ODA Update
March 23, 2001

OUR PRESSURE FOR A STRONG ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT IS REALLY HAVING AN IMPACT! There can be no doubt that the persistent grassroots pressure by ODA supporters across the province over the past six years played a huge part in getting the Ontario Human Rights Commission to announce its new policy guidelines on the human rights of persons with disabilities. This has triggered a flurry of media coverage, including front page coverage in the Toronto Star. The coverage has linked this event to the continuing need for a strong Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We should keep up our efforts in support of the ODA to build on this. These new guidelines are helpful, but what we still need is a strong ODA. Set out below is the text of news articles that appeared on Friday, March 23, 2001 in the Toronto Star, the Toronto Sun, the Globe and Mail, the Canadian Press wire services, and two free Toronto daily papers, "Metro" and "Today." It is a lot of material, but it's great material too! It is significant that in the new Citizenship Minister's news release, the Minister, on behalf of the Harris Government, expresses support for the Ontario Human Rights Commission's new disability policy guidelines. The Harris Government's so-called "Red Tape Task Force" had previously released a report seeking to cut back on the Commission's previous disability policy guidelines, and so, to weaken the rights of Ontarians with disabilities. The Ontario Human Rights Commission's new guidelines certainly do not cut back on the previous ones. Cam Jackson is therefore now publicly on side in support of the Commission's guidelines, and thus, is against the Government's Red Tape Task Force on this issue. We must also be alert to the fact that in Minister Jackson's news release, he states: "It is also further proof that the rights accorded to the people of Ontario under the Human Rights Code are respected and protected. The Human Rights Code is working..." Yet the fact that 1.5 million Ontarians with disabilities still face so many barriers proves that the there is still a pressing need for a strong, mandatory Ontarians with Disabilities Act. It is also significant that according to the March 23, 2001 edition of the Toronto Sun, Ontario Human Rights chief commissioner Keith Norton stated at his March 22, 2001 news conference that he would welcome passage of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act. ***** Toronto Star Friday, March 23, 2001 Page A1 and A20 Disabled win pledge on rights Crackdown vowed against workplace discrimination Theresa Boyle QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU The Ontario Human Rights Commission is launching an aggressive campaign to crack down on discrimination against the disabled. ``We must see action and if there's no sign of action . . .on the part of corporations, individuals, employers and others across the province, then we will come calling at your door,'' chief commissioner Keith Norton warned yesterday. Norton made his comments as he unveiled an updated policy for battling discrimination against the disabled. He said the commission plans to be more proactive, and will search for cases itself rather than wait for official complaints to be launched. Norton said the commission will soon be asking large organizations - including major retailers, food chains, the public transit system and big employers - to report on the accessibility of their facilities. If their buildings are not accessible, the commission will ask them to prepare a plan for making them so. ``If they fail to do so, then I would not hesitate . . .to launch a commission-initiated complaint,'' Norton added. Human rights complaints are adjudicated before a board of inquiry, which can make orders, for example, for the installation of wheelchair ramps, monetary compensation and reinstatement of employment. The Human Rights code is a civil law and anyone who fails to comply with such orders could be found in contempt of court. Disabled rights advocates lauded the commission's new policy but said the Conservative government must go even further and pass its long-promised Ontarians with Disabilities Act - effectively making barriers to the disabled illegal. ``If a strong (act) was passed now, it would reduce our need to bring individual human rights complaints to tackle one barrier at a time,'' said David Lepofsky, chair of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee. The committee has been battling the provincial Tories for more than three years in an effort to hold Premier Mike Harris to his 1995 commitment to enact a meaningful act that would force businesses and institutions to remove barriers. In November, 1998, then-citizenship minister Isabel Bassett introduced a three-page bill that critics say did nothing to mandate the removal of barriers. After disabled rights advocates objected vocally, the government allowed the bill to die on the order paper and Harris committed to bringing in an improved bill. Lepofsky said his group has been waiting ever since, and has seen mounting evidence the government is not eager to make any significant changes. Norton said the commission is only now taking a more aggressive approach to disability infractions because it has been grappling with a backlog of cases. ``We should have been taking the initiative in the past, but we have been preoccupied with the burden of our caseload. ``We've now got that under control,'' he explained. According to the commission, one in six people suffers from a disability. Employment is one of the biggest areas of discrimination, with only one in 10 persons with disabilities represented in the workforce. Disability is one of the most frequently cited grounds of complaint to the commission. About 40 per cent of the 1,800 people who file complaints each year cite disability. ``We are now in a position to more aggressively and cooperatively work with employers, trade unions and landlords across this province to come to grips with the issue of marginalization of persons with disabilities,'' Norton added in a scrum with reporters. Liberal MPP Ernie Parsons (Prince Edward-Hastings) called on the provincial government to better fund the commission. ``Despite his promise to increase the commission's budget, Mike Harris has repeatedly cut its funding,'' said Parsons, pointing out budget has been cut to $11.2 million from $12.4 million in 1995. The Ontario Human Rights Code protects the rights of those with disabilities to equal treatment in employment, housing, goods, services, facilities, contracts and membership in trades or vocational associations. The updated policy also gives specific recognition to persons with non-evident disabilities, including those suffering from mental illness. ``A person with depression or manic-depression may seem to be moody and give co-workers a tough time,'' said commissioner Richard Miles, offering an example of a situation the new policy will address. ***** Toronto Sun Friday, March 23, 2001 Page 41 Hope for Ontario's disabled Commission to fight for rights By ANTONELLA ARTUSO, QUEEN'S PARK BUREAU CHIEF The Ontario Human Rights Commission plans to take a more aggressive approach to give disabled people better access to jobs and services. Commissioner Keith Norton says he will contact retail and fast food chains, public transit systems, landlords and other organizations to ask them to report on their plans to improve accessibility. "If they fail to do so, then I would not hesitate -- if they do have inaccessible facilities -- to (begin) a commission-initiated complaint," he said yesterday. Norton said the commission's infamous backlog has prevented it from taking such a pro-active position in the past. Norton said that with waiting times for decisions reduced significantly, the commission is now in a position to work on systemic barriers the disabled face, as well as responding to individual complaints. NEW GUIDELINES The commission unveiled new guidelines on disability yesterday that promote and clarify the rights of the estimated one in six people who have some form of disability. The new framework makes Ontario the only jurisdiction in Canada that won't allow a collective agreement to stand in the way of accommodating disabled workers. 'UNDUE HARDSHIP' Norton said employers will be required to accommodate the needs of a disabled person unless it will cause "undue hardship," such as unreasonably high costs or health and safety risks. Norton said this threshold should not prevent most companies from hiring disabled people. A U.S. study found that the estimated average cost to employers to accommodate a disabled person is $100, he said. The Tory government has been under the gun to produce an Ontarians with Disabilities Act, something Norton said he would welcome. "It depends, I suppose, what the law might be; there are certainly deficiencies in the (Ontario Human Rights) code," Norton added. One area where Ontario lags is in accessible public transit, he said. A paper released by the commission says that there are gaps in accessibility in conventional transit, and major discrepancies in specialized transit systems for those who must use a wheelchair. ***** Globe & Mail Friday, March 23, 2001 Page A5 Human-rights head joins right for disabled Ontario commission to push employers and labour unions to knock down barriers BY RICHARD MACKIE Ontario residents with disabilities, about 1.5 million people, will benefit from a new, more aggressive attack on the barriers they face in their lives, Human Rights Commissioner Keith Norton said yesterday. The commission will act on its own to try to persuade employers, labour unions, companies and agencies that serve the public to eliminate these barriers, Mr. Norton told reporters at Queen's Park yesterday. "We want to co-operate, and we want to approach it in a co- operative way," he said. "But we must see action. And if there is no sign of action, no sign of co-operative movement ... then we will be coming calling at your door." The move to fully accessible services and facilities will take time, he said. "We're not unreasonable. It's not something that can happen, in all cases, overnight." Mr. Norton said the commission decided to become proactive because people with disabilities "continue to experience significant, systemic and endemic marginalization in the workplace, in accessing services, and generally in our communities across the province." About 40 per cent of the 1,800 people who file complaints with the commission each year complain of discrimination on the basis of a disability, he said. The commission will be realistic and not demand changes that will cause undue. financial hardships, Mr. Norton said. He added, however, that fear of costs is seldom a valid excuse. "The average cost of accommodating a person with disabilities in the workplace is $100 in the United States. We are not talking about something that is going to put people out of business, by and large." The barriers that the commission plans to attack are physical, such places that have stairs but no ramp, and systemic, such as restrictive qualifications for employment, Mr. Norton said. In Ontario, about one person in six has a disability. That number, however, is growing as the population ages and people develop problems with their hearing, their vision or have trouble climbing stairs. Companies and agencies that refuse to begin eliminating barriers to people with disabilities will face hearings before the commission, orders from the commission and, as a last resort, court orders to take action. The commission's new approach to fighting barriers was welcomed by David Lepofsky of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, which has been pressuring the govemment to keep its six- year-old promise to enact an Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Such legislation would set out requirements to remove barriers, establish time frames for removing them, prevent the creation of new barriers and could provide incentives for making workplaces, stores, restaurants, houses and apartments more accessible to those with disabilities. ***** Canadian Press March 22, 2001 Quebec-Ontario regional general news HL: Ont. human rights commission targets businesses that don't assist disabled By Andrea Baillie TORONTO (CP) Ontario's chief human rights commissioner says he will start an aggressive crackdown on movie theatres, fast-food restaurants and public transit systems that don't make serious efforts to accommodate people with disabilities. "We must see action," Keith Norton said Thursday. "If there is no sign of action, no sign of co-operative movement on the part of these corporations and individuals and employers and others across the province -- then we'll be coming and calling at your door." Norton made the comments Thursday as he announced new policy guidelines on accommodating people with disabilities. One of the key elements of the policy, which replaces a set of guidelines established in 1989, is the commission's promise to be pro-active about groups that don't remove barriers for the disabled rather than waiting for individual complaints to be lodged. "Why do they have to litigate one theatre at a time?" he said. "In the future I'm suggesting the better and more appropriate way to approach it is to do a systemic commission-initiated complaint. "And I would hope that would result in a reasonable resolution so the industry or the employer can say `let's develop a plan."' The new policy clarifies steps employers must take to accommodate those with disabilities, and also establishes guidelines on dealing with non-visible disabilities such as mental illness. It also lays out policy dealing with social attitudes that may be discriminatory. The commission says that about 40 per cent of the 1,800 groups or individuals who file complaints each year cite disability. But while advocates for the disabled say the new policy is a step in the right direction, they say it is also further proof that the province needs an Ontarians With Disabilities Act. "The human rights commission shows that systematically removing and preventing barriers facing 1.5 million Ontarians with disabilities is good for people with disabilities, for business and for the public," said David Lepofsky, whose Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee has been trying for years to get the government to move on the issue. "If a strong Ontario Disabilities Act were passed now, it would reduce our need to bring individual human rights complaints to tackle one barrier at a time." The Tories have been talking about disabilities legislation for six years. A slim, three-page bill in late 1998 was met with almost universal derision and was ultimately pulled. Activists have said the government had promised to release an action plan on the Ontarians With Disabilities Act in the last session, but that the promise was broken when the government prorogued the legislature earlier this month. Last fall, Premier Mike Harris said American disability legislation has been "absolutely devastating" to the very people it was designed to help and that similar laws wouldn't help in Ontario. Harris said U.S. laws have led to fewer disabled people being hired into the workforce. But without such laws, Lepofsky says, reporting human rights violations is a lengthy process that can often only deal with one restaurant, store or theatre at a time. "If a strong (act) were passed now, it would reduce our need to bring individual human rights complaints to tackle one barrier at a time," he said. "Life's too short." ***** Metro Friday, March 23, 2001 Page 1 Disabled win safeguards - Commission aims to ensure equal access to transit, restaurants and theatres Toronto: Ontario Human Rights Commission chief Keith Norton Thursday announced what he called a concerted crackdown on theatres, fast-food restaurants and transit systems that don't make serious efforts to accommodate people with disabilities, The Canadian Press reported. "We must see action," he remarked. "If there is no sign of action, no sign of co-operative movement on the part of these corporations and individuals and employers and others across the province - then we'll be coming and calling at your door." The announcement was made after the unveiling of new guidelines on accommodating people with disabilities. One of the key elements of the policy, which replaces a set of guidelines established in 1989, is the commission's promise to be proactive about groups that fail to remove barriers for the disabled rather than waiting for individual complaints to be lodged. The new policy also seeks to clarify steps employers must take to accommodate not only those with visible disabilities, but also those with non-visible ones such as mental illness. The move was well received by advocates for the disabled, who said the new policy was a step in the right direction on the road to producing a broader Ontario Disabilities Act - something groups have wanted for years. ***** Today Friday, March 23, 2001 Page 1 Rights czar focus to aid disabled Ontario's chief human rights commissioner says he will start an aggressive crackdown on movie theatres, fast-food restaurants and public transit systems that don't make serious efforts to accommodate people with disabilities. Keith Norton announced yesterday new policy guidelines on accommodating people with disabilities. One of the key elements is a promise to be proactive about groups that don't remove barriers for the disabled, rather than waiting for individual complaints.

 

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Last updated April 16, 2001