ODA Committee Update
dated November 27, 2002
posted Dec. 12, 2002

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE UPDATE ODA COMMITTEE WRITES TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT-APPOINTED PROVINCIAL ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL November 27, 2002 SUMMARY The Ontario Government last week finally appointed all the members of its provincial "Accessibility Advisory Council," almost a year after this Council was legislatively created. The ODA Committee has just written to the Council, to congratulate its members on their appointment. In our letter, set out below, we again offer our help to this Council. We again emphasize the need for the Council to undertake province-wide public consultations with the disability community on the regulations which need to be enacted under the ODA 2001. Last spring, the Government appointed the first five members to this Council. We wrote to the Council on June 13 and then again on October 2, 2002. In those letters, we offered our help, asked about the Council's plans for action, recommended some priority areas for the Council, and provided the Council with lots of background information on the ODA issue. We have not received any response to those two letters. The initially-appointed members to that Council have had some meetings over the past months. Now the entire Council is in a position to meet and to continue the work that the initial 5 members started. We hope that we will soon receive answers to our three letters to the Council, including our offers to work closely with the Council. We look forward to hearing how the Council plans to go about its work, so we can be sure to do what we can to help. Under the ODA 2001, the Ontario Government created this Council to get input from the disability community and to make recommendations to the Government on the ODA's implementation, including on the regulations that the Government should pass. We want those regulations to be developed and passed as soon as possible. We want those regulations to comply with the 11 principles for the ODA which we developed and which the Ontario Legislature unanimously adopted by resolution four years ago, on October 29, 1998. The ODA Committee has a very important role to play in this process. We are the grassroots movement that has spearheaded this issue for the past eight years. We have the direct ties to the grassroots around Ontario, and the expertise to make regulations strong and effective. If you want to see the earlier letters we wrote to the Council, visit our website and use our great search engine at: http://www.odacommittee.net ODA Committee's June 13, 2002 Letter to Accessibility Advisory Committee Chair David Shannon ODA Committee Update dd Oct. 3, 2002 - ODA Committee Writes Chair of Government-Appointed Accessibility Advisory Council to Offer Our Help and to Ask for Council's Plans for Consulting Ontarians With Disabilities Send us your feedback on this letter at: oda@odacommittee.net ***** ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE c/o Marg Thomas 1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto ON M4G 3E8 Tel: (Voice direct) 416-480-7686 Fax: 416-480-7014 Voice mail: 416-480-7012 email: oda@odacommittee.net TTY: c/o Susan Main 416 964-0023 ex. 343 Web site: www.odacommittee.net November 25, 2002 Ontario Accessibility Advisory Council per Mr. Jeff Adams, Chair c/o the Accessibility Directorate, 400 University Avenue, 3rd floor, Toronto, Ontario, M7A 2R9 Dear Members of the Ontario Accessibility Advisory Council, Re: Ontarians with Disabilities Act On behalf of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, I would like to extend to you all a huge, warm congratulations on your appointment to serve as members of the Government-appointed Ontario Accessibility Advisory Council. Special congratulations are also extended to Jeff Adams for his elevation to the position of chair, and to Barry McMahon to his appointment as vice-chair. We wish you all the best of luck in the important challenge that you have taken on. The ODA Committee is eager to work very closely with you on achieving our shared goal of a barrier-free Ontario, and to do whatever we can to help you in fulfilling your mandate under the ODA 2001. We wrote to the previous chair of your Council, Mr. David Shannon, on June 13, 2002 and again on October 2, 2002 to offer our help with your Council's work and to seek your feedback on some important issues. By a copy of this letter to the Director of the Accessibility Directorate, we are asking that each and every one of you be provided with copies of those letters and all the enclosures. If any help is needed in getting them in alternative format, we would be pleased to assist. We look forward to hearing back from the Council on the matters we raised in our two previous letters. We believe it is especially important for your Council to undertake open, province-wide public consultations as soon as possible on the content of regulations to be enacted under the ODA 2001. We are eager for regulations to be enacted which are strong and effective, and which set good mandatory, enforceable standards and timetables for the removal and prevention of barriers against persons with disabilities in the public and private sectors. We look forward to hearing from you and to working together with you. We hope the enclosures with our two previous letters, as well as the comprehensive contents of our web site at www.odacommittee.net will be useful for you as you take on your new responsibility. Yours sincerely, David Lepofsky, C.M. Chair Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee cc: The Hon. Ernie Eves 325-7578 Carl DeFaria 326-9338 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 Nadia Temple

 

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Last updated December 12, 2002