QUESTION PERIOD — Employment and Social Development
Disability Benefits
April 14, 2026
Senator Moreau, Prime Minister Carney, flush with by-election victories yesterday, named affordability as a top priority. The fact is persons with disabilities are among the poorest of the poor. Many are relying on insufficient fixed or limited incomes that keep them trapped in poverty.
When resources are scarce, survival takes precedence over health. Skipping medication, delaying treatment or rationing doses become a coping mechanism, with seriously negative long‑term consequences.
Statistics Canada just confirmed that the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, and the gap widens day by day. Fact: The less than $900 a year in Bill C-4 will not lessen this gap significantly.
Senator Moreau, does your government have a plan? What next steps will be taken to ensure disability income supports actually move Canadians out of poverty?
The short answer to the question “Do we have a plan?” is yes. The government has proposed Bill C-4, as you just mentioned. It’s $400 for a single person, more than $500 for a couple and more than $800 for a family with two children. We have Bill C-15, investing $57 billion in affordable child care. We have Bill C-20, investing $13 billion in new housing. We are taking care of Canadians, and I think that — when you were referring to yesterday’s by-election — Canadians understand that.
Senator Moreau, how will the government ensure that disability income supports are increased and regularly adjusted to cover rising living costs? Or is the Carney government comfortable with perpetuating this deep poverty of people with disabilities?
If the government were comfortable with what you are saying, it wouldn’t act like it does, actually. We have investment in many sectors to make sure that affordability is there, to make sure that housing is there, to make sure that we take care of the poor and homeless, just as I mentioned to Senator Pate just a moment ago.
I know that you want to ask that kind of question, and you’re allowed to do that. I understand that perfectly, but the government is committed to helping Canadians across the country.
