Liberals rejected an NDP proposal to get funds for people living with a disability

OTTAWA — On Wednesday, Liberals rejected an NDP proposal to consider an emergency relief fund to lift people living with a disability out of poverty while they wait for the Canada Disability Benefit.

“Close to a million Canadians with a disability live in poverty, and with the rising cost-of-living crisis, their situation is getting more dire every day,” said Bonita Zarrillo, NDP Critic for Disability Inclusion. “The Liberals don’t even want to explore the idea of delivering temporary help for people living with a disability. This is shameful. After seven years in power, the Liberals failed to lift Canadians with disabilities out of poverty — and now they’re doubling down on their inaction. This is wrong. New Democrats won’t stop fighting to ensure people living with a disability can live in dignity.”

The Liberals say that help is coming through the Canada Disability Benefit but people will have to wait over a year. People living with a disability are struggling to make ends meet and the challenges are increasing as the cost of food, rent and interest rates rise. They need urgent help now to afford to live in dignity.

“Canadians living with a disability are making impossible choices to put food on the table, pay their rent and afford their prescription drugs. But it doesn’t have to be this way,” added Zarrillo. “A temporary emergency relief fund could have been life changing for so many people living with a disability struggling to make ends meet. But the Liberals once again turned their backs on the most vulnerable Canadians. New Democrats will never do that.”