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Empower U: Learn to Access Your Disability Rights Training on Canadian Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and its Optional Protocol (OP) training aims to increase awareness of how to address discrimination using more familiar Canadian human rights laws such as Human Rights Codes and the newer international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is training for persons with disabilities by persons with disabilities. The training is part of a project funded by Employment and Social Development Canada and implemented by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) in collaboration with Canadian Multicultural Disability Centre Inc. (CMDCI), Citizens With Disabilities – Ontario (CWDO), Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD) and National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS). Read more.
COUNCIL OF CANADIANS WITH DISABILITIES APPLAUDS DECISION OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CANADA
MEDIA ADVISORY | January 25, 2019
Today, the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) released a landmark decision in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation. This case is of national importance and significance because it ensures that many persons with disabilities can continue to access vital social programs they rely on to maintain an equal and adequate standard of living.
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities intervened at the SCC and was represented by ARCH Disability Law Centre.
Why This Case is Important
In S.A.’s case, the housing authority wanted to take into account the value of a Henson Trust when deciding whether to give her a rent subsidy. This is the SCC’s first opportunity to consider the nature of Henson Trusts (also known as absolute discretionary trusts). Henson Trusts are intentionally designed so that family members can set aside money for persons with disabilities without limiting those persons’ entitlement to social assistance benefits. The trust is structured in a way that puts the trust property beyond the control of the person with a disability. This means that the property or value of the trust is not available to them and cannot count as an asset when determining eligibility for social programs. The SCC held that because a person with a disability has no enforceable right to receive any of the trust’s income or capital, an interest in a Henson trust is not an asset that can be considered when determining eligibility for a rent subsidy.
Jewelles Smith, Chairperson of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities says:
"The CCD is pleased by the Supreme Court's decision in S.A. v MVHC. People with disabilities in Canada are disproportionately affected by poverty and must often bare the financial burden of cost-related barriers to their inclusion. The Court's decision recognizes that absolute discretionary trusts play an important role as a vehicle that can assist persons with disabilities to meet their additional costs of living and ensure access to social assistance programs. This is essential for the full inclusion and participation of people with disabilities in society."
Contact: Dianne Wintermute, Staff Lawyer, ARCH Disability Law Centre Phone: 416-482-8255 ext. 2226; Email: wintermd@lao.on.ca
Some members of the CCD team at the Supreme Court of Canada on April 25, 2018 to intervene in S.A. v. Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation. (L. to R. Bob Brown, CCD Human Rights Committee member, Dianne Wintermute, legal counsel (ARCH), Dahlia James, a second year JD candidate at U. of Ottawa and Prof. Ravi Malhotra’s Research Assistant and Luke Reid, legal counsel (ARCH) , and Prof. Ravi Malhotra, a member of the Human Rights Committee, Prof. Anne Levesque, Chair of the Human Rights Committee, and Erin Carr, a second year JD candidate.
The Latimer Case
The Latimer case directly concerned the rights of persons with disabilities. Mr. Latimer's view was that a parent has the right to kill a child with a disability if that parent decides the child's quality of life no longer warrants its continuation. CCD explained to the court and to the public how that view threatens the lives of people with disabilities and is deeply offensive to fundamental constitutional values. Learn more.