AODA Alliance
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update
July 18, 2006
SUMMARY
Here’s a quick summary of the latest news on our campaign concerning the
McGuinty Government’s controversial Bill 107, the proposed new law to weaken the Ontario Human Rights code.
There are only three days left for you or your organization to sign up to
present at the August public hearings into Bill 107 to be held in London, Ottawa
and Thunder Bay. It is essential that you contact the Standing Committee on
Justice Policy no later than 5 pm this Friday, July 21, 2006, to ask to be able
to make a presentation. For information on how to sign up, visit:
http://dawn.thot.net/bill_107_june24-06.html
The hearings in those cities will take place between August 8 and 10, 2006. we
don’t know which August date has been chosen for which city. No deadline has yet been set for signing up for the Toronto hearings, to take place in the fall. If
you sign up to make an oral presentation to the Standing Committee, you don’t
have to also send in a written brief.
Please also note that people are entitled to apply to present at the public
hearings from surrounding communities near London, Thunder Bay or Ottawa. For example, if you live in or near Windsor, Sarnia, Chatham, Woodstock, or
Kitchener-Waterloo, you can ask to present in London. If you are part of a
province-wide organization, you can ask to have your local branches present in
ore than one city. It is important that the Standing Committee hear about your
experiences from across Ontario.
If you want ideas on what to say in your presentation, look at the draft
submission that the AODA Alliance has circulated. Feel free to cut and paste
from it. If you don’t have a copy of it, and want one emailed to you, send a
request to:
Remember that the AODA alliance is also eager for your feedback on our draft
submission. Send us your thoughts before August 11 to the email address above.
Even though it’s not mandatory, you might wish to send in a written submission
to the Standing Committee. Feel free to borrow from the AODA alliance’s draft
submission.
If you want tips on how to prepare an oral or written submission to the Standing
Committee, here is a link to a tip sheet that our predecessor, the ODA
Committee, prepared for public hearings on the Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act.
http://www.odacommittee.net/news196.html
If you are in the Toronto area, drop by later today,
Tuesday, July 18, 2006 at 5:30 pm, at Toronto City Hall’s Nathan Phillips
Square. A disability community group is hosting a free public accessible
community disability celebration called “Simply People 2006” that should be a
lot of fun. One of the speakers, AODA Alliance Human rights Reform
Representative David Lepofsky, will be addressing concerns about Bill 107.