister and underscores the lack of substance in his message and his failure to act in this area.
I shall, if I may, get back to the subject of my speech. I said the minister should read the 1995 report of the human rights committee tabled in this House a year ago in December. This unanimous report was endorsed by the members of his party, the government party, by the members of the opposition and the members of the Reform Party. It provided a concrete response to the demands of persons with disabilities.
(1015)
Almost a year later, his predecessor decided to use taxpayers' money to set up a partisan committee, which fortunately was joined by representatives of groups of people with disabilities from all across Canada. This committee tabled its report in October. Here is what the Liberal group, the minister's group, said in the first few pages of its report, which the minister has not read-as his comments clearly show. The report says: ``While their arguments have been listened to at the political level and by governments, there has been a growing gap between saying and doing''.
A little further along, the report states: ``At the federal level'', this is the Liberals talking, ``responses to the report tabled by the human rights committee in 1995 have been equivocal and in some cases non-existent''. The response to the framework document, the latest report of the Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of Persons with Disabilities intimated that the status quo was good enough. This is the government's response.
And what do they have to say? All puffed up today, the day of persons with disabilities, the minister offers us six or seven pages worth of his desire for governments, various provinces and various departments to co-operate. People with disabilities do not want co-operation, they want action, they want constructive action.
No one is expecting the minister to introduce measures during the election campaign or in version two of the red book; they want action now. However-and I will close on this-the minister's response appears on the first page. You have to read between the lines. On the first page, the minister says: ``The measure of a society is based on how it includes all of its members in an active manner-''. Fine lip service. The paragraph concludes: ``The issues facing them'', people with disabilities, ``are not theirs alone''. That is the government's response. In other words, line up and, when your turn comes along, maybe we will attend to you, if
we have the time. This is not how the official opposition sees things and this is not what we are going to defend in the weeks to come.
[English]
Mrs. Sharon Hayes (Port Moody-Coquitlam, Ref.): Mr. Speaker, it is a privilege to speak today on behalf of my party, the Reform Party, on this international day to recognize persons with disabilities, particularly in Canada.
Many Canadians with disabilities face many unique challenges each day of their lives. Even in Canada where many external changes have been made to facilitate life for persons with disabilities it takes a level of courage for persons with disabilities to accomplish many of the tasks that other Canadians too often take for granted.
Today I pause as I talk about a faceless mask called persons with disabilities because, as is the case with all Canadians, each of these people with disabilities is unique, and each one has their own disability with its own individual challenges.
When developing public policy we typically talk only about a group of people called persons with disabilities. In that it is too easy to develop one program or one system which is supposed to help that faceless group which has been classified as disabled rather than recognizing the uniqueness of each person's circumstance.
Unfortunately this appears to be the way Ottawa has treated persons with disabilities for decades. It is hardly surprising that a recent report released by the federal task force on disability issues discovered a high level of frustration and some anger among persons with disabilities in Canada.
Lately we have heard the needs of the disabled are being addressed as a priority in the deliberations of the federal-provincial-territorial council on social policy renewal. I believe the needs of disabled persons are far more likely to be met by provinces or levels closer to those individuals that can tailor those services more specifically to the needs of those citizens.
The direction for the solutions for the disabled should be in the hands of provinces or levels even lower than that. The control of and the decisions on these important issues should be made as close to the people as possible to avoid the duplication of bureaucratic costs, needless costs which we too often see in this place.
(1020)
We need to empower communities. We need to empower families in order that they may address the uniqueness of the disability and of the individual.
Not so long ago in this House we voted on a private member's motion, Motion No. 30. That motion stated that the government should consider amending the Income Tax Act to provide a caregiver tax credit for those who provide care in the home for preschool children and the disabled. That motion looked to the specific needs of the disabled in order to empower the family looking after the disabled person, which in turn would empower that individual. Unfortunately, the front benches of the government rejected that motion outright. The government said that was not in its plans.
This government refuses to leave money in the hands of the people who can use it with the greatest wisdom. The government continues to believe that it has the solutions for the problems in the homes of this country and for the challenges which disabled people face. I disagree with the government, which feels that all solutions in this nation must come from Ottawa and all solutions must be determined by bureaucracy.
Typically, Ottawa is the source of well intentioned programs, in most cases, but it has the mindset that it is only the federal government which can solve problems. Typically the programs are pulled in a myriad of directions and at the end of the day most programs that are developed lack a substantive review to actually determine if they work. The purpose is too often fuzzy to start with, too influenced by short term demand, perhaps an election call, or perhaps it is a program which reflects the flavour of the month for social programs.
We saw that in the development of the Canada pension plan, which was originally designed to give security to Canadians. That plan has led to untold frustration for the disabled people who must apply for it. It has placed an expense on a public system, which was not originally intended. Again it is an example of a program that has not worked as originally intended. Perhaps governments did not think through the plan and address their real intention.
Government does not solve the problems. Individual Canadians must be allowed to address these problems with a level of support which is closest to their needs.
The report that was mentioned earlier was called ``A Will to Act''. My hon. colleague in the official opposition mentioned his frustration. I would like to mention my frustration that too often Ottawa acts without achieving the desired results. It is too willing to act without proper evaluation and the end result does not reflect the original intention.
What we need for all Canadians is the will to succeed. We must find the solutions. I believe those solutions are best found not in this place but in the decisions which are made by individual Canadians.
regarding the associate membership of the Standing Committee on Health.
If the House gives its consent, I intend to move concurrence in the 48th report later this day.
(1025 )
This fourth report on the bill represents a lengthy process of debate and hearings by members of the all-party Standing Committee on Transport which is chaired by my colleague from Winnipeg South.
It is rewarding to see this important bill take another step forward toward becoming law.
He said: Mr. Speaker, I simply wish to inform the House that in accordance with Standing Order 73(1), it is the intention of the government that this bill be referred to a committee before second reading.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
He said: Mr. Speaker, the national census requires Canadians to include their personal names and addresses on census documents in part so that if they make a wrong or an incomplete statement on the census form they can be prosecuted by the government.
I believe this requirement carries with it an unwarranted distrust of Canadians. Also, since census documents are not anonymous, many respondents are not completely forthcoming with all the information. They feel that if their name is attached to it someone is going to know their history, their income and everything about them that the census takes in as information.
I believe that the information gathered may not be as reliable as it would be in a non-traceable document. I believe there is no good reason for the government to have such detailed personal information about each individual Canadian. Therefore this private member's bill would amend the Statistics Act to ensure that Canadians would be able to participate anonymously in the national census. This would lead to both a less intrusive government and a more accurate census.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed.)
(Motion agreed to.)
I have before me several petitions involving 22,000 names of people from my riding, ordinary Canadians, who are very concerned that something must be done to change the Young Offenders Act to make young people more accountable for their actions.
[Translation]
(1030)
The petitioners draw the attention of the House to the fact that the Senate consists of unelected members who are not accountable for their actions, that its annual operating budget is $43 million, and that it refuses to account for its expenditures to committees of the House of Commons. Moreover, the Senate does not fulfil its mandate to represent the regions and duplicates the work done by members of the House of Commons.
Therefore, the petitioners ask that Parliament take the necessary steps to abolish the Senate.
[English]
The Deputy Speaker: Is that agreed?
Some hon. members: Agreed.
The Deputy Speaker: I should inform the House that because of the ministerial statement and replies, Government Orders will be extended by 19 minutes.