Do We Need a National Disability Insurance Plan?

The Pulse

Joeita speaks to Hubert van Niekirk, Executive Director of Every Canadian Counts, about a campaign to create a National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada.

Highlights

• Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Hubert Van Kiekerk, Executive Director for Every Canadian Counts (01:25)
• The Proposed National Disability Insurance Plan (02:56)
• Potential Impact of Plan for Canadians with Disabilities (03:54)
• Relationship Between National Plan & Existing Provincial Programs (06:07)
• Cutting Back on Bureaucracy & Disability Admin (07:54)
• Benefits of NDIP for Families and Caregivers (09:40)
• Bringing the Australian Model to Canada (12:12)
• Supporting Canadian Youth with Disabilities (15:19)
• Cost & Viability of National Disability Insurance Plan (16:39)
• Governmental Cooperation (21:10)
• How to Get Involved with the NDIP (23:38)
• EveryCanadianCounts.com (26:11)
• Show Close (28:09)

Guest Bio

Hubert Van Niekerk, Interim Executive Director of Every Canadian Counts

Educator and specialist teacher, community leader and volunteer.

Hubert has a long history of working and volunteering in the disabled community.

He has been involved with the Ontario Association for Developmental Education for 18 years serving as a member-at-large, president and past president. Hubert served as the president of the Council for Exceptional Children for London-Middlesex.

He is on the L’Arche London board of directors. Before retirement, Hubert was a special education specialist teacher in a mostly self-contained classroom for 17 years. He taught students with a wide-range of intellectual and multiple disabilities. Hubert also engaged in a year-long teacher work exchange to Australia for the year of 2010.

About Every Canadian Counts

Every Canadian Counts (ECC) is calling on Canadian governments to work together to develop a national funding program to ensure essential disability supports are available to all Canadians living with chronic, long-term disabilities. ECC includes individuals living with disabilities, caregivers, advocates and support organizations.

With ongoing effort through Bill C-22 (An Act to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of persons with disabilities) and the Accessible Canada Act, now's the perfect time for the "next big thing" to support Canadians with disabilities, similar to what's already been accomplished in Australia through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) - and we can't do it without you.

Reference:

Article - The Australian Advantage: Speaking with One Voice

"For all the plaudits and superlatives that have been laid at the feet of the NDIS in Australia, a truly breathtaking social policy initiative, it is not primarily the disability insurance idea itself nor its subsequent implementation that sets Australia apart. Rather, it was the ability of the disability community and their supporters to speak with one voice to get it done.

How was that possible?"

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on X / Twitter: https://twitter.com/JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio.

For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/

About AMI

AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.

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