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ODA Committee Update
dated November 27, 2002
posted Dec. 12, 2002


ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE UPDATE

ODA COMMITTEE WRITES TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT-APPOINTED PROVINCIAL ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL

November 27, 2002

SUMMARY

The Ontario Government last week finally appointed all the members of its
provincial "Accessibility Advisory Council," almost a year after this
Council was legislatively created. The ODA Committee has just written to
the Council, to congratulate its members on their appointment. In our
letter, set out below, we again offer our help to this Council. We again
emphasize the need for the Council to undertake province-wide public
consultations with the disability community on the regulations which need
to be enacted under the ODA 2001.

Last spring, the Government appointed the first five members to this
Council. We wrote to the Council on June 13 and then again on October 2,
2002. In those letters, we offered our help, asked about the Council's
plans for action, recommended some priority areas for the Council, and
provided the Council with lots of background information on the ODA issue.
We have not received any response to those two letters.

The initially-appointed members to that Council have had some meetings over
the past months. Now the entire Council is in a position to meet and to
continue the work that the initial 5 members started. We hope that we will
soon receive answers to our three letters to the Council, including our
offers to work closely with the Council. We look forward to hearing how
the Council plans to go about its work, so we can be sure to do what we can
to help.

Under the ODA 2001, the Ontario Government created this Council to get
input from the disability community and to make recommendations to the
Government on the ODA's implementation, including on the regulations that
the Government should pass. We want those regulations to be developed and
passed as soon as possible. We want those regulations to comply with the
11 principles for the ODA which we developed and which the Ontario
Legislature unanimously adopted by resolution four years ago, on October
29, 1998. The ODA Committee has a very important role to play in this
process. We are the grassroots movement that has spearheaded this issue
for the past eight years. We have the direct ties to the grassroots around
Ontario, and the expertise to make regulations strong and effective.

If you want to see the earlier letters we wrote to the Council, visit our
website and use our great search engine at: http://www.odacommittee.net

ODA Committee's June 13, 2002 Letter to Accessibility Advisory Committee Chair David Shannon

ODA Committee Update dd Oct. 3, 2002 - ODA Committee Writes Chair of Government-Appointed Accessibility Advisory Council to Offer Our Help and to Ask for Council's Plans for Consulting Ontarians With Disabilities

Send us your feedback on this letter at:

oda@odacommittee.net

*****

ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT COMMITTEE
c/o Marg Thomas
1929 Bayview Avenue, Toronto ON M4G 3E8
Tel: (Voice direct) 416-480-7686
Fax: 416-480-7014
Voice mail: 416-480-7012
email: oda@odacommittee.net
TTY: c/o Susan Main 416 964-0023 ex. 343
Web site: www.odacommittee.net

November 25, 2002

Ontario Accessibility Advisory Council
per Mr. Jeff Adams, Chair
c/o the Accessibility Directorate,
400 University Avenue, 3rd floor,
Toronto, Ontario, M7A 2R9

Dear Members of the Ontario Accessibility Advisory Council,

Re: Ontarians with Disabilities Act

On behalf of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, I would like to
extend to you all a huge, warm congratulations on your appointment to serve
as members of the Government-appointed Ontario Accessibility Advisory
Council. Special congratulations are also extended to Jeff Adams for his
elevation to the position of chair, and to Barry McMahon to his appointment
as vice-chair. We wish you all the best of luck in the important challenge
that you have taken on.

The ODA Committee is eager to work very closely with you on achieving our
shared goal of a barrier-free Ontario, and to do whatever we can to help
you in fulfilling your mandate under the ODA 2001. We wrote to the previous
chair of your Council, Mr. David Shannon, on June 13, 2002 and again on
October 2, 2002 to offer our help with your Council's work and to seek your
feedback on some important issues. By a copy of this letter to the Director
of the Accessibility Directorate, we are asking that each and every one of
you be provided with copies of those letters and all the enclosures. If any
help is needed in getting them in alternative format, we would be pleased
to assist.

We look forward to hearing back from the Council on the matters we raised
in our two previous letters. We believe it is especially important for your
Council to undertake open, province-wide public consultations as soon as
possible on the content of regulations to be enacted under the ODA 2001. We
are eager for regulations to be enacted which are strong and effective, and
which set good mandatory, enforceable standards and timetables for the
removal and prevention of barriers against persons with disabilities in the
public and private sectors.

We look forward to hearing from you and to working together with you. We
hope the enclosures with our two previous letters, as well as the
comprehensive contents of our web site at www.odacommittee.net will be
useful for you as you take on your new responsibility.

Yours sincerely,

David Lepofsky, C.M.
Chair
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee

cc: The Hon. Ernie Eves 325-7578
Carl DeFaria 326-9338
Chris Stockwell 325-7755
Dalton McGuinty 325-9895
Dwight Duncan 325-2201
Steve Peters 325-7262
Ernie Parsons 325-4757
Howard Hampton 325-8222
Peter Kormos 325-7067
Marilyn Churley 325-3252
Tony Martin 325-3720
Nadia Temple

 


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