DISABLED COMMUNITY FED UP
I agree with Julie Carl's column, Disabled jaded after market mess (March 30).
It's precisely because disabled people cannot always be at the right place, at just the right time, saying just the right thing that we need a strong, effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA).
We've told Citizenship and Culture Minister Helen Johns and Premier Mike Harris we need strong access legislation. They've agreed - on the face of it. They are on the public record promising a strong, effective ODA no later than Nov. 23, 2001.
Liberal MPP Steve Peters has openly collected our provincewide opinions on what the act should contain. He has publicly beseeched Johns, as the minister in charge, to listen to us. The media has documented our every press conference. So what's gone wrong here?
Let me put it bluntly. The Tories don't get it. They must think that taxpayers, able-bodied and disabled alike, don't really mind the dollar costs of putting up and tearing down unnecessary barriers to disabled people. They must think we don't know the power of our own vote. We know otherwise. The City of London may still be struggling with it, but Londoners know how to read between the lines.
CATHY VINCENT-LINDEROOS
Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee
London area
Please check out other links to Cathy Vincent-Linderoos' articles/letters pertaining to the ODA
August 31, 1999
Open Letter from Cathy Vincent-Linderoos to ODA Committee London Members
Re: LONDON ODA COMMITTEE ACTION KIT -- an initiative to have the City of London officially reconsider its position concerning the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA)
