Emerging Issues in Disability Rights PPT - Nov 23 LL_0.ppt

Send me from the toss and decided to bowl in 70 words for me from the toss and decided to bowl

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THE RIGHTS OF PERSONS
WITH DISABILITIES
LAURIE LETHEREN & YEDIDA ZALIK
ARCH DISABILITY LAW CENTRE

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WHAT IS ARCH?
•Specialty legal aid clinic dedicated to defending and advancing the equality
rights of people with disabilities in Ontario.
•Governed by a volunteer board of directors, a majority of whom are people
with disabilities.
•Offer summary advice and referral service to Ontarians with disabilities;
•Provide education to people with disabilities on disability rights, and to the
legal profession about disability law; make submissions on matters of policy
and law reform.
You can find more details on ARCH’s website at: www.archdisabilitylaw.ca.
ARCH DISABILITY LAW CENTRE

3. ARCH DISABILITY LAW CENTRE
ARCH’s Work
Promote social model of disability (disability is
caused by physical, social and attitudinal
barriers. Barrier to be removed to allow
full participation for all. Not that person
with disability must be “fixed” or must just “fit in”)
Cases we take on must have potential for a
systemic benefit for people with disabilities
in Ontario
Purpose is often to ensure that the
disability perspective is heard by court
or government committee

4. ARCH DISABILITY LAW CENTRE
•Call ARCH if you:
ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY
and you
NEED ASSISTANCE OR HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT :
•your human rights
•your attendant care services
•your rights as a person living in a group home
•your rights as a student or a worker
•capacity to make your own decisions

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Laws that Protect and Promote the
Rights of People with Disabilities
•Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
•Ontario Human Rights Code
•Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
•United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with
Disabilities

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EMERGING ISSUES IN
DISABILITY RIGHTS
•Right to full inclusion in all aspects of society
•Right to make own decisions and have disability
needs accommodated in process
•Right to have disability needs accommodated to
allow for full participation
•Use of Technology

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Right to full inclusion in all aspects
of society
Right to live in neighbourhood of your choice
The Dream Team v. City Toronto, Sarnia, Smiths Falls and Kitchener
Waterloo HRTO
•Current application before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario
•The Dream Team is a group of advocates who are psychiatric consumer
survivors who promote the importance of safe, supported, inclusive housing
for people with mental heath disabilities
•Challenging the municipal restrictive by-laws that limit the proximity of
homes for people with disabilities in a municipality
•Most of Settled or are near settlement
•Toronto in discussions

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Right to full inclusion in all
aspects of society
Right to Attend Neighbourhood School with Peers
Emily Eaton v. Brant County Bd of Ed(SCC 1997)
•First 3 years of school in fully integrated setting
•School decided remaining in integrated “not in Emily’s best interests”
•Ontario Court of Appeal found that segregation did violate Emily’s Charter
Rights “from earliest age children with disabilities should see themselves as
part of society and children without disabilities should see them the same
way
•Board of Ed appealed to SCC

9. Right to full inclusion in all
aspects of society
SCC determined that segregated setting did not violate Emily’s rights:
•Segregation can be both protective of equality or can violate equality
depending on circumstances and person’s disability and dound in this
situation segregation did not burden or disadvantage Emily
BUT
•Must breakdown the structures and assumptions that result in the relegation
and banishment of disabled persons from participation
•Only when integrated setting cannot be adapted to meet the special needs
of an exceptional child will a placement outside of this setting be required
•Most school board policies ensure that inclusion in regular classroom is the
first placement for all students

10. Right to full inclusion in all aspects
of society
Emily fought on.
Before appealing the Div. Court decision
to the Court of Appeal, her whole family was
baptized. She switched to Catholic Board
and remained integrated in class with her peers
through all her school years.
In 2010, Emily and her family entered
China’s Forbidden City step by step despite
a declaration from their tour guide
that “it would be impossible”.

11. Right to make own decisions
•Must start with assumption that person has capacity to make own decisions
•Question to be asked is “does the person understand the decision to be
made and the consequences of making and not making that decision”
•Those assisting must do what is necessary to accommodate the disability
needs of person so that they can make the decision. This may involve
breaking down information into small parts; allowing the person to
communicate through symbols or gestures all them to have a support
person.
•People with mental health and intellectual disabilities have the right to make
bad decisions just like everyone else

12. Right to make own decisions
R v. DAI Supreme Court of Canada
•Young woman with intellectual disability advised teachers and police that
she was victim of sexual assault
•In court, person who does not swear an oath can communicate the
evidence on a promise to tell the truth
•At trial the judge forced the victim to explain abstract concepts of “truth” and
“lies” and when she could not through out her evidence.
•This was common occurrence.
Supreme Court of Canada said:
•Persons with mental disabilities are not required to meet a more onerous
test than any other witness before they are even allowed to take the stand.
If a witness can describe what happened to her –she can testify after
saying that she promises to tell the truth.”
•Also notes that the questioning of mentally disabled adults may require
“accommodation” or individualized supports so that their evidence is best
communicated in court.

13. Use of Technology
Jodhan v. Attorney General of Canada
•Woman with vision disability could not access on-line government
information and could not apply for jobs through the required job bank portal
because government’s computer code was not compatible with very basic
screen reading software
Federal government appealed to Federal Court of Appeal and argued
•Ms. Jodhan still had access to all the information because she could go
down to a government office to make a request, could fax in job application,
could order paper copies of documents (remember she is legally blind!)

14. Use of Technology
Government lost
•Court understood that having to make in person applications or requests
what not equal access
•Her application would not be considered in same manner as others
•Unlike others who can access information from home at any time, she was
constrained by having to go through government offices

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Right to have disability needs accommodated to
allow for full participation
Moore v B.C. Ministry of Education Supreme Court of Canada
•When Jeffrey Moore was in Grade 3 he was found to have a Learning
Disability
•It was recommended that he attend a Diagnostic Centre run by school
board for remedial literacy program
•Just as he was to go, school board closed the Centre and did not put a
similar program in place
•Jeffrey ended up at a private school for the remainder of school as it was
believed he would never learn to read in public system
•It took almost 18 years to reach Supreme Court of Canada

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Right to have disability needs
accommodated to allow for full participation
Moore v B.C. Ministry of Education Supreme Court of Canada
Supreme Court of Canada found:
•School board had discriminated against Jeffrey as a student with a disability
by failing to provide him with an education that was to be available to all
children, “failed to provide him with the opportunity to reach full potential
which was the objective of education”
•Accommodations of people with disabilities are “not mere luxuries”
•Accommodations “cannot be determined on mere efficiencies”
•When school board decided to make budget cuts it discriminated against
students with disabilities in failing to consider the discriminatory impact of its
decisions
•Ordered school board to pay all private school fees
•Ordered all legal costs of parents from the beginning to be paid by board

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Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
CRPDcame into effect May 2008
•Canada has ratified meaning Canada can be held accountable for violation
of the provisions mentioned in the Convention
•Canada has not implemented the Convention which means it does not
consider the Convention to be “law” in Canada
•Very important document to people with disabilities both for its substance
and because of the way it was developed
•Disability rights organizations ensured a role for disabled people and their
organizations in the implementation and monitoring of what became the
Convention.

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Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
Contains positive rights
•live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life;
•equal recognition before law and
•legal capacity of the persons with disabilities
•guaranteed the right to inclusive education at all levels
•full and effective participation and inclusion in society
Recognizes the importance of technology to people with disabilities

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ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS CODE
Ontario Human Rights Code imposes duties on service providers such as
community care workers, legal clinics, doctors, business etc to
accommodatethe needs of people with disabilities to the point of
undue hardship.
Definition of Accommodations
•Accommodations are “changes that are made or things that are put in place
to stop or prevent discrimination”
•Accommodations are steps taken so that the person with a disability is not
disadvantaged and can be fully included

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ONTARIO HUMAN RIGHTS CODE
Examples of Accommodations:
•Instead of refusing the job to a person who does not use a keyboard or
mouse to type, find out what kind of tools they need to do the job in their
own way
•Instead of making the person with the wheel chair sit at very front or very
back of movie theatre have a way to remove a chair so that she can sit with
her friends
•Allow a person to direct his care by using a symbol board or other device
•Accessible websites, documents, communicate in ASL,

21. ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH
DISABILITIES ACT (AODA)
Customer Services Standard
•Establish policies on service that promote the dignity, integration and
equality of opportunity.
•Establish a policy about the use of assistive devices
•Communicate with a person with a disability in a manner that takes into
account his or her disability.
•Permit the use of service animals or support persons, and provide notice of
cost of admission for support person
•Train all persons policies, practices and procedures, • Establish and provide
for a feedback process,

22. ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH
DISABILITIES ACT (AODA)
INTEGRATED STANDARD
Information and Technology
•Information in accessible formats
•Websites Accessible
Employment
•Must accommodate in recruitment, in job setting, develop individual
accommodation plans
•Must have return to work process
•Must consider disability in job reviews

23. ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH
DISABILITIES ACT (AODA)
INTEGRATED STANDARD
Transportation
•Training of employees
•Fare charges
•Use of Assistive Device
•Alternative stops
•Specification in vehicles
•Stop announcements, lighting, grab bars etc.
All Standards have different application depending on size or organization
Most not in effect until 2014
Lots of good information at: AccessON website

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Status of Passport and Special
Services at Home Funding
•In the past, some adults with a developmental disability received funding
under the Special Services at Home (SSAH) Program.
•Starting April 1, 2012, SSAH is for children only.
•Adults with a developmental disability (or their families) who received SSAH
funding are now supported entirely through the Passport program.
•If you received SSAH funding in 2011-2012
•You do not have to apply for funding in 2012-2013.
•You will automatically receive the same amount of money you received in
2011-2012.
•The money you receive in 2012-2013 will be under the Passport program,
not SSAH.
•You can use your Passport funding in the same ways you used your SSAH
funding.
•There are 12 Passport offices across Ontario. If you have any questions,
contact the one nearest you.

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Status of Passport and Special
Services at Home Funding
Government stated reasons for changing Passport
•Having a single direct funding program for adults with a developmental
disability will make it easier for them to apply for services and supports.
What’s next
•Government says it is expanding the Passport guidelines to cover a
broader range of services.
•Government says it will be introducing changes over the course of the next
year.
•Government has stated that before they make further changes, they will
consult with recipients and their families, as well as Passport agencies.

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For more Info on Passport and
Special Services at Home
•SSAH Provincial Coalition: http://www.ssahcoalition.cato learn more about
SSAH, resources and connect with families.
•Individualized Funding Coalition for Ontario :
http://www.individualizedfunding.cato learn more about individualized
funding and supports that work. SSAH is one form.
•Family Alliance Ontario : http://www.family-alliance.comto locate regional
family networks, resources and connect with families.

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THANKS

28. SCENARIO ONE
You are a person who uses a wheel chair
for mobility. You see a job ad that states
“driver’s licence required”. You do not
drive. You also learn that interviews will be
held in a building that has three steps and
no ramp to its entrance.
What can you do. You think you are very
qualified for the job.

29. SCENARIO TWO
You work at a youth drop-in centre. You
have “drop in and chat” sessions every
Tuesday at 4:30. On Thursday a young
woman who is deaf comes to ask about
the drop in. None of the employees speak
ASL. What should the drop-in centre do?