David Onley Schedules Public Hearings of the Third Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Without Notifying the AODA Alliance – Dates Coming Up Fast

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities

www.aodaalliance.org aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance

David Onley Schedules Public Hearings of the Third Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Without Notifying the AODA Alliance – Dates Coming Up Fast

August 24, 2018

SUMMARY

In February 2018, the previous Ontario Government appointed David Onley to conduct the next mandatory Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We have just recently learned through the grapevine that Mr. Onley has already scheduled some public hearings for this Independent Review. We set out his announcement below, taken from the website of that Independent Review.

We regret that this notification to you is so last-minute. However, the David Onley Independent Review did not notify us about any of this. As our website shows, in the case of the two earlier AODA Independent Reviews, in 2010 by Charles Beer and 2014 by Mayo Moran, we were active in publicizing the dates for their public hearings, and active in encouraging people to take part in them. We were unable to do this sooner, in the case of Mr. Onley’s review, as he has not contacted us to alert us about these dates, or to get our help in publicizing them.

We have also heard via the grapevine and on Twitter that Mr. Onley has held some earlier round-table discussions with invitees from the disability community. We were not invited to take part in any of those sessions. This is so, even though the AODA Alliance has been widely recognized for years as leading the non-partisan campaign in Ontario for accessibility.

Despite this last-minute notice, we encourage everyone to try to take part in these hearings. From our review, it does not appear that any public hearings are scheduled now for Toronto. If we learn of any, we will let you know. From the information set out below, some sort of event was held last June at Variety Village. It will be important for people with disabilities and others in Toronto to be able to take part in public hearings in Toronto.

From the website which we set out below, we have also just learned that the David Onley AODA Independent Review has set October 1, 2018 as its deadline for receiving written submissions. We call on that Independent Review to extend that deadline. For our part, we are already working on our brief. We do not anticipate that it will be completed by October 1, 2018. We will submit it when it is finished.

We note from the information set out below that there are two public hearings scheduled for next week, in Ottawa and York Region. They are scheduled during the last week of the August holiday period, just before the Labour Day Long weekend. We are concerned that the turnout at those events will be less than would have been the case, had these been held in September.

We always welcome your feedback on this or any other topic. We also again invite any feedback for our brief to this AODA Independent Review. Write us at aodafeedback@gmail.com

MORE DETAILS

Text of the Home Page of the 2018 Third AODA Independent Review Web Page as of August 24, 2018

Originally posted at:

http://www.aodareview2018.ca/

AODA Review

Third Review of Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA)

Led by The Honourable David C. Onley

Ontario has appointed the Hon. David Onley, CM, O.Ont., senior lecturer in the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto Scarborough and Ontario’s 28th Lieutenant Governor, to lead a review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

The AODA’s goal is to make Ontario accessible for people with disabilities by 2025, helping build a fair society in which everyone can contribute their skills to our economy. Section 41 of the Act calls for a comprehensive review of the legislation and its effectiveness every few years. The review includes consulting with the public, in particular people with disabilities, in order to make recommendations.

The AODA uses the same definition of disability as the Ontario Human Rights Code, which includes both visible and non-visible disabilities.

About 1.85 million people in Ontario have a disability—that’s one in seven people or more than 15 per cent of the population and more than 40 per cent of those over age 65. As the population ages the number will rise to one in every five Ontarians. More than half of the population has a friend or loved one with a disability.

David C. Onley is the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, having served from 2007 to 2014. He is now Senior Lecturer and Distinguished Visitor at the University of Toronto Scarborough, where he teaches two senior seminar courses in Political Science – The Politics of Disability, and The Vice Regal Office in Canada. Prior to his appointment as Lieutenant Governor, Mr. Onley had a 22-year career with Toronto’s Citytv and was the first newscaster in Canada with a visible disability. Mr. Onley has been inducted into the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame and was named to the Order of Canada in 2017.

Quick Facts

The second review of the act was conducted by Mayo Moran, Provost and Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College at the University of Toronto, and was completed in 2015. The government has since implemented a number of Moran’s recommendations, including the appointment of a Minister Responsible for Accessibility and the development of new accessibility standards.
With the passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Ontario became an accessibility leader, establishing standards in key areas of daily life and implementing them within clear timeframes.
Accessibility standards have been developed in five key areas of daily living: customer service, information and communications, employment, transportation and the design of public spaces.
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act includes legislative requirement for a comprehensive review of the effectiveness of the act and its regulations every three years after tabling.
Ontario is working to develop new accessibility standards for health care and education to remove barriers.

Ways to get involved:

Call for Written Submissions

Until October 1, 2018 the Honourable David C. Onley will be accepting written submissions.

Text of the Web Page of the 2018 Third AODA Independent Review Meeting Schedule as of August 24, 2018

Originally posted at:

http://www.aodareview2018.ca/how-to-participate/events/

Over the course of 2018, Mr. Onley will engage with communities and individuals to listen and gather information with the end goal of creating a comprehensive report that captures many voices and views on accessibility in Ontario.

Public Consultation – Ottawa, Ontario

Location: Carleton University

Address: 1125 Colonel By Dr, Ottawa ON

Date: Monday August 27, 2018

Time: 2pm – 5pm

https://events.carleton.ca/have-your-say-on-the-aoda/

Public Consultation – The Regional Municipality of York

Location: York Region Administrative Centre, Seminar Room

Address: 17250 Yonge Street, Newmarket ON L3Y 6Z

Date: Wednesday August 29, 2018

Time: 12pm – 5pm

Online Session

Date: Thursday August 30, 2018

Time: 2pm – 5pm

Public Consultation – Thunder Bay, Ontario

Location: Lakehead University

Room Conference Room A & the Fireside Lounge

Address: 955 Oliver Rd, Thunder Bay, ON, P7B 5E1

Date: Thursday, September 13, 2018

Time:: 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Public Consultation – Windsor, Ontario

Location:

Address:

Date: tbd

Registration available soon

Past Events

Public Consultation Launch – Scarborough, Ontario

Location: Variety Village

Address: 3701 Danforth Avenue, Toronto, ON M1N 2G2

Date: Monday June 25, 2018

Third Review of Accessibility Act for Ontarians with Disabilties (AODA)

1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4