Vestiges of the medical model: a critical exploration of the Ontario Disability Support Program in Ontario, Canada

Abstract

Although ample literature exists on workfare in Ontario, Canada, research on the social assistance programme for disabled people, the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP), is relatively scant. What we do know points to similar shortcomings. We present a critical disability study considering four policy domains to explore how disabled people are identified and accommodated in Ontario. Discussing the principles of universal design, we argue for policy design that meets the needs of as many individuals as possible, while accounting for significant human variability. We conclude that the ODSP, in failing to adopt a rights-based framework, violates the dignity and rights of disabled people.

Keywords:

• Basic income
• critical disability studies
• disability policy
• human rights
• models of disability
• universal policies

Notes

1. Individuals reflect a multiplicity of intersections, some subject to privilege, others to subordination. The interactions of these on multiple axes of privilege and subordination will influence the degree of oppression to which the individual is exposed (Ehrenreich 2002).

2. Canada does not have an official poverty line but typically relies on three low-income measures; the after-tax low-income measure is but one.

3. After the first $200, 50% of all net income earned by ODSP participants is deducted from their benefits (Government of Ontario, ‘Ontario Disability Support Program’, 2016). This policy has the potential to interfere with participants’ decisions to accept hours of employment.