LIBERAL PARTY PRESS RELEASE
October 27, 1999
Thursday, October 27, 1999: For Immediate Release
Johns Spurns Disability Legislation
Harris' Broken Promise Continues to Plague GovernmentThursday, October 27, 1999: For Immediate Release
Queen's Park - Helen Johns, Minister of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation, dodged darts from Elgin-Middlesex-London MPP Steve Peters today, and in the end refused to commit to introducing an Ontarians with Disabilities Act during this term.
"Mike Harris promised that he would enact an Ontarians with Disabilities Act during the 1995 election," explains Peters. "Five years, three ministers and two elections later, the government is still ignoring people with disabilities."
"In the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act means that the elevator in a blind person's apartment building would have to have Braille on the buttons and Americans with hearing disabilities can count on a sign language interpreter being available when they go to the hospital."
"But in Ontario, people with disabilities are treated like second class citizens."
"Mike Harris broke his promise to the people of this province and now his minister can only talk about her 'goal' being a vague 'action plan.'"
Mike Harris promised in a May 24, 1995 letters that "a Harris government would be willing to enact an Ontario with Disabilities Act in the first term of office within the economic goalposts of The Common Sense Revolution."
Today, Ontario's million and a half people with disabilities are still waiting.
-30-
Contact: Steve Peters, MPP
or Suzanne Van Bommel, EA at 416-325-7250.
| Index Page | Press Releases | Action Kit |
