Trigger warning: The content of this article deals with themes of medically assisted death.
The unethical dilemma of choosing between affording rent, food and medications poses a moral question—can this be considered a choice at all? This dilemma is the harsh reality for many Canadians living with a disability. The government’s provision of medical assistance in dying (MAID) to those with a mental disability further compounds this issue of living a dignified life or choosing a dignified death.
The government of Canada describes MAID as “a process that allows someone who is found eligible to be able to receive assistance from a medical practitioner in ending their life… Anyone requesting this service must meet specific eligibility criteria to receive medical assistance in dying. Any medical practitioner who administers an assisted death to someone must satisfy certain safeguards first.”
Hold your celebrations
Many disability advocates and organizations were elated about the reintroduction of Bill C-22, Canada’s first national disability benefit, which became law on June 22, 2023, despite being initially tabled by the federal government in 2021. The outlined purpose of Bill C-22 is to “reduce poverty and to support the financial security of working-age persons with disabilities.”
Recent updates to this bill further detail the eligibility and scope of Bill C-22; you must both be under 65 years old and have previously contributed to the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP). This stipulation excludes those who haven’t worked due to their disability, creating a barrier to financing a dignified life.
The intersection of disability, poverty and houselessness
While statistics are scarce for exactly how many people are unhoused and disabled, there exists a significant relationship between poverty, risk of houselessness and disability. This creates a vicious cycle, where people with disabilities are twice as likely to live in poverty, while living in poverty is a risk factor for acquiring both mental and physical illnesses, leading to disability.
Additional interrelated risk factors include employment issues, difficulty in securing benefits and a lack of supportive housing. Though neoliberal leaders view being poor, disabled and precariously housed as an individual failing or choice, this is simply not the case. Poverty, housing and food insecurity are representative of communal failings, policies and politics.
In Nova Scotia, the Disability Support Program (DSP) offers disabled participants financial assistance to help cover their basic needs. The amount a person or household may receive ranges from $950, for a single DSP participant, to $1,393 if they live with a spouse and more than one dependent. This is not enough to cover their basic needs.
Halifax is Canada’s 20th most expensive city, with the average cost of a 1-bedroom rental reaching over $2,000 a month, and two-bedrooms averaging $2,500. Not only are apartments widely unaffordable in Halifax, but a significantly low vacancy rate of around one per cent remains the second lowest in Canada.
If the welfare state does not meaningfully intervene to allow disabled Canadians to live a dignified life, might they instead feel compelled to choose death?
Alleviating suffering or easing the strain on the welfare system?
Bill C-7, MAID, became law as of March 17, 2021. It was monumental for Canadians’ access and right to a dignified death. However, the foreseeable death eligibility requirement for Bill C-7 was removed to “reduce unnecessary suffering in Canada.” Currently, MAID’s eligibility states that a person must meet all of the following criteria:
- They have a serious and incurable illness, disease or disability (will also include
mental illness as of March 17, 2024); - They are in an advanced state of irreversible decline; and
- Their illness, disease or disability or state of decline causes them enduring physical or psychological suffering that is intolerable to them and that cannot be relieved under conditions that they consider acceptable.
Individuals ineligible for Bill C-22 may find themselves compelled to seek MAID if the additional disability tax credits fall short of covering housing, food, medications and other essential care expenses.
What does this mean for disabled Canadians?
One in five Canadians self-identify as being disabled, a number only projected to grow with our aging population. The United Nations considers people with disabilities the world’s biggest minority that anyone can become a part of at any time – meaning Bill C-22 implicates every Canadian.
It’s crucial to recognize that it’s not their disability propelling these individuals to opt for MAID. Instead, the welfare state is making life unlivable for those relying on social assistance.
Ways forward, together
The only way forward is to stop treating the necessities of life as commodities to be bought and sold, and to dismantle the hierarchy which allows some to live comfortably while others sufferIndividuals with disabilities would then be able to meet their basic needs and live with dignity regardless of employment or employability.
Revisions to Bill C-22 must incorporate universal basic income (UBI) or UBI+ for all disabled Canadians, with the plus denoting additional funding for disabled Canadians’ accessibility, medical and other disability-related costs.
A person with moderate disabilities experiences a 30 per cent cost of living increase, meaning amendments to Bill C-22 must ensure that the CDB (Canada Disability Benefit) not only lifts disabled individuals above the poverty line but also addresses the inherent and inseparable costs of living with a disability.
Changes can and must occur with Bill C-22
The eligibility process for Bill C-22, CDB, should adopt a more considerate and comprehensive approach, moving away from commodification. Individuals with disabilities endure the financial and emotional strain of repeatedly needing to prove their eligibility; automatic eligibility in Bill C-22 would expedite enrollment for those already approved for existing disability programs, lessening these burdens.
No provisions indicate sufficient consideration for how CDB might intersect with previously approved disability benefits, leading to the potential reduction or unfair termination of these benefits.
If this article resonates with you, please contact your local Member of Parliament to share your support for the proposed amendments in Bill C-22, ensuring disabled Canadians have the supports necessary to live with dignity.
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