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1. Know what the candidate’s position is on disability issues. Do you think this person will champion disability issues when she/he goes to Ottawa?
2. Entertainment is NO substitute for content. Do not allow charm or affability to cloud your decision. Ensure that your questions are answered directly.
3. Take stock of the candidate’s record. If the candidate’s campaign was inaccessible, is it likely he/she will be a disability rights champion in Ottawa?
4. Examine party platforms carefully.

27 April 2011

For Immediate Release

We are moms; we are caregivers; we experience spousal abuse; we are renters and home owners. We are also women with disabilities. Women with disabilities need to see themselves reflected in the election commitments of all Canada’s Federal Parties. DAWN-RAFH Canada and CCD are encouraging candidates running in the Federal Election to address the issues of women with disabilities.

Will your party support the following measures which would have a positive effect on women with disabilities:

• The re-establishment of the Court Challenges Program for equality rights test case litigation?

Both CCD and DAWN/RAFH Canada intervened in cases that were supported by the Court Challenges Program. Women and people with disabilities are named in Section 15 (Equality Rights) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

• The expansion of Employment Insurance Sickness Benefits to 52 weeks of coverage?

As in every Federal Election, CCD has been using a disability lens to review the platforms of the Parties fielding candidates across Canada. Throughout this exercise, CCD has been reminding all the parties that people with disabilities need to see themselves reflected in all the promises brought forward during the election. As has been noted on many different occasions, anyone can acquire a disability through the process of living; the incidence of disability increases with aging. We are students. We are moms and dads. We are caregivers. We are workers. We are job seekers. We are veterans.

Immigration and People with Disabilities

Over twenty-five years ago CCD began advocating for a more open Canadian immigration policy for persons with disabilities. In the 1984 federal election campaign CCD raised this issue in our Challenge Ballot. We asked all candidates to support "Canada making a commitment to the United Nations to accept 50 or more disabled refugees per year." CCD also raised amendment of the Immigration Act to bring it in line with the Charter and ensure that disability was a prohibited ground of discrimination.

14 April 2011

On 8 April 2011, Canadians had their first look at Here for Canada, the Conservative Party of Canada’s 2011 Platform. The Conservative Platform references initiatives undertaken on disability issues by the Harper Government. The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), a national human rights organization of people with disabilities working for an inclusive and accessible Canada, called upon all Parties to address disability issues in their Platforms.

CCD Election Challenge 2011

8 April 2011

CCD Election Challenge 2011

10 April 2011

13 April 2011