By Greg Thomson, Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, July 13, 2018 Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s first Throne Speech, read at Queen’s Park on July 12, said nothing about taking new action to ensure that Ontario becomes accessible to 1.9 million Ontarians with disabilities by 2025, the deadline which all parties set in the…
By Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, The Star, July 3, 2018 Advocates for the disabled are praising the Ford government for appointing a cabinet minister to oversee the often-intersecting areas of accessibility and seniors’ issues. Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Ford appointed Scarborough North MPP Raymond Cho minister for seniors and accessibility on June 29.
By Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, The Star, June 21, 2018 Disability rights advocates welcome long-awaited national accessibility legislation, tabled in Ottawa Wednesday, but say the law needs significant strengthening to meet its goals. The Accessible Canada Act, which covers federally regulated sectors such as banking, inter-provincial and international transportation, telecommunications and government-run services such…
Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press reporter, The Globe and Mail, June 20, 2018 Canadians with disabilities felt a surge of tempered optimism on Wednesday as they watched Canada table its first piece of federal legislation aimed at improving accessibility for people with disabilities. The Accessible Canada Act, presented hours before the house rose for the…
Media Relations Office, Employment and Social Development Canada, June 20, 2018 Today, following the most inclusive and accessible consultation with Canadians with disabilities and with the disability community, the Honourable Kirsty Duncan, Minister of Science and Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, introduced the proposed Accessible Canada Act to Parliament. This historic legislation would…
Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, The Toronto Star, April 18, 2018 After five years of lax enforcement of Ontario’s groundbreaking accessibility legislation, disability activists want Queen’s Park to hand over enforcement responsibilities to an independent public agency. The call comes in the wake of a new report that shows a 2015 government crackdown on accessibility…
Greg Thomson, AODA.ca, March 22, 2018 The Accessibility compliance and enforcement report 2017 outlines the activities undertaken by the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario in 2017 to oversee compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and its accessibility standards. In the Second Legislative Review of the AODA, reviewer Mayo Moran made recommendations aimed to…
Laurie Monsebraaten, Social Justice Reporter, Toronto Star, March 8, 2018 Accessibility advocates are questioning the Wynne government’s recent appointment of former lieutenant-governor David Onley to lead the next independent review of Ontario’s landmark accessibility legislation. They say Onley, a childhood polio survivor, who completed a three-year appointment last fall as the government’s special adviser on…
Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities, February 9, 2018 On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, the Wynne Government announced that it had appointed the Honourable David Onley to conduct the next mandatory Independent Review of the implementation and enforcement of the 2005 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The…
By Monique Scotti, National Online Journalist, Global News, February 5, 2018 The federal Conservatives have tabled a bill in the House of Commons that they say will help get more Canadians with disabilities into the workforce, arguing that right now, it can be more affordable for them to stay out of it. The private member’s…
