Compounding Barriers to Access: A Study of Tax Policies and Practices That Exclude Women with Disabilities in Poverty

Authors

Cynthia Minh, Disability Alliance British Columbia

Document Type

Article

Abstract

A single parent on social assistance who cannot afford the medical interventions they require does not make enough money to offset their medical costs through taxes. A woman who experiences chronic symptoms of fibromyalgia and struggles to get diagnosed in their adulthood feels dependent on a doctor who is unsupportive of their disability benefit applications for chronic pain medication. A person who experiences paranoia is unable to access the tax information needed to apply for rental assistance programs because they forgot to complete a step when filing for a name and gender change. These are stories from individuals who have walked through Disability Alliance British Columbia’s (DABC) doors for tax-related support. On the surface, these stories capture unique and individual challenges. When taken together, these stories underscore the ways that existing tax policies and legislation could better address the compound barriers that people with disabilities and their caregivers face when trying to achieve financial well-being and full financial participation in society.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Citation Information

Minh, Cynthia. "Compounding Barriers to Access: A Study of Tax Policies and Practices That Exclude Women with Disabilities in Poverty." Osgoode Hall Law Journal 61.2 (2024) : 639-669.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/2817-5069.4023
https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/ohlj/vol61/iss2/13

References

1 Cynthia Minh, MA, is part of the Tax AID and Access RDSP programs at Disability Alliance British Columbia. These programs have supported thousands of people with disabilities across British Columbia with income tax filing and related benefits including the Disability Tax Credit and Registered Disability Savings Plan.

2 See generally Canadian Human Rights Commission, Report on Equality Rights of People with Disabilities (Ministry of Public Works and Government Services, 2012), online: [perma.cc/3KRY-ZAPQ]; Cameron Crawford, Looking Into Poverty: Income Sources of Poor People with Disabilities in Canada (Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion and Society & Council of Canadians with Disabilities, 2013) [Crawford, Looking Into Poverty]; DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada / Réseau d’actions des femmes handicapées du Canada, Girls Without Barriers: an intersectional feminist analysis of girls and young women with disabilities in Canada, 1st (DAWN Canada, 2020); Johanna Lewis & Brian Dijkema, Breaking Down Work Barriers for People with Disabilities (Cardus, 2022).

3 See Cameron Crawford, Disabling Poverty & Enabling Citizenship: Understanding the Poverty and Exclusion of Canadians with Disabilities (Council of Canadians with Disabilities, 2010); Statistics Canada, A demographic, employment and income profile of Canadians with disabilities aged 15 years and over, 2017, by Stuart Morris et al, Catalogue No 89-654-X2018002 (Statistics Canada, 28 November 2018), online: [perma.cc/LNU8-438A]; Michelle Maroto & David Pettinicchio, “Barriers to Economic Security: Disability, Employment, and Asset Disparities in Canada” (2020) 57 Can Rev Sociology/Rev can sociologie 53, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/cars.12268; Michael Palmer, “Disability and Poverty: A Conceptual Review” (2011) 21 J Disability Pol’y Studies 210, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207310389333.

4 See Patrick Berrigan, Craig W M Scott & Jennifer D Zwicker, “Employment, Education, and Income for Canadians with Developmental Disability: Analysis from the 2017 Canadian Survey on Disability” (2020) 53 J Autism Developmental Disorders 580, DOI: ; Maroto & Pettinicchio, ibid; Michael J Prince, Inclusive Employment for Canadians with Disabilities: Toward a New Policy Framework and Agenda (Institute for Research on Public Policy, 2016) [Prince, Inclusive Employment]; Statistics Canada, “Limitations and barriers to employment for adults with disabilities” (22 December 2015), online: [perma.cc/7X9X-UCUG]; Statistics Canada, Low income among persons with a disability in Canada, by Katherine Wall, Catalogue No 75-006-X (Statistics Canada, 11 August 2017), online: [perma.cc/92U3-KK69].

5 See e.g. Statistics Canada, “Poverty and low-income statistics by disability status” (2 May 2023), online: [perma.cc/ZY6U-BGAB]; Prince, Inclusive Employment, ibid.

6 See Maroto & Pettinicchio, supra note 3. See also Prince, Inclusive Employment, supra note 4.

7 See Maroto & Pettinicchio, supra note 3.

8 DisAabled Women’s Network of Canada/Réseau d’actions des femmes handicapées du Canada, “Women with Disabilities and Poverty” (January 2014), online: [perma.cc/U6UL-366J]; Statistics Canada, Women in Canada: A Gender-based Statistical Report, Women with Disabilities, by Amanda Burlock, Catalogue No 89-503-X (Statistics Canada, 29 May 2017), online: [perma.cc/DMR5-3T65] [Statistics Canada, Women in Canada].

9 See Statistics Canada, Women in Canada, ibid; Milagros Rico-Blázquez et al, “Health-related quality of life in caregivers of community-dwelling individuals with disabilities or chronic conditions. A Gender-differentiated analysis in a cross-sectional study” (2022) 21 BMC Nursing 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-022-00845-x; Crawford, Looking Into Poverty, supra note 2.

10 See Statistics Canada, Women in Canada, supra note 8.

11 See Esther Ignagni, “‘Not Just a Job’: Disability, Work, and Gender” in Leslie Nichols, ed, Working Women in Canada: An Intersectional Approach (Canadian Scholars, 2019) 111; Behzad Karami Matin et al, “Barriers in access to healthcare for women with disabilities: a systematic review in qualitative studies” (2021) 21 BMC Women’s Health 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01189-5.

12 See Berrigan, Scott & Zwicker, supra note 4; Akram Khayatzadeh-Mahani et al, “Prioritizing barriers and solutions to improve employment for persons with developmental disabilities” (2020) 42 Disability & Rehab 2696, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2019.1570356; Prince, Inclusive Employment, supra note 4; Kim M Shuey & Emily Jovic, “Disability Accommodation in Nonstandard and Precarious Employment Arrangements” (2013) 40 Work & Occupations 174, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888413481030; Andrea Vick & Ernie Lightman, “Barriers to Employment Among Women With Complex Episodic Disabilities” (2010) 21 J Disability Pol’y Studies 70, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1044207309358588; Statistics Canada, Women in Canada, supra note 8.

13 See e.g. British Columbia, Expert Panel on Basic Income, Covering All the Basics: Reforms for a More Just Society, by David A Green, Jonathan Rhys Kesselman & Lindsay M Tedds (BC Basic Income Panel, 2021), online: [perma.cc/K3ZJ-NLMW], DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3781825; British Columbia, Expert Panel on Basic Income, Interactions Between Income and Social Support Programs in B.C., by Gillian Petit & Lindsay M Tedds, Research Paper (BC Basic Income Panel, 2020), online: [perma.cc/TRQ7-M47G], DOI: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3781878 [Petit & Tedds, Interactions]; Michael J Prince, “Canadian Federalism and Disability Policy Making” (2001) 34 Can J Pol Sci/Rev can sci pol 791, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0008423901778092 [Prince, “Canadian Federalism”]; Claire F L Young, Women, Tax and Social Programs: The Gendered Impact of Funding Social Programs Through the Tax System (Status of Women Canada, 2000).

14 See Spencer van Vloten, “Increase BC PWD 2022!,” online: www.bcdisability.com/pwd [perma.cc/N6PE-TXYB].

15 See Government of British Columbia, “Annual earnings exemption” (22 January 2022), online: [perma.cc/Z9C7-9SZS].

16 See Employment and Social Development Canada, Transforming our Systems: The 2022 Report of the National Advisory Council on Poverty (ESDC, 2022) at 90, online: [perma.cc/247Z-CQ7W].

17 See Young, supra note 13.

18 See Stephanie Dunn & Jennifer Zwicker, “Why is Uptake of the Disability Tax Credit Low in Canada? Exploring Possible Barriers to Access” (2018) 11 School Pub Pol’y Publications 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11575/sppp.v11i0.43187; Lisa Philipps, “Disability, Poverty and the Income Tax: The Case for Refundable Credits” (2001) 16 J L & Soc Pol’y 77, DOI: https://doi.org/10.60082/0829-3929.1053; Young, supra note 13.

19 Tax AID partners include Together Against Poverty Society, Active Support Against Poverty Society, and Ki-Low-Na Friendship Society. Access RDSP partners include Plan Institute and the BC Aboriginal Network on Disability Society.

20 See e.g. Natalie M Chin, “Centering Disability Justice” (2021) 71 Syracuse L Rev 683; Mariam Kemple, Fatima Ahmad & Suraj Girijashanker, “Shaping Disability Rights through Shaping the Disability Movement” (2011) 3 J Human Rights Practice 355, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jhuman/hur019.

21 Sins Invalid, “Disability Justice - a working draft by Patty Berne” (10 June 2015), online: [perma.cc/BJ6M-UE2B]; Chin, ibid.

22 SC 2019, c 10, s 6.

23 Ibid.

24 See Prince, Inclusive Employment, supra note 4.

25 See Crawford, Looking Into Poverty, supra note 2; Kourtney Koebel & Dionne Pohler, “Expanding the Canada Workers Benefit to Design a Guaranteed Basic Income” (2019) 45 Can Pub Pol’y / Analyse de pol 283, DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2019-016; Laura Pin, Leah Levac & Erin Rodenburg, “Legislated Poverty? An Intersectional Policy Analysis of COVID-19 Income Support Programs in Ontario, Canada” (2023) 27 J Poverty 404, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10875549.2022.2113590; Prince, “Canadian Federalism,” supra note 13; Prince, Inclusive Employment, supra note 4; Lindsay M Tedds, “Implementing a Basic Income Guarantee Through the Personal Income Tax System: Benefits, Barriers, and Bothers” (Northern Policy Institute Research Paper No 25, 2017); British Columbia, Expert Panel on Basic Income, Basic Income in Canada: Principles and Design Features, by Lindsay M Tedds, Daria Crisan & Gillian Petit, Research Paper (BC Basic Income Panel, 2020), online: [perma.cc/B37Z-DHAB], DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3781834.

26 Tedds, Crisan & Petit, ibid at 8-9.

27 See Michael J Prince, “Tax Policy as Social Policy: Canadian Tax Assistance for People with Disabilities” (2001) 27 Can Pub Pol’y / Analyse de pol 487, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3552538.

28 Gillian Petit & Lindsay M Tedds, “Overview of System of Income and Social Support Programs in British Columbia” (BC Basic Income Panel, 2020), online: [perma.cc/69PM-HAS3], DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3781866 [Petit & Tedds, “Overview of System”]; Philipps, supra note 18.

29 See Tedds, Crisan & Petit, supra note 25; Young, supra note 13; RSC 1985, c 1 (5th Supp).

30 See Petit & Tedds, “Overview of System,” supra note 28; Tedds, Crisan & Petit, supra note 25.

31 See Gillian Petit et al, “Re-Envisaging the Canada Revenue Agency - From Tax Collector to Benefit Delivery Agent” (2021) 69 Can Tax J 99, DOI: https://doi.org/10.32721/ctj.2021.69.1.pf.petit; Tedds, supra note 25; Young, supra note 13.

32 See Young, supra note 13.

33 See Ignagni, supra note 11; Kendra Milne, High Stakes: The impacts of child care on the human rights of women and children (West Coast LEAF, 2016); Young, supra note 13.

34 See Rico-Blázquez et al, supra note 9 at 2.

35 See Milne, supra note 33 at 40.

36 See Philipps, supra note 18 at 88.

37 See Young, supra note 13 at 10.

38 Ibid.

39 Department of Finance Canada, News Release, “Government expands Canada Workers Benefit to support one million more Canadians” (30 June 2021), online: [perma.cc/6RRF-V4A5].

40 See e.g. Dunn & Zwicker, supra note 18 at 7; Senate of Canada, Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science, and Technology, Breaking Down Barriers: A critical analysis of the Disability Tax Credit and the Registered Disability Savings Plan: Report of the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology (June 2018) (Chair: Hon Art Eggleton) at 11-12.

41 CRA, Income Tax Folio S1-F1-C2, “Disability Tax Credit” (8 February 2024) at para 2.6.

42 See supra note 29.

43 See e.g. Watts v The Queen, 2004 TCC 535 at para 33; Steele v The Queen, 2002 CanLII 1012 (TCC) at para 15.

44 See e.g. Behzad Karami Matin et al, “Barriers in access to healthcare for women with disabilities: a systematic review in qualitative studies” (2021) 21 BMC Women’s Health 1 at 21, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-021-01189-5; Lise Dassieu et al, “Chronic pain experience and health inequities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: qualitative findings from the chronic pain & COVID-19 pan-Canadian study” (2021) 20 Intl J Equity & Health 1 at 9-10, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-021-01496-1. For more on sex differences and access to healthcare, see Christina P Tadiri et al, “Determinants of perceived health and unmet healthcare needs in universal healthcare systems with high gender equality” (2021) 21 BMC Pub Health 1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11531-z.

45 See Judy Illes & Hayami Lou, “A Cross-Cultural Neuroethics View on the Language of Disability” (2019) 10 AJOB Neuroscience 75 at 75, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/21507740.2019.1618410; Lyn Jongbloed, “Disability Policy in Canada: An Overview” (2003) 13 J Disability Pol’y Studies 203 at 207, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/104420730301300402.

46 See Chin, supra note 20 at 716.

47 See Dunn & Zwicker, supra note 18 at 5.

48 See Salim Ahmed et al, “Barriers to Access of Primary Healthcare by Immigrant Populations in Canada: A Literature Review” (2016) 18 J Immigrant Minority Health 1522, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0276-z.

49 See supra note 22.

50 CRA, Canada Revenue Agency’s Accessibility Plan 2023-2025 (last modified 7 Feb 2024), s 6.6 online: [perma.cc/AW2L-64PD].

51 See e.g. Petit et al, supra note 31; Philipps, supra note 18; Caitlin Salvino et al, “Mapping of Financial Support Programs for Children with Neurodisabilities Across Canada: Barriers and Discrepancies Within a Patchwork System” 33 J Disability Pol’y Studies 168, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/10442073211066776; Tracy A Smith-Carrier & Kendal David, “Life stabilization and resiliency for disabled people? A critical discourse analysis of the Ontario poverty reduction strategy” (2023) 38 Disability & Society 1779 at 1791, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2022.2042200; Young, supra note 13.

52 See Philipps, supra note 18 at 113.

53 In the context of instituting a basic income, see Tedds, Crisan & Petit, supra note 25.

54 Petit & Tedds, Interactions, supra note 13 at 3.

55 Ibid.

56 Office of the Ombudsperson (31 May 2022), online: [perma.cc/8Z2U-VKBB].

57 Ibid.

58 See Indigenous Services Canada, A Report on Children and Families Together: An Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Child and Family Services, by Celeste McKay, Catalogue No R5-717/2018E-PDF (Indigenous Services Canada, 2019). See also Johanna Caldwell & Vandna Sinha, “(Re) Conceptualizing Neglect: Considering the Overrepresentation of Indigenous Children in Child Welfare Systems in Canada” (2020) 13 Child Indicators Research 481 at 485-487, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12187-019-09676-w; Jacqueline Denison, Colleen Varcoe & Annette J Browne, “Aboriginal women’s experiences of accessing health care when state apprehension of children is being threatened” (2014) 70 J Advanced Nursing 1105 at 1112-1113, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.12271; Jessica Y Hsieh, Kristen J Mercer & Sarah A Costa, “Parenting a second time around: The strengths and challenges of Indigenous grandparent caregivers” (2017) 4 GrandFamilies: Contemporary J Research, Practice and Pol’y 76 at 86-89.

59 An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families, 1st Sess, 42nd Parl, 2019, cls 8(a), 8(b), (assented to 21 June 2019), SC 2019, c 24.

60 Indigenous Services Canada, News Release, “Bill C-92: An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families receives Royal Assent” (21 June 2019), online: [perma.cc/YHE4-YFNW].

61 Naiomi Walqwan Metallic et al, “An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Children, Youth and Families Does Bill C-92 Make the Grade?” (21 March 2019), online: Yellowhead Institute [perma.cc/VC2E-UM7N].

62 See supra note 22.

63 Employment and Social Development Canada, News Release, “House of Commons adopts legislation for a Canada Disability Benefit” (2 February 2023), online: [perma.cc/GCG6-672V].

64 See A J Withers et al, “Radical Disability Politics” in Ruth Kinna & Uri Gordon, eds, Routledge Handbook of Radical Politics (Routledge, 2019) 178 at 183, DOI: https://doi.org/10.43li24/9781315619880.

65 Ibid at 184.

66 This article is greatly indebted to the disability advocates in the Tax AID and Access RDSP programs at DABC: Emily Zhu, Meghan Tilson, Lauren Stinson, Jana Husseini, Willow Leach, and Max Dixon Murdock, as well as DABC’s Executive Director, Helaine Boyd, and the rest of our staff members. Most of all, this article is indebted to the individuals who have come through DABC to share their stories.