Letter to the Honourable Helen Johns
Minister of Citizenship, Culture & Recreation

October 1st, 1999

The Honourable Helen Johns
Minister of Citizenship,
Culture and Recreation
77 Bloor St. W., 6th Floor
Toronto, Ontario
M7A 2R9

Dear Minister:

Re: Ontarians with Disabilities Act

Thank you for taking the time to meet with a delegation of the ODA Committee on September 28, 1999, and for your follow-up letter on the same date. We appreciated having the opportunity to meet with you and to share our views on the importance of a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and the need for an open, accessible and public consultation to be started as soon as possible.

We are pleased that you found it useful hearing about the different perspectives from those attending, all of which are based on having an Ontarians with Disabilities Act that reflects the 11 core principles in the October 29, 1999 resolution of the Ontario Legislation. Their valuable input is a clear illustration of the need for comprehensive legislation that can address a range of issues rather than a piecemeal approach. Your wide-ranging questions of us also reflect the value of a full and open public consultation where questions from you as well as other MPPs can be fully addressed and where we can learn about and respond to concerns raised by other stakeholders.

We also want to thank you for agreeing to promptly contact the Premier's office to communicate our desire to meet with the Premier, and to encourage the Premier to agree to meet with us.

We have asked Thompson, Lightstone to provide us with copies of the polling data that you requested. We will be pleased to forward it to you as soon as we receive it. We have not had any other polls or surveys conducted for us. We would similarly ask that you provide us with the data from any and all surveys or polls that the Government has conducted since 1995 or will conduct touching on the issue of barriers or discrimination against people with disabilities. We once again want to extend an offer to meet with you as you develop your plans for the consultation process and for a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

We want to repeat our openness to provide you with all the help we can, and to engage in a lively and constructive exchange over the shape of the legislation both during and after the public consultation process. We look forward to hearing from you soon regarding the time frame and your proposals for the form of the public consultation. Again, thank you for taking the time to meet with us.

Sincerely,

David Lepofsky, CM,
Chair, Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee

cc: Name:
Hon. Mike Harris
Norman Sterling
Dalton McGuinty
Dwight Duncan
Steve Peters
Howard Hampton
David Christopherson
Marilyn Churley

 
 

 

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