ODA Bill 125 hansard November 6, 2001

The people of Ontario recognize, however, that more work needs to
be done and that there is a strong need for change. Over the past
few months, I have met with more than 100 individual
disability organizations and additional individuals representing
this community and the municipal, broader public and private
sectors. I wanted to hear their voices, and I wanted to benefit
from their expertise and their personal experiences. In Ontario we
are blessed with strong legislation such as the Ontario Human
Rights Code. We have a wide range of government- funded programs
and services in health care, children's treatment, respite care,
research, development, transportation, special education, tax
incentives, income and employment supports, and many more
programs.

Yet this government knew that much, much more had to be done.
Persons with disabilities want to be able to get into and around
their communities safely: to go to their local library or
recreational centre, to attend and participate in town council
meetings, to go to the mall, to eat in a restaurant. They want the
right to get to a job that nurtures their skills, to journey to the
next community and be able to get around there. They want to live
as independently as possible, to do the things so many people in
society enjoy every single day. Last week our
government unveiled Independence and Opportunity: Ontario's Vision
for Persons with Disabilities. The Vision, signed by the Premier
and myself, will act as a visible and public reminder of the
challenges we have undertaken. It is also a firm commitment based
on what we have heard and what we have learned. The
proposed Ontarians with Disabilities Act represents the important
legislative component of the framework that will achieve that
vision. It would mandate the provincial government,
municipalities and the broad public sector to plan for greater
accessibility to their buildings and their services for persons
with disabilities. It would establish the foundation for
sustained and effective long-term partnerships. In particular, the
knowledge, expertise and contributions of persons with
disabilities would be called upon as never before in this
province.

Passage of the bill would pave the way for the creation of the
Accessibility Advisory Council of Ontario. I would appoint the
chair and members of its review body from the disabilities
community. Similar accessibility advisory bodies would be
required in all municipalities where there are 10,000 or more
people. Several municipalities already have such committees, and
the bill would expand them to every single corner of our
province.

For the first time in Ontario, an act of this Legislature will
entrench in law an Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. This
would be created within the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, and
its job would be to oversee the day-to-day efforts required to
fulfill the laws to help Ontarians with disabilities. Chief among
the directorate's tasks would be providing information, knowledge
and support to all sectors; taking the lead in planning and
policies that would increase accessibility; providing a strong
oversight agency; monitoring compliance; establishing
guidelines; and building alliances with the private sector. The
directorate would work strategically with other ministries and
stakeholders to make change happen and undertake a public
education program to overcome attitudinal barriers in our
province. The new Accessibility Advisory Council will begin and
engage this important first phase of the legislation. Several
municipalities, as I have said, are already setting an example by
bringing forward initiatives to increase accessibility within their
current resources. I have seen, first-hand, success
stories around the province and would like to acknowledge the
leadership of communities like Windsor, under Mayor Mike Hurst,
and Thunder Bay, under Mayor Ken Boshcoff. All Ontario
municipalities affected by this bill will be held to the same high
standard or even higher.

I want to emphasize how absolutely vital it is that persons with
disabilities have a full and active voice in the changes we are
setting forward today in legislation. My belief, as their
minister, is that a policy or a law will work much better if the
very people it affects are directly involved and are working with
it on a daily basis. For the first time, disabled citizens will be
driving the changes and reforms we create together in Ontario.
This legislation does not just talk about persons with
disabilities; it includes them as active participants. Persons
with disabilities understand the barriers they struggle with and
confront on a daily basis. Their knowledge, expertise and
experience are the singular, most important contributions to our
understanding of these necessary reforms. Their involvement in the
planning process outlined in the bill would ensure the government
views activities through their disability lens. For persons with
disabilities, this legislation offers an
unparalleled opportunity to make positive change happen in our
province, not just now but long into the future. We are creating
an alternative future filled with anticipation, with hope and with
change. More importantly, it will be filled with dignity for all
Ontarians, understanding the needs of our citizens with different
abilities.

Many of us will be able to leave this Legislature today without
giving a thought to how easy it is for us. There must come a day
when access here and everywhere in our province is just as easy
for persons with disabilities. This legislation is a major step
forward in achieving that vision and for gaining full
citizenship for all our citizens.

Mr Dalton McGuinty (Leader of the Opposition): I want to
congratulate the minister and the government for getting
religion on this issue. It's something we've been working
actively on for some six years now. The fact of the matter is that
it was on May 24, 1995, that the Premier sent a letter to the
disabled community specifically committing to enacting an
Ontarians with Disabilities Act in his first term of office, and
that was some six and a half years ago. We are pleased that the
government, as I say, has finally found religion.

There are some people who should be thanked with respect to this:
first of all, David Lepofsky and the Ontarians with Disabilities
Act Committee, who have been absolutely tireless in making this
government accountable for their broken promise.

In addition, I am very proud of the efforts made by some specific
members in my own caucus. Ernie Parsons, Steve Peters and Dwight
Duncan have kept the government's feet to the fire on this matter.
They've had extensive consultations. They put a number of
questions to the ministers involved. We put forward
resolutions.

We haven't had an opportunity to review the legislation, but we
look specifically to ensure that it reflects the 11 principles
unanimously supported by the members of this Legislature. We of
course expect that the committee will travel and enable the 1.6
million strong membership of the disabled community to have a full
opportunity to comment on the legislation.

*****

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES LEGISLATION

Mr Howard Hampton (Kenora-Rainy River): I want to refer first to
the proposed Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001. In
responding, I want to congratulate all of those individuals and
all of those groups who have worked very hard to push the
government forward. I include and mention, of course, all of those
people who have worked with David Lepofsky.

I want to point out, though, that in the few brief moments that
we've had to look at the act, there appear to be some glaring
holes in it. For example, it would appear as if private sector
operators will not be covered by this act in any mandatory way. It
would appear, in fact, that in terms of requiring buildings which
are not now accessible to become accessible, there is nothing in
the act. It would appear that all that municipalities have to do is
to prepare a plan. If they prepare a plan, then technically they
comply with the act. There is nothing in the act which says, "You
must now do this and this"; just, "Prepare a plan."

I ask, then, what does the disability community do? There are to be
these local advisory committees. I put it in the place of the
community I come from. The disabled community there, I take it, is
to work through that committee and to lobby the multinational
employer to make their premises more accessible, to lobby an
international hotel chain to make their premises more accessible.
But if they are unsuccessful, it would seem that all they can do
is to go back and file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights
Commission. The commission has already indicated they have neither
the money nor the staff to follow through on those investigations.

At the end of reading this, I'm left to conclude that what is
really in this presentation today is about one third substance and
two thirds media spin. Now, it may be that members of the disabled
community will say it is better to take this small loaf, because
they may believe that's as much as they're going to get under this
current government. But I have to say, I don't believe that this
act meets either with the resolution that was passed in this
Legislature or meets with the promises that were made by this
government back in 1995. We need to look at the details in this
bill for some time. We need extensive public hearings so that
there is a clear understanding out there of the very definite
limitations in this bill and the committees and structures of
committees that flow from it.

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