Dr. Amie Lajoie:

I had to shorten the study in order to include it in my opening statement. The case involved a couple. The man's wife was getting older and he could no longer lift her in her wheelchair into his vehicle because he was elderly, which is why they were looking for increased support. That was what he had been doing previously - trying to find ways to use his current vehicle. The primary medical certificate and those six requirements are not just for this scheme and other schemes. I believe they also apply to the disabled parking permit. I spoke to another adviser who has several clients waiting. I think there are more than 450 appeals waiting to be processed that are not being processed because the board is no longer functioning. These people are just waiting to get access to disabled parking spaces near their homes so that when their carers arrive, they have a place to park in what is quite a busy estate. Right now, they must double park just so the carers can get into the home.

There are many things going on now and our fear was that the situation would continue to get worse as long as there continued to be no action on this really important matter. It is a group that is already facing extreme challenges and increased costs of living. It is further exacerbating those challenges for a really marginalised part of the population, which is quite concerning.