Upcoming 10th Anniversary of Major Event in the Long Campaign for Strong Disability Accessibility Legislation

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:00:00 GMT

October 29, 2008 is the 10th anniversary of an extremely important event in the decade-long battle for the enactment of a strong Disabilities Act, to achieve a barrier-free Ontario for persons with disabilities.

On October 29, 1998, during the first term of the Conservative Mike Harris Government, the Ontario Legislature unanimously passed a resolution which called for the promised Disabilities Act to implement 11 important principles to make it strong and effective. Those 11 principles were crafted by the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, the predecessor to the AODA Alliance. You can read those 11 principles at: http://www.odacommittee.net/oct-resolution.html

The events of that dramatic day are summarized in a three-page excerpt, set out below, from David Lepofsky’s detailed articled that summarizes the Disabilities Act movement’s history from 1994 to 2003. To read the debates in the Ontario Legislature on October 29, 1998, leading to the passage of this resolution, visit: http://www.odacommittee.net/hansard18.html

There is so much about October 29, 1998 that remains important to Ontarians with disabilities. First, this stunning achievement was the result of hard work by Ontarians with disabilities and their friends, families and other supporters, from right across Ontario at the grass-roots. They tenaciously visited, phoned, faxed and wrote to their members of the Ontario Legislature to urge them to support this important resolution. Their hard work paid off. They waged this battle with determination, in the face of the brick wall they kept slamming into, whenever they tried to discuss a Disabilities Act with the ruling Mike Harris Conservative Government. In the 1995 provincial election, Mike Harris had promised that he would pass the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) in his first term. Yet for the next years, his Government showed no real interest in taking this promise seriously.

Second, ten years later, we still measure the legislation we’ve won, the Harris Government’s Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 and the McGuinty Government’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005, against the 11 principles the Ontario Legislature adopted on October 29, 1998. We also continue to measure any accessibility standards and other actions taken under the AODA 2005 against these 11 bedrock principles.

Third, it was on that very autumn day ten years ago, right after this resolution was passed, that then-Opposition leader Dalton McGuinty first attended a Queen’s Park news conference, to pledge to fulfil this resolution if he becomes premier. He is now Ontario’s Premier. He passed the AODA to turn that resolution into binding legislation. He is now in charge of Ontario’s Government. He has the power to ensure that this legislation is implemented, in a way that fulfils the October 29, 1998 resolution’s 11 principles.

Fourth, the MPP who championed this resolution ten years ago was Opposition Liberal member Dwight Duncan. That day he became a hero to Ontario’s disability community for spearheading this effort on the Legislature’s floor and in his party’s caucus. Ten years later, Mr. Duncan is now Ontario’s Finance Minister, not an Opposition member in the Ontario Legislature. He is in the best position of any Cabinet minister to allocate the much-needed new public funding needed to make a fully accessible Ontario, and the effective implementation and enforcement of the AODA a reality, not just a dream in the distant future.

How can you help mark this important anniversary on the road to a barrier-free Ontario? We encourage you to circulate this update widely. Encourage others to come up with creative ways to mark this anniversary in your community. Let your local media know what progress has been made in the past ten years, and what progress still must be made, to make Ontario fully barrier-free to over 1.5 million Ontarians with disabilities. Send us your feedback at:
aodafeedback@rogers.com

Is The Ontario Government on Schedule to Making Ontario Fully Accessible for People with Disabilities by 2025?

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:00:00 GMT

On September 4, 2008, a delegation from the AODA Alliance met with senior Ontario Government officials at the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. They are responsible for implementing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. (AODA) We sought an update on what steps the Ontario Government is taking to implement the AODA, and to implement Premier McGuinty’s 2007 election promises to Ontarians with disabilities. The results of this meeting were summarized in a September 8, 2008 letter to the Ontario Government set out below.

In summary, the Government has taken a number of important steps on the implementation of the AODA. What these measures will mean for the daily lives of Ontarians with disabilities remains to be seen. We appreciate these public officials updating us, and offering to consult with us on a range of items, spelled out in the letter below.

However, it is also regrettably clear at this point that Ontario is now not on target to fulfil the fundamentally important legal requirement that this province must become fully accessible for persons with disabilities on or before January 1, 2025. The AODA sets this deadline for full accessibility-a deadline which the Ontario Government selected and enshrined in the law. It is necessary for the Ontario Government to now come up with strong new plans for how to get itself on schedule for meeting this deadline. We have made it clear to the Ontario Government that we welcome the opportunity to work on this with them.

To see what progress we learned about at a similar meeting in September 2007, visit:
http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/10222007.asp

To read Premier McGuinty’s 2007 election promises concerning disability accessibility issues, visit:
http://www.odacommittee.net/news80.html

Send us your feedback at:
aodafeedback@rogers.com