It was a great pleasure to comment on some fascinating WIP on disability benefits & social welfare by brilliant friends Ravi Malhotra Mark Weber & Laverne Jacobs in light of Canada's Bill C-22. Thank you Osgoode Hall Law School of York University Osgoode Institute for Feminist Legal Studies for inviting me to the workshop - next time in person!

Panel 2: Canada Disability Benefit: Expectations, Goals and Costing . Chair: Janet Mosher; Presenters: Michelle Hewitt; Michael Prince; Nasreddine Ammar; Discussant: Xiaoyi Yan

A CDB will be income-tested. People may not receive the full amount. $2,200/month ($26,400/year) CDB provides the $2,000 required for essentials plus a 10% addition for extra disability expenses people may experience.

CDB does not replace or reduce the need for other disability support programs. It can be combined with other programs to bring all PWDs up to a minimum income of $26,400/year.

Panel 3: Design Lessons (1): OAS/GIS, CERB, Quebec and US Programs. Chair: Kevin Milligan ; Presenters: Patrik Marier; Jennifer Robson; Samuel Ragot; Neil Buchanan Discussant: Xiaoyi Yan; Jinyan Li

What are the lessons that we learned from designing OAS/GIS? Profs Patrik Marier Concordia University and Daniel Béland McGill University expand on why the #GIS was so well received and how this could apply to #SocialSecurity programs - the CDB - to maintain political sustainability.

#COVID and the Canada Disability Benefit: what can we learn from CERB? Carleton University Prof Jennifer Robson discusses the benefits and challenges that comes with designing the CDB as a universal benefit similar to CERB

#Quebec will implement its Basic Income Program by 2023 with the hope of lifting 84K PWDs out of poverty. BIP’s many issues aside, senior policy analyst Samuel Ragot believes it is a right step and can teach us what to do for the CDB.

Panel 4: Design Lessons (2): Tax Law Chair: Tamara Larre ; Presenters: Cynthia Minh; Wayne Simpson; Jinyan Li; Thaddeus Hwong; Discussant: Kevin Milligan.

Bill C-22 would add an authority to the #incometax Act to allow government officials to provide taxpayer information to other government officials for CDB purposes.

Allowing for sharing of tax information of CDB-applicants potentially engages section 8 of the Charter. The following considerations support the consistency of the provisions with section 8.

The information sharing power would only be for administration and enforcement of CDBA. These purposes are closely related to the purposes for which the information about the individual applying for the benefit is collected.

This was a superb workshop with a volume of ideas, practical suggestions, and insightful reflections on the implementation of Bill C-22. Together, we will hopefully make this a more successful tool to lift many PWDs out of poverty into a life of dignity.

We are grateful to each and every participant, virtual and in-person, who joined us and enriched the workshop. Many thanks also to every single staff member at Osgoode and OPD who facilitated this workshop behind and on the scene!

Digital Feminist Activism and the Politics of Human Rights, Nov 25 12:00PM RSVP bit.ly/3sQB9Cv Panel will explore if #MeToo, as the most public manifestation of digital activism, is a global movement or local, a momentary blast or enduring, focusing on context & culture

Former interim dean of Osgoode Hall Law School of York University and tax law Professor Jinyan Li writes for the Financial Post on how to fix Canada’s disability benefit legislation, which was reintroduced in June. #YUResearch bit.ly/3Wjhpo1

Madeline Burghardt, a visiting Fellow Osgoode Institute for Feminist Legal Studies and instructor in the School of Health Policy & Management at York University, considers alternatives to Canada's special education, and why they haven't been implemented, for CBC Docs bit.ly/3YjF0pG

📷 2023 VIRTUAL SUMMER FEMINIST LEGAL THEORY SERIES "Looking Back/Looking Forward: The Significance of Feminist Legal Theory" June 28 & Aug 2, 2023. Pre-registration required pace.zoom.us/meeting/regist… Zoom link to be provided 1 day prior to event