ODA Committee Update
dated November 29, 2002
posted Dec. 12, 2002

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE UPDATE HAPPY EIGHTH BIRTHDAY, ODA COMMITTEE! November 29, 2002 SUMMARY Today we celebrate the eighth anniversary of the founding of the ODA Committee. Congratulations to all who have been with us since the start, and to those who have joined and helped along the way on the road to a barrier-free Ontario. MORE DETAILS Eight years ago today, around 20 people unexpectedly ended up in a room together at Queen's Park, Toronto. They had a shared dream of a barrier-free Ontario for all persons with disabilities. They also had a shared goal of winning a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act to get us to that dream. Little did we know what we got started that day! In the eight years since we founded the ODA Committee, we have grown into the biggest, broadest most grassroots cross-disability coalition Ontario has ever seen. We have won the recognition of Ontario's political parties, the media, and the public. We got a new piece of legislation passed last year. While it is disappointing, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 is a first step towards the ultimate strong and effective law that we continue to seek. We have also won recognition on the international stage. Our activities are monitored by various governments and disability organizations elsewhere in different corners around the world. Our experience and our ideas have been sought in recent months by representatives of the Governments of France, China and most recently, the European Union. The European Union passed a directive requiring all of its member states to pass an anti-discrimination law by 2006. It must include, among other things, provisions forbidding discrimination in employment based on disability, and a duty to accommodate persons with disabilities in the workplace. ODA Committee chair David Lepofsky was recently invited by the Government of Denmark to make a presentation at a recent European Union conference in Denmark, attended by all states in the European Union. That conference focused on what steps those states should take to enact human rights legislation required of them by the year 2006. The conference wanted to learn from the OdA Committee what we had learned here, what we proposed here, and how they can benefit from our knowledge and expertise. CBC Radio's "As It Happens" program interviewed the ODA Committee chair over the phone from Denmark, and aired this interview across Canada on November 14, 2002. We now have wonderful ties in several countries in the European Union, who are monitoring our work and eager to share with us their ideas. As we mark this eighth anniversary of the founding of the OdA Committee, we should re-dedicate ourselves to our ongoing campaign for a barrier-free Ontario. We should celebrate our successes to date. We can also dream of a time when the Government of Ontario will be as interested in our ideas and expertise as are the Governments of France, China and the European Union! Thanks again to all who have supported our cause and who have spread the word to friends, family and co-workers about the need for a strong, effective ODA to achieve a barrier-free Ontario.

 

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Last updated December 12, 2002