Pierre Poilievre's Proposal To Amend Canada's Disability Assistance: What Does It Mean?

Conservative party's Pierre Poilievre, the leader of opposition in Canada, has proposed to overhaul the disability assistance program in Canada. One of the fiercest critics of the Justin Trudeau led Liberal Party government in Canada, Poilievre has pitched a bill that he says will see the people with disabilities having less of their income cut from provincial benefits. As per a report by the Toronto Star, a Canadian News outlet, the proposal will make it mandatory for the provinces to overhaul their disability system to receive their federal money from the Canadian government. The bill aims to "make sure that every time a person with disabilities earns an extra dollar, they’re made better off and that they’re not punished for that," Poilievre says in a 2023 video accessed by the Toronto Star. “For those roughly a million Canadians with disabilities who do work, we need to reform the benefit programs to reward that work. Right now, there are clawbacks if you’re a person on disability and you get a job. Often, they take away your income, rental support, even medication,” he says in the video. As per the report by the Toronto Star, published on October 21, the video was posted by political commentator Darshan Maharaja.

What Does It Mean? Back in 2018, the Conservative party leader had introduced a private member bill in the Canada's House of Common seeking to make changes to the federal disabilities assistance program. Much of the commentary he makes in the 2023 video is in reference to the bill. The bill was voted down by the Liberal Party, subsequently. In Canada, a significant part disabled people's income from federal social assistance benefits gets deducted due to the tax regulations on social assistance present at the federal and provincial levels clashing with each other. In many states, the social assistance benefits disabled people receive via the new Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) regulations, is not counted as income, resulting in more savings for low-income disabled people. Poilievre's bill, if passed, will make it mandatory for all provinces to make the changes. However, while it will certainly result in more savings for disabled persons, critics are arguing whether federal money will be pulled in to fund the program, resulting in more stress on the state exchequer.