ODA Action TIP ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE ACTION TIP dd April 11, 2003

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE ACTION TIP JOIN OUR THRONE SPEECH CAMPAIGN - URGE PREMIER EVES TO INCLUDE IN HIS APRIL 30, 2003 THRONE SPEECH A COMMITMENT TO STRENGTHEN THE ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT 2001 April 11, 2003 SUMMARY Premier Ernie Eves has asked the public to email or write to him to tell him what people want his Government to commit to do in his upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne Speech. This Throne Speech is widely seen as the Eves Government's foundation for its platform in the upcoming provincial election. We need everyone to email or write to Premier Eves to raise disability issues. Urge that his Throne Speech include a detailed commitment to strengthen the Ontarians with Disabilities Act which his Government passed in December 2001, to make this law strong and effective. We give you here all the tools you need to get your message to Premier Eves quickly and easily. Email him. Get as many others as possible to do the same. We will then watch the Throne Speech closely on April 30, 2003 to see if the Eves Government listens to our views. The steps we are asking Premier Eves to take are all ones which both opposition parties, the Liberals and the NDP, have promised to take in their election pledges to us. Let's get Premier Eves and his party to join in so support for our needs will be unanimous. MORE DETAILS Here are the tools you need: (1) Tips on Taking Action - How You Can Help (2) Sample letters you can email to the Premier. (3) A list of the email, web, and regular mail addresses for sending your views to Premier Eves, and (4) A short excerpt from the Premier's Announcement on the Throne Speech Consultation. ***** (1) Tips on Taking Action - How You Can Help * It's best if you give your views in your own words. If you don't have the time, just cut and paste one of our two our sample letters, set out below, into your email message to the Premier. If you can, add to the sample letter your own message. The first of our two sample letters is longer and more detailed. For those of you who prefer something shorter, our second sample letter may suit you better. * Send us a copy of what you write to the Premier. You can email us at: oda@odacommittee.net * Get family members, friends and others to write the Premier to support our message. * If you are part of a community organization, get your organization to circulate this action tip and to organize consumers, volunteers and staff to all write the Premier to support our message. ***** (2) Sample Letters to Premier Eves (First Sample Letter) To: Premier Ernie Eves webprem@gov.on.ca Office of the Premier, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto ON M7A 1A1 I am an Ontarian. I am writing to give my input into your consultation on what to include in the upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne Speech. It is important that your Throne Speech make clear, strong commitments on action to enable Ontarians with disabilities to fully participate in all aspects of Ontario life. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act which your Government passed in 2001 was very disappointing because it did not go further. It did not make it mandatory to remove and prevent barriers. It did not apply to the private sector. It did not provide for effective enforcement. It did not set a time frame for setting mandatory accessibility standards. I ask that your Government commit in its Throne Speech to amend the Ontarians with Disabilities Act within the next year to make it strong and effective. I support the recommendations in the April 11, 2003 letter to you from the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee. I want your Government to commit to: 1. Immediately proclaim in force section 21 of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. It is the only section of that legislation, passed over 15 months ago, which has not been proclaimed in force. 2. Pass, within one year of your upcoming Throne Speech, amendments to the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001, to bring it into compliance with all 11 principles for this legislation which the Ontario Legislature unanimously adopted in a resolution on October 29, 1998 to make this legislation strong and effective. This would include, at a minimum, amending it to apply to the private sector, to make it mandatory that barriers against persons with disabilities be removed and prevented, to require public and private sector organizations to make effective accessibility plans and to implement them, to require the Government to make mandatory accessibility standards within a specified time frame, and to provide for effective enforcement and remedies. 3. Hold open, fully-accessible public hearings when the Legislature considers these amendments. 4. As Premier, personally meet with representatives of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, and for your Government to work together with the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee to develop these amendments. Both you and Premier Mike Harris refused each of the requests to meet with the ODA Committee since your Government took office in 1995. I look forward to seing these views incorporated in your April 30, 2003 Throne Speech. Issues important to persons with disabilities will be important in the upcoming election. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act issue is one which is important to me and to many others. I will encourage friends and family to take this issue into account when deciding how to vote in the upcoming provincial election. Sincerely, ***** (Second Sample Letter) To: Premier Ernie Eves webprem@gov.on.ca Office of the Premier, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto ON M7A 1A1 I am an Ontarian. I am writing to give my input into your consultation on what to include in the upcoming April 30, 2003 Throne Speech. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act which your Government passed in 2001 was very disappointing because it did not go further. Please commit in the Throne Speech to amend the Ontarians with Disabilities Act within the next year to make it strong and effective. I support the recommendations in the April 11, 2003 letter to you from the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee. I look forward to seing these views incorporated in your April 30, 2003 Throne Speech. Issues important to persons with disabilities will be important in the upcoming election. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act issue is one which is important to me and to many others. I will encourage friends and family to take this issue into account when deciding how to vote in the upcoming provincial election. Sincerely, ***** (3) Addresses to Reach Premier Eves You can yourself directly e-mail the Premier at: webprem@gov.on.ca or you can go on the web to use the Premier's website to email him by clicking on: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/english/email/ Or you can write him the old fashioned way, and mail your letter by post to Premier Eves at: Office of the Premier, Legislative Building, Queen's Park, Toronto ON M7A 1A1   ***** (4) Short Excerpt From the Premier's Announcement of the Throne Speech Consultation If you want to see the Premier's full announcement of the throne Speech Consultation, go to: http://www.premier.gov.on.ca/english/consultation/ The Ontario Government's website announces its Throne Speech Consultation as follows: "Throne Speech Consultation We want you to tell us your priorities for Ontario's future. We want your views and ideas to keep Ontario strong. We're consulting broadly, meeting with citizens in many different communities all across Ontario." Among the questions it invites us all to answer are these to which an answer about disability issues such as the ODA are entirely fitting: "9 - How can we ensure that people in every neighbourhood and in every community - from small, rural and northern communities to big cities - benefit from a growing economy and increasing prosperity?... OTHER SUGGESTIONS Are there any other suggestions to help make Ontario the best place to live, work and raise a family (e.g., measures to ensure greater public sector accountability in spending and results, support for seniors, democratic reform)?" The announcement also states: "YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION IS OPTIONAL Your Name: Street Address: City: Postal Code: Phone Number: The information you choose to provide on this form is collected in compliance with section 38(2) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The information will be used to develop the April 30 Throne Speech and may be used to contact you regarding your comments. The information will be used for this purpose and may be shared with Ontario government ministries. If you have questions about the collection of this information, please contact the Manager, Correspondence Services Unit, Whitney Block, Room 4620, 99 Wellesley St. W., Toronto, Ontario M7A 1A1, (416) 325-3777 Relevant Links ODA Committee Writes Premier Eves To Urge That Upcoming Throne Speech Include Commitments To Amend Ontarians With Disabilities Act 2001 To Make It Strong And Effective dd April 11, 2003 Ontario Liberal Party Unveils 2003 Election Pledge to Enact Strong Effective ODA dd April 8, 2003 NDP's 2003 election campaign pledge on the ODA dd March 1, 2003

 

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Last updated April 15, 2003