Osgoode Hall Law School Workshop Invitation: Women With Disabilities And Negative Taxation

Workshop Invitation: Women with Disabilities and Negative Taxation (Mar. 10, 2022):

We would like to invite you to a workshop tentatively scheduled for November 11, 2022 in Toronto, Canada. The goal of this event is to contribute to the debates about proposed Canada Disability Benefit (CDB) program (Bill C-35) by sharing insights from multiple disciplines, different perspectives, and several stakeholder groups, with a focus on women with disabilities.

By way of background, the existing patchwork of income-support programs in Canada, including some delivered through the income tax system (such as disability tax credit and registered disability savings plan) fail to provide a reasonable level of income security for working-age disabled Canadians, especially women. The CDB aims to remedy that by modelling after the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) for seniors. If introduced, it will be the most significant addition to the Canadian social security system in recent years.

What are the challenges in getting the legislation passed? How will the CDB interact with existing programs (at federal and provincial levels)? What lessons can be learned from the CERB (Canada Emergency Response Benefit) in ensuring the CDB is effectively targeted, fairly implemented and adequate in meeting the needs of women with disabilities? Can the CDB be the genesis of a general negative tax or universal basic income system?

Just as importantly, should the difference between various types and degrees of disabilities be a criterion in distribution of any such social security benefits, and if so, how? What are the implications of expanding such benefits for our understanding and dominant conceptual approaches to disability? What are the linkages between tax regulations and policies and the social objective of disability without poverty? Not least, is the intersection of gender and disability significant here, and if so, what makes the status of women with disabilities unique or different? These are just some of the questions that we hope to investigate. Your suggestions for additional questions and specific topics are, of course, welcome and appreciated.

We plan to disseminate workshop contributions widely as well as in the form of publications in a law journal or a collected volume. We are applying for a SSHRC Connection Grant to support travel expenses of participants.

In addition to academics, we are reaching out to stakeholders and experts in the field and on the ground. We hope you can join us.

If you are interested in principle, we’d be happy to discuss the topic of your choice and further details: 

• Hengameh Saberi, Associate Professor 
• Jinyan Li, Professor of Tax Law