Peter Julian, MP for New-Westminster Burnaby, hosted a press conference on Parliament Hill on his Bill C-577, tabled on October 5, 2010 in the House of Commons. Bill C-577 would increase inclusiveness for people with hearing disabilities by allowing fair access to the Disability Tax Credit.

Julian’s Bill has received much praise and broad-based support from the Hard of Hearing community several will were on hand at the press conference to show support and comment on the need for these reforms.

The current regulations according to which a person can qualify for the disability credit are ambiguous and do not reflect real life situations so Bill C-577 would fix this by:? • Redefining “quiet setting” to be “normal setting” for sound levels in testing
?• Changing the requirements so that a person is eligible if they are unable to understand “another person”, rather than “a person familiar to them.”?
• And not requiring that the person to be wearing an “assisted listening device” when the degree of impairment is being assessed

Joining Peter at the press Conference were the following persons: NDP Critic for Persons with Disabilities Tony Martin, MP (Sault Ste. Marie), Norah-Lynn McIntyre, Executive Director of VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children, Michel David, MSW, National Working Group on the Disability Tax Credit, Canadian Hard of Hearing Association and Dr. Chantal Kealey, CASLPO Director of Audiology and Supportive Personnel, Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists.

To view videos of the press conference please click here for Part 2

Keywords: disability, tax credits