April 16, 2002

SUMMARY

On Monday April 15, 2002, after Ernie Eves was sworn in as Ontario's new
premier, the Conservative government's newest Citizenship minister, Mr. Carl
DeFaria, was sworn in. He is the third Citizenship minister in the past three
years, and the fifth since the Conservative government took office almost seven
years ago.

On Tuesday, April 16, 2002, the ODA Committee wrote to the new minister. We
congratulated him on his appointment, and offered to work together with him on
implementation of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001, and to help the
Government keep its 13 commitment to Ontarians with disabilities.

The ODA Committee also urged the Minister to take three initial steps, namely
proclaiming the rest of the ODA 2001 in force, appointing the new Ontario
Disability Advisory Council via a process that gives the disability community a
say in its membership, and developing regulations under the ODA 2001 through an
open, consultative process. See this letter below.

As always, we welcome your feedback at:

oda@odacommittee.net

*****

 

April 16, 2002

The Honourable Carl DeFaria
Minister of Citizenship
400 University Avenue, 6th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M7A 2R9

Dear Minister:

Re: Ontarians with Disabilities Act

I am writing on behalf of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee. As you
know, we are a voluntary, non-partisan, grassroots coalition of community
organizations and individuals, who united to achieve a barrier-free Ontario for
its 1.5 million residents with disabilities through the enactment and
implementation of a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Congratulations on your appointment to the position of Minister of Citizenship.
We wish you the best of luck in this new challenge.

We want to take this opportunity to offer you our assistance to help you
succeed in an important matter on your Ministry's and Government's agenda, the
implementation of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001. We have offered to
work together with each of your predecessor Citizenship Ministers on the
Ontarians with Disabilities issue. We have also written to incoming Premier
Eves last week, to extend to him the same offer. We enclose our April 10, 2002
letter to him.

The ODA Committee is widely recognized for leading province-wide efforts to
secure the enactment of a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
We are also recognized as a leading centre of expertise in this area.

To assist you in taking on your new challenge, we enclose a list of the 13
commitments that your Government made to Ontarians with disabilities last fall,
in connection with the proposed Ontarians with Disabilities Act, as well as a
list of the Government statements in which these commitments were made. We ask
you to make the fulfillment of those 13 commitments, including the prompt and
effective implementation of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001, a top
priority for your Ministry. The following three initial actions are especially
important:

1. Immediate proclamation into force of all provisions of the Ontarians with
Disabilities Act 2001. A majority of this legislation's provisions still remain
unproclaimed and not in force, four months after the Legislature passed it.

2. Appointment of the new Ontario Disability Accessibility Advisory Council.
The Government proclaimed in force the Act's provisions empowering the
appointment of this Council over two months ago. However, the Council has not
been appointed. We encourage you to announce a public selection process which
will ensure that the persons whom the Government appoints to this Council have
a strong commitment to mandatory removal and prevention of barriers, and to
ensure that the disability community has a say in who will be on the Council.

3. Development and enactment of regulations under the Act covering all sectors.
A key component of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 is the power to
make regulations detailing several important matters, such as the standards and
timetables for removing barriers, remedies for non-compliance, and processes
for enforcement. It is important that the process for developing these
regulations to get underway now, including an open process for bringing
together the disability community and other stakeholders (such as the private
sector, municipalities and broader public sector agencies) to work together on
these regulations.

We look forward to working together with you to help your Government fulfil its
13 commitments to Ontarians with disabilities, and again congratulate you on
your appointment as Minister of Citizenship.

Yours sincerely,

David Lepofsky, C.M.
Chair
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee

cc: The Hon. Ernie Eves 325-7578
Chris Stockwell 325-7755
Dalton McGuinty 325-9895
Dwight Duncan 325-2201
Steve Peters 325-7262
Ernie Parsons 325-4757
Howard Hampton 325-8222
Peter Kormos 325-7067
Marilyn Churley 325-3252
Tony Martin 325-3720

Enclosures:

1. ODA Committee's April 10, 2002 letter to Premier Ernie Eves (3 pages)

2. CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT'S 13 COMMITMENTS TO ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES (4 pages)

3. CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT'S STATEMENTS SETTING OUT ITS 13 COMMITMENTS TO ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES (14 pages)

Links:

Conservative Government's 13 Commitments to Ontarians With Disabilities added April 13, 2002
download as Word doc
download as Rich Text Format file
download as Text only file

Conservative Government's Statements Setting Out Its 13 Commitments to Ontarians With Disabilities added Apr 13, 2002
download as Word doc
download as Rich Text Format file
download as Text only file