In the fourth review of the AODA, Rich Donovan states that Ontario will not be fully accessible by 2025. In other words, the provincial government will not meet its own deadline under the AODA. Limited creation, implementation, and enforcement of AODA standards impacts the well-being and safety of Ontarians with disabilities. Therefore, Donovan recommends that the Ontario government should declare this lack of progress on accessibility a crisis. This crisis state should last six (6) months. During this time, the Ontario government should form a crisis committee to implement crucial accessibility improvements in the province. The Premier should act as the chair of this committee, and the Secretary of Cabinet should act as co-chair. Furthermore, Donovan outlines tactical recommendations the province should follow to fulfill its remaining responsibilities in the public sector. One of these tactical recommendations is a panel of people with disabilities to consult on Crucial Accessibility Concerns.
Panel of People with Disabilities to Consult on Crucial Accessibility Concerns
The AODA often requires the government and other organizations to consult with people who have disabilities. Moreover, many of these consultations involve committees where most members have disabilities. For example, AODA standards development committees are responsible for creating and updating AODA standards. Similarly, Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committees advise city councils about how to comply with the requirements of the AODA.
However, members of these committees are often accessibility activists or members of advocacy organizations. These experts have important knowledge to share, and the government should continue to consult them. Nonetheless, people who are not activists or advocates may have different experiences, concerns, or needs than people who assess accessibility professionally.
Recommendations
Therefore, the review recommends that the government should establish a panel of people with disabilities to consult at every stage of development for:
- Products
- Services
- Policies
- Plans
- Programs
At first, the panel should have one hundred (100) members. Moreover, members’ disabilities should reflect the percentages of people with those disabilities in the overall population of Ontarians with disabilities. However, the panel should receive one hundred (100) new members every three (3) months. Eventually, the panel should have more than one thousand (1000) members. These members should take turns serving on the panel. Members should be people with disabilities who do not work as activists or belong to advocacy organizations.
Government ministries should consult members of this panel during development of:
- Accessibility plans
- Experience design
- Public policy
The government or the accessibility agency should continue to consult with activists and advocates on a regular basis. However, the panel will allow the government to communicate with, and learn from the perspectives of, a wider variety of people.