Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities http://www.aodaalliance.org aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance
November 25, 2019
SUMMARY
Here is a sampling of news from the grassroots of Ontarios non-partisan campaign for accessibility for people with disabilities.
1. Two Illustrations of How the Ford Government Has Not Obeyed the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
For years, the Ontario Government has proclaimed that it is leading Ontario by its example when it comes to achieving accessibility for people with disabilities. Yet is the Government itself fully obeying Ontarios key accessibility law, the AODA? We here highlight two ways in which the Ontario Government is not now in compliance with the AODA:
First, as far as it has announced, the Government has not fulfilled its mandatory and important duty under s. 9 of the AODA to appoint a Standards Development Committee to review the Design of Public Spaces Accessibility Standard that was enacted in December 2012. We have not even seen a public posting inviting people to apply to serve on that Standards Development Committee.
In our July 17, 2018 letter to Ontarios Accessibility Minister Raymond Cho, we alerted the minister to this obligation. Fully 16 months later, we have seen no action on this. In that letter, we identified this as a priority for the minister:
4. Get a Standards Development Committee appointed to develop recommendations on accessibility standards needed to address barriers in the built environment, in residential housing, and in existing buildings whether or not they are undergoing major renovations.
One effective way to do this would be to fulfil the Government’s overdue obligation under the AODA, which the previous Government failed to fulfil, to appoint a new Standards Development Committee to make recommendations on any revisions needed to the 2012 provisions of the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation which address disability barriers in public spaces.
That review had to be started within five years, i.e. by December 2017. Both the previous Wynne Government and the current Doug Ford Government have each failed to do so. Section 9 of the AODA provides:
(9) Within five years after an accessibility standard is adopted by regulation or at such earlier time as the Minister may specify, the standards development committee responsible for the industry, sector of the economy or class of persons or organizations to which the standard applies shall,
(a) re-examine the long-term accessibility objectives determined under subsection (2);
(b) if required, revise the measures, policies, practices and requirements to be implemented on or before January 1, 2025 and the time-frame for their implementation;
(c) develop another proposed accessibility standard containing such additions or modifications to the existing accessibility standard as the standards development committee deems advisable and submit it to the Minister for the purposes of making the proposed standard public and receiving comments in accordance with section 10; and
(d) make such changes it considers advisable to the proposed accessibility standard developed under clause (c) based on the comments received under section 10 and provide the Minister with the subsequent proposed accessibility standard.
Second, the Ford Government is not obeying the mandatory requirement to have an Accessibility Standards Advisory Council (ASAC) in place. The previous Government had appointed an ASAC. It met over the years since the AODA was enacted in 2005.
However, there has been no meeting of ASAC since the Ford Government took office in June 2018. At present, according to the Governments website, there is only one member left on ASAC and no chair or vice chair of that Council.
Section 31 of the AODA provides:
Accessibility Standards Advisory Council
31. (1) The Minister shall establish a council to be known in English as the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council and in French as Conseil consultatif des normes d’accessibilité. Members
(2) A majority of the members of the Council shall be persons with disabilities. Remuneration and expenses
(3) The Minister may pay the members of the Council the remuneration and the reimbursement for expenses that the Lieutenant Governor in Council determines. Duties
(4) At the direction of the Minister, the Council shall advise the Minister on,
(a) the process for the development of accessibility standards and the progress made by standards development committees in the development of proposed accessibility standards and in achieving the purposes of this Act; (b) accessibility reports prepared under this Act; (c) programs of public information related to this Act; and
(d) all other matters related to the subject-matter of this Act that the Minister directs. Public consultation
(5) At the direction of the Minister, the Council shall hold public consultations in relation to the matters referred to in subsection (4). Reports
(6) The Council shall give the Minister such reports as the Minister may request.
Of these two clear contraventions of the AODA, the first is by far the most important. However, the Government should never disobey our accessibility legislation, especially at a time when Ontario keeps slipping further and further behind the AODAs mandatory goal of becoming an accessible province for people with disabilities by 2025.
2. Act Quickly to RSVP to Come to the December 3, 2019 Birthday Party to Celebrate the 25th Anniversary of the Birth of the Grassroots Non-Partisan Campaign for Strong Ontario Accessibility Legislation
Available spaces are quickly filling up to attend the December 3, 2019 birthday party at Queens Park to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the birth in that very building of the non-partisan grassroots campaign for strong accessibility legislation in Ontario for over 2 million people with disabilities. For information about this event, and how to RSVP, and for a summary of the historic events on November 29, 1994, visit https://www.aodaalliance.org/whats-new/come-to-a-birthday-party-on-december-3-2019-the-international-day-for-people-with-disabilities-at-queens-park-to-celebrate-the-25th-anniversary-of-the-birth-of-the-non-partisan-grassroots-movemen/
Once the maximum of 150 people is reached, anyone who RSVPs will get a spot on the waiting list.
3. The Doug Ford Government Has Still Not Announced a Plan to Implement the Report of David Onleys Independent Review of the AODA
A total of 298 days or almost ten months have now passed since the Doug Ford Government received the blistering final report of the Independent Review of the AODAs implementation and enforcement conducted by former Lieutenant Governor David Onley. The Onley Report found that the Governments implementation and enforcement of the AODA has been far too sluggish and ineffective. The Ford Government has still announced no plan to implement that report, nor has it said that it will do so.
4. A Successful Public Forum on Accessibility Was Held Earlier this Month in the County of Essex
On November 5, 2019, the County of Essex and its Accessibility Advisory Committee held a very successful public forum on disability accessibility. It focused on practical things that can be done to make accessibility a reality for people with disabilities.
Below we set out news coverage of that event. We were delighted that in attendance were the mayor or deputy mayor of several local municipalities, as well as people with disabilities, senior municipal public servants and representatives of disability community organizations. We encourage other local communities to organize similar events. Wed be happy to help and to provide a speaker if possible.
5. Carla Qualtrough is Back as the Minister Responsible for Implementing and Enforcing the New Accessible Canada Act
After the recent federal election, Prime Minister Trudeau has announced his new Cabinet. He has again appointed Carla Qualtrough to serve as the federal minister responsible to lead the implementation and enforcement of the new Accessible Canada Act. Her title has been modified. She is now Canadas Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion.
We congratulate Minister Qualtrough on her new appointment. We look forward to working with her on our proposal which we announced on November 18, 2019 , that a short bill be introduced into Parliament to better enable the Accessible Canada Act to achieve its important goals.
MORE DETAILS
The Windsor Star November 6, 2019
Originally posted at https://windsorstar.com/news/local-news/accessibility-advocate-david-lepofsky-urging-people-to-highlight-access-deficiencies
Accessibility advocate David Lepofsky urging people to highlight access deficiencies CHRIS THOMPSON, WINDSOR STAR Updated: November 5, 2019
David Lepofsky, a prominent champion of accessibility and the rights of persons with disabilities, speaks at an event hosted by the Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee at the Civic Centre, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019. DAX MELMER / WINDSOR STAR
Accessibility advocate David Lepofsky came to Essex Tuesday to promote a Twitter campaign aimed at affecting change by identifying barriers to mobility for the disabled.
Lepofsky, chairman of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Alliance, spoke to about 60 people at the Essex Civic Centre.
We have made progress, but we are not on schedule for accessibility in 2025, nowhere close, said Lepofsky. Our accessibility and our rights should not be dismissed as red tape.
Lepofsky is encouraging all Ontarians to use social media to expose accessibility barriers with photographs using the hashtags #DialDoug and #AODAFail.
Lepofsky is calling on the Progressive Conservative government of Doug Ford to make the province fully accessible for the 1.9 million Ontarians with disabilities by 2025.
He said the disabled community is the minority of everyone because you either have a disability, know someone with a disability or will get a disability later in life.
The biggest cause of disability is getting older, Lepofsky said.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was enacted in 2005 to improve accessibility standards for Ontarians with physical and mental disabilities to all public establishments by 2025.
Compliance deadlines depend on the size of the institution and the sector in which it operates.
chthompson@postmedia.com
Excerpt from Ontario Governments Website Listing the Membership of the Accessibility Standards Advisory Council as of November 24, 2019
Originally posted at: https://www.pas.gov.on.ca/Home/Agency/1 1. Chair (Part-Time)
2. Vice-Chair (Part-Time)
3. Member (Part-Time) OLGA DOSIS, 03-Jan-2018 – 02-Jan-2020, Woodbridge 4. Member (Part-Time)
5. Member (Part-Time)
6. Member (Part-Time)
7. Member (Part-Time)
8. Member (Part-Time)
9. Member (Part-Time)
10. Member (Part-Time)
11. Member (Part-Time)
12. Member (Part-Time)
13. Member (Part-Time)
14. Member (Part-Time)
15. Member (Part-Time)
16. Member (Part-Time)