Tories promise improved disability grant amid turmoil over urinating candidate

WATCH ABOVE: Prime Minister Harper offers short, terse comment regarding loss of two Conservative candidates in separate scandals

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – The federal Conservatives are promising to improve disability grants if re-elected next month.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says his government would increase the maximum annual Canada Disability Savings Grant for low- and middle-class families from $3,500 to $4,000.

The grant program was created in 2008 and allows parents and families of children with disabilities, and the children themselves when they’re old enough, to set aside money for the future in a tax-free account.

Harper also pledged to continue to work with the provinces and the country’s big banks to improve the administration of the RDSP program, and to expand the range of investment options.

He says the program helps those who need financial security the most to generate significant savings.

Harper is campaigning in the Greater Toronto Area on holiday Monday, and the disability announcement comes as Conservative Scarborough Rouge Park candidate Jerry Bance is dropped from the party’s slate after being caught on camera urinating into a coffee cup while working as an appliance repairman.

WATCH: Prime Minister Harper announces Conservative government would increase Disability Savings Grant to $4,000