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Ottawa, March 7, 2003
2003-016

Co-Chairs for the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons With Disabilities Announced

John Manley, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, and Elinor Caplan, Minister of National Revenue, announced today the appointment of Sherri Torjman and Robert Brown as co-chairs of the Technical Advisory Committee on Tax Measures for Persons With Disabilities. The establishment of the committee was announced in the February 2003 budget.

Ms. Torjman is the Vice-President of the Caledon Institute of Social Policy, a non-profit social policy research organization. She has written extensively on disability matters and other social policy issues.

Mr. Brown is a tax expert who served as the Clifford Clark Visiting Economist—a key advisory position in the Department of Finance—from 1998 until 2001. He has also served as Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers and Chair of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Targeting eligibility for the disability tax credit (DTC) involves the difficult task of identifying those most in need. In the Budget 2003 speech, Minister Manley said the Government would "work directly with these groups [representing the disability community] through a new, independent advisory committee."

Over the next 18 months, the committee will advise the Minister of Finance and the Minister of National Revenue on the eligibility criteria for the DTC as well as other tax issues affecting persons with disabilities.

"These appointments will ensure that the disability community has a strong voice and will help the Government in its deliberations," Minister Caplan said.

As part of this commitment, the 2003 budget has set aside $25 million in 2003–04 and $80 million per year starting in 2004–05 to improve assistance for persons with disabilities. Other disability-related measures in the budget include a new $1,600 Child Disability Benefit as of July 2003. With the changes announced in the budget, tax relief for persons with disabilities, persons with medical expenses, and those who care for them will reach about $1.3 billion per year—more than double the tax relief provided in 1996.

Minister Manley and Minister Caplan will announce the other committee members in the coming weeks.

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