ODA Committee Update
dated December 4, 2002
posted Dec. 13, 2002

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE UPDATE ANOTHER POWERFUL BARRAGE OF ODA MEDIA COVERAGE December 4, 2002 SUMMARY Our tenacious campaign for a barrier-free Ontario gets relentless good media coverage. Most of this 12-page bundle of newspaper items comes from London. It is a credit to our fantastic team on the ground in that region of the ODA Committee. They have used both columns they write themselves and media attention on their work, to keep this issue in the public eye. It also includes a column by London Free Press columnist Mark Richardson, not himself an ODA activist, who gives a powerful and inspiring assessment of our efforts. This bundle of news items also includes an excellent Toronto Star article on travel barriers facing persons with disabilities. In it even Toronto's tourism sector references the ODA 2001's weakness for not applying to the private sector. This shows how helpful it is to link the ODA issue to specific areas of life to highlight the barriers we face. Below please find: * London Free Press August 9, 2002 column by London ODA Committee regional contact Cathy Vincent Linderoos * London Free Press October 24, 2002 column by London ODA Committee regional contacts Ashfaq Husain and Cathy Vincent-Linderoos * London Free Press November 20, 2002 column by ODA supporter Kathy Lewis * London Free Press November 25, 2002 news report on the successful ODA "Barrier busters" public forum in London On November 23, 2002 * London Free Press November 27, 2002 column by the paper's columnist Mark Richardson * University of Western Ontario Gazette Nov. 27, 2002 article on London's November 23, 2002 public forum * Toronto Star November 14, 2002 article on barriers facing tourists with disabilities. Write guest columns on the ODA for your local newspaper. Send us your feedback to: oda@odacommittee.net ***** London Free Press Friday August 9, 2002 Committee Working To Improve Disabilities Act BY CATHY VINCENT-LINDEROOS I felt David Dauphinee's story Waiting for health care = stress (July 16), could also have been called Waiting for health care = unnecessary disability + cost to the taxpayer. Since Dec. 13, I've been watching to see if the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 has brought improvements to the lives of people with disabilities. The Conservative government made 13 major commitments to Ontarians. One was that no new barriers to those with disabilities will be created. Another promised that people with disabilities will be the ones who decide when Ontario will become truly barrier-free. For some time, we've seen important opportunities emerge and fade away. Mario Leatham's family failed to secure adequate home care they needed despite repeated pleas from the community, media and opposition MPPs. A public school board caved into government pressure and passed a budget that will see vital special education obligations continue to receive short shrift. People with disabling diseases such as Parkinson's and juvenile diabetes find it impossible to live life as fully as possible because of unnecessary barriers. An opportunity for revisions to the provincial building code had no new enhancements for people with disabilities. Angry seniors are facing the prospect of losing their eyesight and along with it their ability to function independently, while they are forced to wait for cataract surgery. Those with physical, mental or cognitive disabilities must plead their case for Paratransit rides, despite government promises. Even with lives hanging in the balance, we must continue to register disillusionment. We must take stock of the common ground we share and monitor progress towards a strong, effective ODA. With a provincial election expected in the next year, I invite people with disabilities, their friends and families who are not content to take a "wait and see" approach to do one or more of the following: Ask yourself if you see existing barriers coming down and new barriers being prevented. Visit the ODA committee Web site at www.odacommittee.net and find out how you or your organization can contribute to ongoing efforts to see a strong ODA implemented. Visit the Ontario Human Rights Web site at www.ohrc.on.ca to learn about its report on funding of Paratransit, its upcoming consultation on special education, and more. Encourage local businesses to get the standards for customer service from the Canadian Standards Association at www.csa.ca. Let them know a strong ODA will be good for business. Show them how much their support can mean to all of us. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act committee wants the government to consult widely and then to develop and enact regulations over the next year that set mandatory standards and timelines for removing and preventing barriers in important areas of education, public transit, health care and at retail chain establishments. We have developed and suggested a work plan that offers specific steps the government must take to make progress over the year. We want to help the government make Ontario open for people with disabilities now. ***** London Free Press - Thursday, October 24, 2002 Meeting will help establish accessibility guidelines BY ASHFAQ HUSAIN AND CATHY VINCENT-LINDEROOS On Oct. 7, 2002 London City Council approved nominations of 13 Londoners -- a majority of whom have disabilities -- to the new London accessibility advisory committee. This committee is required of communities of 10,000 or larger under the terms of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) 2001. The primary aim of the committee is to advise and assist in promoting and facilitating a barrier-free London for citizens of all abilities, including people with disabilities. The members have personal experience in advocating for people with diverse disabilities who confront unnecessary barriers in every aspect of life. Several on the committee have family members with disabilities. As well, the committee will appoint 9 non-voting, resource members including one from the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee. Many support organizations will be represented. This committee, which will deliberate openly, will work with the city on development and implementation of its annual accessibility plans. These plans are also required under the ODA 2001. Names of London committee members and terms of reference can be found by searching www.city.london.on.ca for "accessibility advisory committee." For details about meetings, call committee secretary Lorelei Fisher at 661 - 5417 or e-mail her at lfisher@city.london.on.ca . The Accessibility Directorate is an office within the provincial Ministry of Citizenship. It has published guidelines for implementing the ODA for municipalities and the broader public sector (BPS) organizations, such as hospitals, universities, colleges and school boards. These guides can be located online at www.gov.on.ca/citizenship/accessibility. The guidelines specifically suggest the unnecessary barriers people with disabilities experience within the various sectors be compiled. Thus, the ODA Committee will do this at a public meeting Nov. 23 from 1:00 to 3 p.m. at the Forest City Kiwanis Seniors' Community Centre at 78 Riverside Drive. The facility is accessible to people using wheel-chairs and American Sign Language will be provided. David Lepofsky, provincial chair of the ODA Committee, will be our guest speaker. MPPs from all three parties have been invited, as have members of the Accessibility Council of Ontario. The public and media are invited. Our facilitators will gather pertinent information from participants and compile the results. The information will be sent to all local BPS organizations with a covering letter, after the meeting. Not only is the ODA Committee working to meet the government half way on implementing a strong ODA, but we continue to remind the public of the pressing need for a strong law to be implemented. The government's 13 commitments and other important documents relating to the ODA can be found at www.odacommittee.net. We will monitor the success the ODA 2001 has in removing barriers against people with mental, physical and sensory disabilities. We plan to be active in the next provincial election and encourage people to help implement a strong ODA for the benefit of all. Please share this article. Ashfaq (Kash) Husain (a.husain@ieee.org) and Cathy Vincent-Linderoos (clinderoos@rogers.com) are regional contacts, Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee, London area. ***** London Free Press Wednesday Nov. 20, 2002. Disabilities forum to address funding, care shortfalls -- BY KATHY LEWIS I sincerely hope severely disabled Marlo Leatham and her family receive much-needed home-support funding from the Conservative government without further stalling. It is unconscionable that they and so many others must play this waiting game, try to keep a roof overhead, work to sustain public and political awareness of their plight, and yet be forced to be on their guard to always say the "politically correct," "proactive," just-right words, so as not to offend the politicians upon whose mercy their family's future depends. This is an unusually razorsharp tightrope that the victims of a "dollars-before-humans" system are forced to walk. Disabled or not, caregiver or support agency, as members of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, we are committed to monitoring the success of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001 in making significant, concrete improvements in the lives of people with diverse disabilities. We are intent upon helping to implement what there is in the voluntary ODA with the tools we've been given. We are meeting Saturday, Nov. 23rd at 1 pm in London to do this and to hear from volunteer ODA Committee chair, David Lepofsky. Open to all members of the public, Implementing the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 is a public forum, hosted by the ODA Committee at the Forest City Kiwanis Seniors' Community Centre, 78 Riverside Drive. It is American Sign Language and wheelchair accessible. In attendance will be Conservative MPP Bob Wood and Liberal MPP Steve Peters. Like the Victorian Order of Nurses, the ODA Committee expects the province to live up to its commitments to us. A chief commitment made a year ago by the Conservatives heralding the new ODA, was that no barriers will be created against persons with disabilities. Since then, we've seen this commitment broken several times over. User fees, waiting lists, such as that currently being experienced by the estimated 39,700 students waiting for special education services in Ontario elementary schools, or cutbacks in psychiatric services that resulted in a schizophrenic woman, who had commited no crime, being held in prison because there was a shortage of psychiatric beds, are all revealing examples. These are tragic illustrations the Leatham family is not alone in being betrayed by this government. KATHY LEWIS is a member of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act COMMITTEE and a member of the municipal accessibility advisory ***** London Free Press Monday, November 25, 2002 Page A-11 Disability lobby urges stronger action BY CHANTAL CORY Special to the Free Press Bonnie Quesnel says she sits in her wheelchair, looks down Richmond Row and often feels frustrated. "One step is as good as 10 to me," said Quesnel, vice-chairperson of London's Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee. She has lobbied for better accessibility for those who use wheelchairs. Quesnel was among about 40 people at a meeting Saturday to discuss getting the provincial government to strengthen and ensure implementation of the ODA, which Queen's Park passed about a year ago. The act aims to make Ontario barrier-free for the disabled. Although London has made great progress in making its buildings accessible, Quesnel says it still has a long way to go. Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Steve Peters, the Liberal disability critic, spent 14 months studying barriers across Ontario. He said the problem is not just Ontario's. Every city in every province has to make major improvements to achieve a barrier-free status. David Lepofsky, who heads an ODA lobbying committee, called on the crowd yesterday to play "name my disability". "You need to ask yourself if you are more barrier-free than you were eight years ago." He urged the crowd to list and track barriers they face to make sure they change. Lepofsky's group lobbied the government for eight years to get a strong and effective ODA. For Sue Barnes -- not the London West MP -- barriers are not just physical, they are the product of attitude, too. Most people just don't see barriers until they are or a family member is disabled, Barnes said. "I call a restaurant and they say they are accessible," Barnes said. "Then you go and the washrooms are downstairs. It's not like we don't go to the bathroom." A Windsor member of the provinces's newly formed ODA Committee, which advises the government on implementation, talked about the frustration disabled people feel when their accessibility is barred. "We want to be a part of society's fabric, and for a long time we have been on the outside looking in, " said Dean LaBute, who is blind. He believes pressure will increase on the government as Baby Boomers age and develop disabilities. Nearly two million people in Ontario are disabled and by the year 2015 it's expected one in four Canadians will be disabled. ***** London Free Press November 27, 2002 - The London Free Press -- page A11 This anger will not be disabled By MARK RICHARDSON -- For the London Free Press The disabled taught me something about anger this week. "Anyone can become angry," Aristotle said, "but to be angry with the right person, to the right degree, at the right time, for the right purpose and in the right way -- this is not easy." I knew that much already, of course, but like a lot of people, I have a tendency to either blow my stack or run away and let someone else take responsibility. Either way, the problem stays unsolved. Yet, there is stupid angry and there is smart angry, the latter sometimes called determination. Last Saturday David Lepofsky, chairperson of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) committee, was guest speaker at a public meeting designed to list unnecessary barriers faced by London's disabled. I took the opportunity to talk tactics. Lepofsky said the disabled are "in a very different phase" from when I attended a similar gathering last year. In 2001, the disabled of Ontario were still waiting for the ODA to be passed. Saturday, on the other hand, the disabled were saying OK, we have legislation, now let's see the government live up to its promises. Not that the act promises much. The private sector is largely untouched by the ODA and the public sector generally only has to compile lists of barriers and report on progress made to remove them. Though I wouldn't blame the disabled if they put fists through some government windows -- especially since the law took seven years to get here and was the very last legislation passed under the Harris regime--it wouldn't be helpful. For one thing, it would be too easy on the Eves government. They could dismiss any violence as politically motivated and use law and order arguments to stonewall. Besides, Lepofsky's too smart for that. "We're not out to defeat anybody," he told me. "We're using the legislation as a stepping stone." Lepofsky's non-partisan group will use the next provincial election as part of their strategy. Because aging is the biggest cause of disability, most of Ontario's 1.9 million disabled can vote; so next time the writ is dropped, the ODA committee will be asking the Tories if they lived up to their promise to make Ontario barrier-free. As for the other parties, the committee will be looking for specific commitments. As Lepofsky says, in the old days the disabled were dealt with at election time by a photo-op. "Mr. Politico, will you shake hands with Ms. Wheelchair? (Click) Thank you very much." Now, the disabled community is getting active. Lepofsky e-mailed me a 14-page document called a Barrier-Busters Action Kit. It has sample letters to send to local representatives, tips on how to start a municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee and a host of ideas on how to get your municipality to comply with the ODA. It will be available at www.odacommittee.net. Not that Lepofsky expects others to fight for him. On Saturday, he turned to MPP Bob Wood (PC --London West) and reminded him the disabled need the province to create benchmarks or hundreds of Ontario towns and cities would have to create their own. Wood said he would look into it. Will that kind of in-your-face, but respectful, attention to detail work? I have a hunch it will. Lepofsky just got back from Scandinavia where Ontario's disabled community is looked to for guidance by European Union nations preparing to meet a 2006 deadline for passing anti-discrimination legislation. Yet, our disabled are still vulnerable. A few days before I chatted with Lepofsky, two disabled acquaintances referred me to the famous skit in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where poor medieval souls cry out "We're not dead, yet!" just before they are to be tossed on a heap of corpses. My friends said sometimes they feel they have to shout that, too. They were good-natured about it with me, but our chuckle was bittersweet. Sometimes, I just get angry. Mark Richardson is a London freelance writer. His column appears Wednesdays. Letters to the editor should be sent to letters@lfpress.com. ***** University of Western Ontario Gazette Wed. Nov. 27, 2002 Volume 96 # 50 Fighting roadblocks for the disabled By Jen Marshall Gazette Staff The barriers to those with disabilities were addressed in London this past weekend. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee held a meeting on Saturday which invited the public to attend and discuss provincial barriers against the disabled. David Lepofsky, chair of the ODA, said the committee was formed to create an act that requires all barriers for the disabled to be removed from the province and to prevent new ones from being made. "The problems affect everyone, young and old. Everyone has a disability at some point in their life and everybody has interests," Lepofsky said. Lepofsky said the meeting brought people together and provided strategies to show all individuals what they can personally do to help fight the problem. The ODA is trying to build a province where people with disabilities can fully participate in jobs, education and other standard activities, he added. Kash Hudsain, regional contact for the ODA Committee, said there was a good turnout of about 40 to 45 people at Saturday's meeting. The ODA was approved last year and the Committee is working on updating the act, he added. They are also hoping to bring it up in the upcoming provincial election and see which party offers to act on their recommendations, Hudsain added. Robin Armistead, the policy analyst for London's city manager George Duncan, said the ODA applies to the public sector, noting universities must have a plan to remove barriers for the disabled, Armistead added. The ODA Committee has been asking the provincial government to introduce an effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act. The act should cover all disabilities, including physical, sensory, mental and invisible, Leporsky said. The committee is asking that all employers and providers of goods, facilities and services be required to make sure that all areas are fully accessible to everyone, Lepofsky explained, adding more information about the ODA Committee and the ODA can be found at the committee's Web site, www.odacommittee.net. ***** Toronto Star November 14, 2002 Page: J1 Access to the world The physically challenged are forced to make extra efforts Canada's legislation falls behind U.S. By Vivian Macdonald Toronto Star The sun is up, the water is warm and you are all set to start your vacation - but how do you get your wheelchair through the soft sand? That's one of the problems the physically challenged face when planning their trips. It's something that takes them lots of time and effort, but must be done to avoid problems and ensure a good trip. Whew! You have arrived safely at your holiday destination. The sun is shining, the beach is lovely, the water sparkles in the sunlight. The hotel doors are wide. The elevator works. Your room is good, with plenty of space to move about in your wheelchair. Everything is going according to plan - so far. But ... you can't go to the beach because you fear your wheelchair will get stuck in the soft sand. Not only that, you just discovered that it's a long way to the resort's dining room - the one that has no wheelchair ramp, just stairs. Maybe you'll soak your sorrows in the resort's lovely pool, but alas, there is no lift to help you get into the water. You'd probably like to take a cruise around the island, too, but the boat is off limits because there are no wheelchair facilities aboard and, besides that, the chair is too bulky for most of the craft's small deck. Suddenly, you find yourself trapped in paradise. This is what many physically challenged people find when they arrive at vacation destinations. That's why they are encouraged to check every detail prior to their departure. That involves weeks of making phone calls, sending letters, checking Web sites. However, the extra work usually results in a much happier holiday for the many people with restricted physical abilities who love to travel the globe. And it's a number that keeps growing each year. According to a study released in the spring, 55 per cent of physically challenged people make an average of four trips a year. However, the onus is on the physically challenged to make sure all will be right when they arrive. While a reservations agent who answers a toll-free call may describe a hotel or resort as accessible, it's not necessarily so. The agent may be in a different city or a different country. They may never have seen the property. And they may have only a vague idea of what true accessibility means. Global Access, the Disabled Travel Network, advises travellers to "act assertively" to find suitable accommodation. Talk to the manager. Be specific about what you need. Ask questions. Questions like "how wide are the doors - all the doors - are extremely important for those confined to a wheelchair. Example: One woman arrived at a southern resort only to find that the main door to her hotel room was not wide enough for her wheelchair, although the bathroom door was. She'd only asked about the bathroom door when making her reservation. Other important questions the physically challenged must ask: Does the bathroom have a roll-in shower and grab bars? Shower chairs? Is there a hand-held shower spray? Are guide dogs or service dogs allowed in the passenger cabin of the aircraft? In the hotel? Are they allowed in the country? What veterinary documents do you need for the dog? Is the first floor the ground floor? In Europe, it's not. Check and double-check. "I've had some awful experiences and some good experiences," says Carole Riback of Toronto. On one cruise, after she had been told the ship was accessible, Riback found she could not get her wheelchair up the gangplank because it had a huge step at the bottom. "Without checking, they lifted me out of my wheelchair and then dropped me. I broke my back. It was horrible," she recalls. She's had bad experiences here in Canada and in Europe, too. Hotel officials "give away the designated accessible room - the one I've booked - to someone who doesn't need it. I've had that happen in Montreal and Ottawa and Paris. One time I had to find another hotel at midnight. Another time I had to wait hours to get the room. Sometimes, I ambush the people who are in the room." In the United States, where the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, there are far fewer problems. "There was a remarkable difference - in transportation, hotels, even roadside stops (after the legislation was passed)," says Riback. And she's never had to beg for the accessible room that she has reserved. But for travel here at home and in the rest of the world, "you really need to research to death" before embarking on a journey. Even so-called specialists can get it wrong. One Web site's villa photo gallery shows a hoist by the pool but also a steep cobblestone driveway and a living room decorated with scatter rugs. Another site advertising an "accessible villa with roll-in shower" displays a photo of the villa - with a steep outside staircase leading to the second floor. The detailed preparation often discourages travellers, says Toronto consultant and occupational therapist Joan Simms. "A lot of people are travelling successfully but a lot of people won't go to those lengths." She describes her job as two-fold: to educate people about what to expect when they travel; to promote the idea of accessibility in the Caribbean in conjunction with her husband, who owns a company that offers cultural tours of the region. Deddy Geese of Maple Ridge, B.C. runs a travel agency that specializes in cruises and tours for the disabled. "This market has been totally ignored over the years - and still is. There's a tremendous need and a lot of work needs to be done," he says. Geese organizes one- or two-week vacations for those who need care 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Qualified medical attendants accompany the travellers. And now he's working on a plan to have dialysis machines onboard cruise ships. Simms agrees with Geese that some progress is being made, but there's much more to be done. She and her husband hope to make a start by encouraging island tourist boards to focus on accessibility. That could create jobs, as well as easing life for those with limited mobility. The disabled of the country could be consultants "doing sensitivity training," says Simms, who worked at the Winnipeg Health Sciences Centre - specializing in spinal cord injuries - and the Toronto Rehabilitation Centre before embarking on her current career in 2001. Michelle and Randy Stigleman of Florida spend four to six months planning their trips. Randy has been a quadriplegic since the age of 17 when he was injured in a high school football game. He is also a keen traveller and an avid fisherman. Before any fishing trips, however, the couple asks a lot of questions: How hilly is the trail to the river? Is the trail paved, mulched or natural? Are the riverbanks level? Can someone help lift him into the boat? She teamed up with Deborah Van Brunt, whose family frequently travels with the Stiglemans, to publish Wheechairs on the Go: Accessible Fun in Florida. It includes information about accommodation, sports (everything from bowling to parasailing), boating, museums, theatres, state parks and picnic areas throughout the state. Canada could do with a guidebook, too - and some updating of facilities. "When we travel in Canada, it's like stepping back 20 years," says Stigleman. Cathy Smart of Tourism Toronto agrees. "The U.S. has legislation; we don't." The Ontarians with Disabilities Act "doesn't speak to the private sector," says Smart. "We're missing the boat. All citizens need to be treated equally. It's not a case of doing to right thing or feeling sorry for people." The Stiglemans have been to Toronto once and visited the Ontario Science Centre. "It was easy to get around there," Michelle Stigleman says. "In the United States, the bar has been raised so high people have a choice." Canadians need to take note, Smart says.

 

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Last updated December 13, 2002