Persons with Disabilities

OTTAWA – Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP Critic for Persons with Disabilities, today expressed outrage that the Conservative budget once again failed to come through with any significant supports for Canadians with disabilities.

“There’s always plenty in the Conservative pot for tax cuts for the wealthy and big corporations, but somehow not enough to invest in Canadians with disabilities,” says Wasylycia-Leis. “We wanted to see supports that would start to close the growing gap between those with disabilities and those without. What good are tax cuts to the majority of those with disabilities who don’t earn enough to pay taxes?”

from Hansard, November 22, 2007

Ms. Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North, NDP): Mr. Speaker, End Exclusion 2007 is an extraordinary gathering taking place in Ottawa today.

More than 300 delegates, representing over 90 organizations from across Canada, seeking meaningful equality for persons with disabilities are here working out a plan of action to convert their vision of an inclusive and accessible Canada into a new and vibrant reality.

They have a message for all of us: enough with studies, enough with the promises, it is time for action now, time for the federal government to build a Canada where all people living with disabilities have the supports necessary to fully access and benefit from all that Canada has to offer, where we work together to remove barriers and ensure that active citizenship and full inclusion of Canadians with disabilities is a reality.