A disabled activist and member of the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty has received an apology from a Toronto restaurant who discriminated against him. The manager at the Everest restaurant had told Aaron Shelbourne's assistant that they were not welcome back after they had finished a meal because wheelchairs could damage the newly renovated restaurant. Read a more, watch a video, and see some pictures of Aaron's campaign on the OCAP website.

Pivot Legal Society, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) and the United Native Nations have filed a human rights complaint against the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and Geoff Plant, the former Attorney General of British Columbia and presently acting as the Civil City Commissioner in Vancouver. The complaint alleges that the Downtown Ambassadors run by the DVBIA under the guidance of Geoff Plant, discriminate against homeless people, particulary aboriginal people and people with disabilities. The complaint alleges that the Ambassadors rountinely tell homeless people to move along regardless of their location which denies them equal access to public space. Read more in a press release by Pivot, "Groups say DVBIA, Civil City actions discriminatory"

The Caledon Institute has released a policy paper, Canadians Need a Medium-Term Sickness/Disability Income Benefit (in PDF) discussing the possibility of a new sickness or disability benefit. The paper examines the current relationship between Employment Insurance (EI) sickness benefits and Canada Pension Plan (CPP) disability benefits, and explores possibilities for stronger linkages between these programs.

The ODSP Action Coalition is seeking support for the demands they are making for the October Ontario provincial election. Read CLEONet's story about the campaign for more information.

Manitoba has announced a four year program called "Rewarding Work" for welfare recipients. Read more in the CBC article, "Manitoba initiatives aim to break down 'welfare wall'" and in the Manitoba Government Rewarding Work backgrounder. Here are some details of the plan:

• Manitoba Child Benefit - Benefits of $35/month per a child to families with annual incomes up to $20,000. For people receiving income assistance, this benefit will replace part of the benefits they receive through welfare. (i.e. welfare recipients will not receive any more benefit.)
• Child Care Fees - Fees for subsidized child care will be reduced from $2.40 per day per child to $2. Amount parents can earn will be increased by 13%.
• Job Seekers Allowance - $300/year for single adults and couples who are actively looking for work.
• Employment Stipend - Up to $1200/year for work clothing and transportation.
• Enhanced Training and Education - Up to 24 months available for skills training.
• Single Parents keep up to $115, and 25% above this amount from work each month.
• Income Assistance for Persons with Disabilities will increase by $300 to $1260/month in January 2008.

The BC Coalition of People with Disabilities has produced a paper entitled Who Benefits? How disability benefits are failing British Columbians (45 pages, in PDF) and a Summary (10 pages, in PDF). The paper examines four principle areas within the disability benefits system: benefits rates, the Persons with Disabilities benefit (PWD), the Persons with Persistent and Multiple Barriers to Employment benefit (PPMB), and service delivery and accountability. The paper includes personal stories from British Columbians who receive disability benefits and 16 recommendations, including one for a new disability benefits Act.

Information and Analysis on the PEI Budget:

• 2007 PEI Budget Address
• Highlights of the PEI Provincial Budget (in PDF)
• CBC article - "Disability advocate fears increase not enough"
• CBC article - "Opposition doubts surplus"
• PEI Disability Alert says that the increase in spending for the Disability Support Program is not enough to support all people with disabilities on the island.

Over seven years ago, two Sudbury men, were denied disability benefits under the Ontario Disability Support Program Act (ODSPA). Each man filed an appeal to determine whether in fact he met the definition of a “person with a disability” under the law. It has taken more than seven years, but with the help of the Sudbury Community Legal Clinic, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that the Social Benefits Tribunal (SBT) has to deal with any human rights arguments in their decisions. Read the Supreme Court disability decision and information on the case on CLEONet.

Ottawa's transit committee is recommending the city continue a program that gives transit users with disabilities a discounted bus pass. The committee is also recommending that there be no universal hike in bus fares. Read more in a CBC article, "Ottawa's disabled should keep cheap bus passes: transit committee."

The BC Association of Social Workers has called on the BC Government to respect a court ruling on youth with disabilities. The Appeal Court decision means that cutting off services to youth at age 19, who have a lifelong disability but whose IQ exceeds 70, is now legally invalid and must stop.

A little over a year ago the Ontario McGuinty Government cut the Special Diet Policy under which huge numbers of people on welfare were able to obtain a little more money for food each month. Previously the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) had been running community clinics where thousands of poor people were able to obtain the $250 a month entitled to them. In December with the help of the Health Providers Against Poverty, OCAP again started running the Special Diet clinics. If you are on welfare or disablity in Ontario take a look at the New Special Diet Tipsheet. Read an article in the Toronto Star, "Poverty is a Medical Condition," about the Special Diet clinics.

The United Nations has adopted the first Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The convention strives to end discrimination based on ability and includes any type of disbility from physical to mental illness. It covers civil and political rights, accessibility, participation and inclusion, the right to education, health, work and employment and social protection. For more information read a CBC story, "UN adopts landmark bill for disabled rights."

Advocates and many others have been appalled by the abysmally low welfare rates in BC. The Raise the Rates Coalition was launched this spring by some community, faith and advocacy groups to call on the province to:

• Increase welfare rates by 50 per cent;
• Remove the arbitrary barriers to accessing welfare;
• Let people on welfare keep up to $500 per month of money they earn through employment;
• Raise the minimum wage to $10 per hour, and abolish the $6 starting wage.

Premier Campbell has promised to raise the shelter rates for welfare recipients but has not announced how much the increase will be. The Centre for Policy Alternatives has a related report about welfare rates: A Better Way to Set Welfare Rates.

Ontario has increased the maximum monthly welfare cheque by 2% this month for Ontario Disability Support Program recipients and Ontario Works recipients. The Ontario Social Assistance Rate Increase explains in more detail what is effected by the rate increase. Unfortunately this rate increase is far cry from what anti-poverty activists in Ontario have pushing for. There has been a 40% loss of in real income for poor people over the last ten years. Add your name to the Raise the Rates Petition to Premier McGuinty, signed by thousands of people asking for a 40% increase to welfare and disability rates. Read more about the Ontario Raise the Rates Campaign .

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has published a report called, Community-Based Mental Health Services in BC: Changes to Income, Employment and Housing Supports (in PDF). The report outlines how changes to the welfare process system have made it unreasonably difficult for people suffering from mental illness to access both basic income assistance and disability benefits. The study calls for the BC government to increase disability benefit rates, provide more advocates to help people navigate the welfare system, reinstitute a provincial Mental Health Advocate, and expand innovative supported housing programs. For more information read the CCPA's press release.

The Ontario government has promised that cheques will start going out in November to the 19,000 people who were left impoverished by backlogs in the Ontario Disability Support Plan (ODSP). In May, the Ontario Ombudsman released a scathing report called Losing the Waiting Game (in PDF) that accused the ministry of leaving thousands of disabled people without enough money to pay their bills because of the "asinine application" of rules. It was taking the ministry an average of eight months to process applicants for disability support payments but according to a rule implemented in 1998, the government would pay only four months of retroactive benefits. This meant that people who were entitled to benefits were not receiving them due to the backlog. The four month rule was suspended the day the Ombudsman's report was released. For more information on the ODSP payments, see the CBC story: "Ontario's disabled to get $25M".

"Street Health is an innovative, community-based health care organization providing services to address a wide range of physical, mental and emotional needs in those who are homeless, poor and socially marginalized." Failing the Homeless is a study which involved 85 homeless people with disabilities. Read the Summary Street Health Report (13 pages, in PDF) or the full 33 page report, Failing the Homeless (in PDF).

Ontario's ombudsman is calling on the province to pay millions to disabled people who have been denied support payments because of government delays. Read the 38 page Ombudsman's report (in PDF), a related CBC news story,"Pay disabled millions in denied support, ombudsman says" and a Mostly Water news bulletin,"Ombudsman Lashes Ontario Over Support for Disabled."

In a world of "full participation”, persons with disabilities would have equal access to the physical environments in which we work, live and play. Media and information would be equally available to those with sight, hearing, dexterity or mental disabilities. Persons with disabilities would have equal opportunities to make friends, form intimate relationships and would not face discrimination by others in society. Finally, persons with disabilities would have access to the supports that would help them complete their education, find or keep a job, have an adequate income, experience good health, and participate in their communities and in the political process. Originally to stop accepting submissions in October the deadline has been extended to December 2005. Input can be given by visiting the Canadian Federal Government's website.

The Caledon Institute of Social Policy has released commentary on the proposals in the 2005 federal Budget that will help reduce costs, primarily through the disability tax credit and the medical expense tax credit, for the estimated 12 percent of Canadians with some form of disability. Disability Tax: The Budget's Quiet Little Secret (in PDF) can be downloaded here.