Disability Justice
In the year 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic was raging and, economies worldwide were shut down, the government of Canada quickly distributed the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB); a $2000 per month financial payment that was paid, for every Canadian who had earned $5000 or more in the previous year and was now affected by a job loss due to the lockdown.
By doing this, the government revealed the inequalities and discrimination that 8 million Canadians, 15 years and older who identify as a person with a disability face, from their own federal government. The government was willing to incur massive amounts of debt to give laid-off working people a financial benefit, but were not willing to do so to help lift disabled people out from under the crushing poverty that they face every day.
Amir Farsoud - Disability and Legislated Poverty
In the ensuing public outcry, the federal government tried to rectify the problem by announcing a one-time federal tax-free payment of $600, but only people who were already receiving the Disability Tax Credit (DTC) qualified. That decision meant that only 40% of disabled people would have qualify for the tax credit which would have to be claimed on the following year’s income tax filing.
The federal government also proposed a disability benefit called the Canada Disability Benefit Act which would have been enacted in July 2025.
| Canada Disability Benefit Act | |
| Monthly Payment | $200 |
| Annual Payment | $2,400 |
| Eligible Income Range | $23,000 to $33,000 |
| Claw-back Income Range | $35,000 to $45,000 |
| Payment for Claw-back Income | $0.00 |
A person with a disability would have been eligible to receive an
extra $200 per month ($2400 annually) from the federal government, if
their income was between $23,000 to $33,000. However, if a single
disabled person’s income exceeded $35,000 to $45,000, then they would be
subjected to a claw-back amount and would result in no payment – $0.00.
The proroguing of the federal Parliament in January 2025, and the upcoming federal election, seems to indicate that the Canada Disability Benefit Act has since been abandoned by the federal government. The benefit is slated to be instated in July 2025.
The Ontario provincial government is responsible for paying the
Ontario Disability Support Payments (ODSP) to its disabled citizens, but
under the current administration, the disability benefits payment for a
single person, is $1368 per month, which is expected to cover the costs
of basic needs and shelter.
| ODSP and Rent Amount | |
|---|---|
| ODSP (Monthly) | $1368 |
| Toronto One-Bedroom Apartment (Monthly) | $1,995 to |
| $2,600 | |
According to a joint news release from the Canadian Human Rights
Commission (CHRC), and the Homeless Hub, people with disabilities are,
however, four times more likely to experience homelessness. This data is
not surprising, unfortunately, considering the cost of renting a
one-bedroom apartment in the city of Toronto which ranges from $1995 to
$2600 monthly.
How is a single person on ODSP expected to be able to afford an apartment and feed him/herself with the exorbitant costs of rental apartments? This is essentially government legislated poverty for disabled Ontarians.
Conclusion
The World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations, and all governments worldwide, must come to a consensus to solve the issues surrounding economic justice for people who are economically challenged, disabled, and those who are the displaced descendants of Indigenous peoples who have lost their ancestral lands to industries and companies that are polluting their communities and enriching themselves—based on edicts and treaties that were signed two hundred ago.
There should be a Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) or a Universal Basic Income (UBI) payment for individuals who are living below the poverty line in their respective countries. There has been enough extraction of minerals, precious stones, oil and gas, and clear cutting of trees, to fund the Guaranteed Basic Income payments, and I agree with experts who say that the IMF should forgive the debt of countries that have been and still are being stripped of their resources to fund the obscene and ostentatious lifestyles of royalty and billionaires.
Even though refugees and immigrants keep appearing at the airport gates and the land borders of richer countries, the only way to prevent people from embarking on the dangerous journey of crossing the Darien Gap
People walking in the Darien Gap
to go north to America or, to get in boats from Tunisia or Algeria to go Europe, is to establish a Guaranteed Basic Income payment as a way to stabilize the poorer countries and to give people back their dignity and pride which will in turn save the lives of a lot of people and keep humanity safer in the end.