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Summary Discussion of Council's 2nd Meeting Now Posted

Dec 13, 2011

Following is the discusison summary as posted on the DIO's website.

ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 10:00 A.M. – 2:00 P.M.
ROOM 208, 401 YORK AVENUE

PRESENT: Jim Derksen (Chairperson), Yvonne Peters (Vice-Chairperson), Karen Pirnie, Chris Summerville, Jim Baker, Scott Jocelyn, Lanny McInnes, Diane Scribe Niiganii, Eileen Clarke, Doug Momotiuk, Andrew Donachuk (Secretary)

ABSENT: Judy Redmond, Diane Driedger, John Wyndels (with regrets)

The Vice-Chairperson opened the meeting and introduced Karen Pirnie who attended her first meeting of the Council.

The Council formally adopted the Terms of Reference without further changes. Yvonne and Jim D. agreed that the Guiding Principles in this document should be left unchanged in order to better reflect the wording contained in The Accessibility Advisory Council Act. The Terms of Reference are now available on the Accessibility Advisory Council Website.

The Vice-Chairperson gave the Council an overview of The Human Rights Code and the process for dealing with accessibility issues through the Human Rights Commission. She pointed out some examples of systemic accessibility issues that have been successfully addressed through the Commission.

Andrew presented an overview and update of Ontario’s accessibility legislation, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. Standards in four areas are currently in place (customer service, information & communication, employment and transportation), while a standard covering the indoor and outdoor built environment is under development.

Council members held a discussion on developing a work plan for the Council, which will include high-level goals and objectives for future meetings. For future discussions on accessibility legislation, the Council will work from the recommendations of the Ministers’ Advisory Committee as a starting point. The Council also agreed to discuss areas where initial accessibility requirements could be recommended.


DIO Website Version

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