Wednesday 31 August 2016

Candidates for All Three Major Parties in the Scarborough Sept. 1 Ontario By-election Have Now answered the AODA Alliance's Accessibility Questionnaire

Below is a copy of an email I received outlining the responses from the three major party candidates in Scarborough-Rouge River to the AODA's questionnaire.




1. August 30, 2016 Email to the AODA Alliance  from the Liberal Candidate in
the Scarborough-Rouge River By-election, Piragal Thiru



Hi there,

In response to your survey, please find below a statement from Piragal.

I apologize for the delay in response.

Thank you and kind regards.

"Having had personal experience with accessibility policy, regulations, and
advocacy, I greatly appreciate the contributions of our community's
passionate and knowledgeable accessibility advocates. For a number of years,
I worked as a Planner for Accessible Services for York Region, where I led a
department in the implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act ("AODA").

"An accessible Ontario is one where every individual who resides in or
visits the province can participate in our society. If elected, I will take
my professional expertise to Queen's Park to help this government achieve
its goal of an accessible province by 2025, and I pledge to be responsive to
community advocates who are helping to make Ontario a better, more inclusive
place for persons with disabilities.

"I fully support the AODA and the goal of an accessible Ontario by 2025.
Like our government, I am committed to improving enforcement and compliance
efforts as an important contribution to this goal. I pledge to work to
assist organizations in removing barriers for people with disabilities and
to help prevent the imposition of new barriers. I am proud of the
government's work to date, but I know there is more work to be done to
improve compliance among obligated organizations and ensure that all public
facilities and projects help us fulfill our goal. Enforcement efforts and
public education are both critical to this effort.

"Premier Wynne's government has begun work to develop a health accessibility
standard. With stakeholders and impacted organizations, the government is
working to identify and correct barriers within the health care system and
make our public system more accessible for all Ontarians. While our
education system is not perfect, I know many students are very well served
by existing accessibility and special education services. We are committed
to continuous improvement of these services going forward.

"At our campaign office, we continue to make every effort to accommodate
everyone, regardless of ability, and our dedicated team is on hand to offer
accessible customer service to everyone who enters the office.

"I would also like to recognize the contributions of the AODA Alliance and
their ongoing commitment to working alongside the provincial government.
Much progress has been made, but there is of course more to be done. While
Ontario faces both challenges and opportunities in reaching its
accessibility goals, I look forward to the opportunity, if elected, to
advocate on behalf of the residents of Scarborough-Rouge River in my role as
MPP."

--Piragal Thiru, Ontario Liberal Party Candidate, Scarborough-Rouge River



2. August 29, 2016 Response to the AODA Alliance from Progressive
Conservative Candidate Raymond Cho



AODA Alliance Questionnaire

Ontario PC Candidate Raymond Cho

August 29, 2016



1.         The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires
the Ontario Government to become fully accessible to people with
disabilities by 2025. Do you support that law, and its goal of full
accessibility by 2025, and will you oppose any efforts to weaken it or
measures under it?



The Ontario PC Party believes that every Ontarian has the right to lead his
or her life to its fullest potential - regardless of their abilities or
disabilities. Whether addressing standards for public housing, health care,
employment or education, we have a responsibility to remove the barriers
that prevent those with disabilities from participating more fully in their
communities.



As a result, we support the goal of the AODA to make Ontario fully
accessible by 2025. As the Official Opposition, our goal is to hold Premier
Wynne accountable to her commitment to make Ontario fully accessible by
2025.



2.         Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the
Ontario Government to develop an Education Accessibility Standard under the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, to make Ontario's
education system fully accessible to students, parents, and education staff
with disabilities, including the 334,000 students with special education
needs in Ontario-funded schools?



The Ontario PC Party is currently undergoing the largest and most inclusive
policy consultation process in our Party's history. We want to hear from
those involved on the ground floor - including the AODA Alliance - about how
to build a better province. We are open to any and every idea to bridge
society's gap regarding persons with disabilities, and better employ and
support persons with disabilities.



3.         Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the
Government to act now to keep its promise to effectively enforce the
Disabilities Act, and to reveal its plans for enforcing this important law?



The Ontario PC Party supports the push for an Ontario that is accessible for
persons with disabilities. We hope the government takes this matter
seriously and leads by example by ensuring that all government buildings and
institutions are accessible. As the Official Opposition, our goal is to hold
Premier Wynne accountable to her commitment to make Ontario fully accessible
by 2025.



4.         Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the
Government to now implement effective action to ensure that public money is
never used to create new barriers against people with disabilities, or to
perpetuate existing barriers?

The Ontario PC Party believes that no new public money should be used to
create new barriers against people with disabilities, or to perpetuate
existing barriers. As MPP, I would work tirelessly to ensure the Liberal
Government is not creating further obstacles for my constituents in
Scarborough-Rouge River.



Ontario's New Democrats strongly support the principle that public money
should never be spent to create additional barriers for people with
disabilities.



5.         Will you promise not to attend any all-candidates debates unless
they are in an accessible location for voters with disabilities to attend
and take part?



All-candidates debates are an important forum for the exchange of ideas, and
serve an important purpose in informing voters about the important ballot
issues.  We believe that everyone, regardless of their disability, should
have the right to participate in important community town hall discussions.
If an Ontario PC Party candidate is informed that a town-hall location isn't
accessible to those with disabilities, we will take appropriate action to
ensure they can still participate in the discussion. We commit to raising
concerns about any debate locations that are not accessible and will push to
have them moved to other locations that meet accessibility requirements.



6.         Have you ensured that your campaign office has full disability
accessibility?



Unfortunately the rented space where our office is located does not have an
automatic door opener. With that said, we do permanently leave the campaign
office door open during office hours to ensure sufficient access. We believe
the office to be accessible in all other ways.



3. August 25, 2016 Response to the AODA Alliance from New Democratic Party
Candidate Neethan Shan



1. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires the
Ontario Government to become fully accessible to people with disabilities by
2025. Do you support that law, and its goal of full accessibility by 2025,
and will you oppose any efforts to weaken it or measures under it?



Ontario's New Democrats and I fully support the Accessibility for Ontarians
with Disabilities Act and its requirement that the Ontario Government become
fully accessible to people with disabilities by 2025. Kathleen Wynne's
Liberals have been dragging their feet when it comes to fully implementing
and enforcing all aspects of the Act and even ensuring that the government
itself complies with this legislation. Ontario's New Democrats and I fully
understand how important enforcement and compliance are when it comes to
removing barriers faced by people with disabilities.



Ontario's New Democrats and I also strongly support the principle that
public money should never be spent to create additional barriers for people
with disabilities. The government should immediately and fully enforce and
comply with the AODA and any public contracts, particularly for those
related to infrastructure, should come with a guarantee of accessibility and
at the very minimum they should not perpetuate existing barriers. I am
committed to do everything in my power to ensure that this happens.



2. Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the Ontario
Government to develop an Education Accessibility Standard under the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, to make Ontario's
education system fully accessible to students, parents, and education staff
with disabilities, including the 334,000 students with special education
needs in Ontario-funded schools?



The need for universal, equitable, public education is at the core of the
values that Ontario's New Democrats and I most strongly believe in.  The
education system must be truly accessible to all Ontarians and that includes
doing the hard work to remove systemic barriers faced by people with
disabilities.  The Wynne government has failed to prioritize making
education accessible and New Democrats will continue to fight for compliance
with the AODA.



3. Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the Government
to act now to keep its promise to effectively enforce the Disabilities Act,
and to reveal its plans for enforcing this important law?



Andrea Horwath and Ontario's New Democrats have repeatedly called on the
Wynne government to implement and enforce all aspects of the AODA.  The
Wynne government has failed to comply with its own legislation and continues
to delay on the very important goal of making Ontario truly accessible. As
your MPP I would be committed to doing everything in my power to push the
Liberal Government to action on this important issue.



4. Will you support the call by people with disabilities for the Government
to now implement effective action to ensure that public money is never used
to create new barriers against people with disabilities, or to perpetuate
existing barriers?



Ontario's New Democrats strongly support the principle that public money
should never be spent to create additional barriers for people with
disabilities. The government should immediately and fully enforce and comply
with the AODA and any public contracts, particularly for those related to
infrastructure, should come with a guarantee of accessibility and at the
very minimum they should not perpetuate existing barriers. I am committed to
do everything in my power to ensure that this happens.



5. Will you promise not to attend any all-candidates debates unless they are
in an accessible location for voters with disabilities to attend and take
part?



While we cannot make specific promises about individual debates without
detailed information about those debates Neethan and Ontario's New Democrats
believe that debates must be held at locations that are fully accessible for
all Ontarians.  We fully commit to raising concerns about any debate
locations that are not accessible and will push to have them moved to other
locations that meet accessibility requirements.



6. Have you ensured that your campaign office has full disability
accessibility?



Unfortunately the building where our office is located does not have an
automatic door opener however all of the team members in the office have
been alerted to this issue in order to ensure that they are consistently
checking to see if someone needs help to enter the building. In addition we
do have several regular volunteers who use wheelchairs and they have been
able to access the office with little to no difficulty. We believe the
office to be accessible in all other ways.