By Victor Schwartzman  
September 30, 2013

Dean Mayo Moran of the University of Toronto has been appointed the new Independent Reviewer on how the Government has done implementing AODA.  Justice has finally been served! 

Or has justice been served up, medium rare?  After all, no matter what recommendations she may make, the fate of Dean Moran’s eventual report is in the hands of the politicians both Government politicians and those parties in opposition and those parties who would like to be opposition and then graduate to Government. 

September 27, 2013

SUMMARY

The Kathleen Wynne Government has still not kept its 2003 election pledge, reaffirmed to us again in the 2011 election, to effectively enforce the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. We give an update on two important items in our campaign to get the Government to keep its word.

Canada NewsWire
TORONTO, Sept. 25, 2013

The mental health needs of prison inmates is the focus of a landmark settlement reached yesterday.

The agreement arises from an application filed by Christina Jahn, a woman with mental illness, addictions and cancer, with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. Ms. Jahn alleged that she was placed in segregation for 210 days at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre because of her mental health disabilities, and that the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services discriminated against her by failing to accommodate her mental health-related needs.

By Victor Schwartzman 
September 23, 2013

You, a regular person (aren’t you?), have a work ethic and should stop reading now. 

However, if you are irregular (have you tried more fiber?) and your work ethic is lacking and your job only a paycheque, then you can learn a lot by studying the Ontario Government’s implementation of AODA.  You probably do not think I am serious.  How, you may ask, if you are the sort of person still reading, can I learn from AODA to work less? 

By Andrew Devenish-Meares
Ramp Up 26 Aug 2013

There is a new telephone voting system for Blind and Low Vision voters which allows independent, confidential voting from home.

Andrew Devenish-Meares road tests the new telephone voting system for Blind and Low Vision voters for ABC Ramp Up.

By Victor Schwartzman  
September 16, 2013

The new Independent Reviewer of AODA implementation should be aware that the Ontario Government did not properly implement AODA because it feared …the Apocalypse. 

In fact, the Government fears many Apocalypses!  Eleven in total, and it started the eleventh possible Apocalypse this month when, after a delay of over 100 days, a person was finally appointed to conduct a new Independent Review.  The person is Mayo Moran, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto.  Apart from her legal expertise, Dean Moran also has a significant background in human rights and access issues, along with years of experience with bureaucracies and governments.  Therefore she needs a lot of advice on how to do her job. 

By Beth Loy, Ph.D.
Updated 09/01/13

Introduction

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act and regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission refocused attention on workplace accommodations by broadening the definition of disability; more coverage means more employees will likely be entitled to workplace accommodations. This increased attention has some employers concerned about the costs of providing job accommodations. However, a study conducted by the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), shows that workplace accommodations not only are low cost, but also positively impact the workplace in many ways.

useworks Media Tuesday, 10 September, 2013 – 12:29

New Zealand: A new map developed by Hamilton City Council will help people with disabilities find their way around the CBD more easily.

The fold-out A3 map is a product of Council’s Community Development and Leisure Unit, and includes a range of information people with disabilities will find useful, says Social Development Advisor Hannah Banks.

September 10, 2013

SUMMARY

On September 10, 2013, the Ontario Government announced that it has appointed Mayo Moran to conduct a mandatory Independent Review of the implementation and effectiveness of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Mayo Moran is the Dean of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law. We set out the Government’s September 10, 2013 news release below.

By Victor Schwartzman  
September 9, 2013

It seems to be taking a long time for AODA to be fully or even adequately implemented.  Nostradamus predicted that the Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup before AODA becomes a fact of life.  His prediction sets a very high bar (in fact, he was high and in a bar at the time.) 

What else is likely to happen before AODA is a reality and not mere words on paper? 

By Geof Collis
September 6, 2013

In a study of Politicians and Government Burocrats throughout the Province conducted from 2003 until present, Scientists have discovered a mutated Gene that causes a disease that only manifests itself in this study group, they have given it the name, “ScrewU-itis”.

This disease while it appears to have been around for some time has become prevalent since the inception of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).

Some of the symptoms include:

September 3, 2013

SUMMARY

We are delighted to announce that the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF) wrote the Ontario Government on September 3, 2013 to endorse and support our call for the development and enactment of an Education Accessibility Standard under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. OSSTF represents public high school teachers in Ontario. The OSSTF’s September 3, 2013 Letter to the Ontario Government is set out below.

By Victor Schwartzman 
September 2, 2013

Months ago, the Ontario Government honoured National Access Awareness Week by failing to meet a legal deadline to appoint a new Independent Review of how the Government is implementing AODA. 

The Toronto Star carried a terrific guest editorial on May 31, another article in August, but otherwise, little else. 

Type AODA into The Globe and Mail or The Huffington Post’s websites and you get nothing at all.  On the CBC’s site, the most recent post is from 2012.