From a Council of Canadians with Disabilities article:
Can you imagine living on less than $10,000 a year? Many Canadians assume that people with disabilities are well provided for. Few, unless they have a family member with a disability, understand that disability and poverty are largely synonymous – disability can lead to poverty and poverty can lead to disability. Many a newly disabled Canadian has been shocked to learn that the average Canada Pension Plan Disability Benefit is only $720.00 a month and that is only if you meet stringent eligibility requirements.
So what can be done? In Ottawa, at a national forum called End Exclusion 2010, a group coordinated by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), Canadian Association for Community Living (CACL) and Canada Without Poverty (CWP) are speaking out about the realities of living in poverty with a disability and challenging the myth that people with disabilities are “well taken care of in Canadian society.” They will do this by researching and presenting new knowledge and policy alternatives to existing Canadian income security programs.
Their motto is “Together we can create a more Inclusive and Accessible Canada”
We totally agree.
