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ODA Committee Update
dated Nov. 16, 2004
posted Nov. 28, 2004

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE UPDATE

ODA Committee Issues News Release Announcing Thursday's Kick-off of Bill 118 Second Reading Debate

November 16, 2004

SUMMARY

The ODA Committee has issued a news release announcing this Thursday's start
of the Second Reading debate on Bill 118, the proposed Accessibility for
Ontarians with Disabilities Act. See text below.

Please send this news release to your local media. Urge them to cover this
story. Let us know what feedback you get from the media. Contact us at:

oda@odacommittee.net

*****

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE

NEWS RELEASE: For immediate release

Ontario Legislature To Kick Off Historic Second Reading Debate On Proposed
New Disability Accessibility Law, On Eve Of Tenth Anniversary Of The
Grassroots Campaign For Legislation To Make Ontario Barrier-Free

TORONTO: November 16, 2004 - This Thursday, November 18, 2004, just after
3:00 p.m., fully ten years after forming the grassroots Ontarians with
Disabilities Act Committee, people with disabilities will converge on
Queen's Park to watch vigilantly as the Legislature kicks off the historic
Second Reading debate on Bill 118, the proposed Accessibility for Ontarians
with Disabilities Act. The Bill, which Ontario Citizenship Minister Dr.
Marie Bountragianni introduced in the Legislature on October 12, 2004, aims
at removing the barriers facing people with disabilities, including those
who will be watching the debates in the Legislative Building's Room 247, a
Legislative Committee Room at Queen's Park.

"Ten long years ago, on November 29, 1994, our non-partisan grassroots
movement was born when 20 disability rights activists gathered in a very
similar Queen's Park committee room, and committed themselves to the goal of
passing a new Ontario law to tear down the physical, technological,
bureaucratic and attitudinal barriers that prevent persons with disabilities
from enjoying full access to employment, goods, services and facilities that
the Ontario public enjoys," said David Lepofsky, chair of the province-wide,
non-partisan ODA Committee which has led the decade-long charge for this
legislation. "After ten years of confronting existing barriers and watching
new barriers being created, and after bringing our message to three
successive provincial governments, we are pleased that this government has
kept its promise to bring forward legislation that will create a society in
which everyone can participate."

Among the persons with disabilities who will gather at Queen's Park will be
some who were among the original 20 who launched this movement a decade ago,
as well as those who joined the campaign over the ensuing years. The media
is invited to meet with those attending in Room 247, Queen's Park, for
instant feedback on the debates unfolding on the Legislature's floor.
American Sign Language interpretation will be provided.

Contact: David Lepofsky, oda@odacommittee.net

Learn more at www.odacommittee.net

 

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