I thought that this would be of interest to you. This was just released today in the media.
But No Effective Enforcement, Despite Election Promises,
Even Though Ample Unspent Budget for Implementing this Law
See Toronto Star Article and AODA Alliance News Release
November 18, 2013
SUMMARY
According to an AODA Alliance news release and a November
18, 2013 Toronto Star article, both set out below, the Ontario Government knows
that fully 70% of Ontario private sector organizations with at least 20
employees have not complied with the Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act’s reporting requirements. The reporting deadline was December
31, 2012.
The Ontario Government is not keeping its promise to
effectively enforce this law. Yet it has ample unspent funds to implement and
enforce this law.
This was all revealed days ago, when the Ontario Government
finally started releasing information to the AODA Alliance on the AODA’s
enforcement, that it has been seeking since January 22, 2013. The Government
has finally agreed to provide all information that AODA Alliance David Lepofsky
has requested. At the end of the AODA Alliance’s news release, set out below,
is a key four-page document that the Government has released to Lepofsky. It
sets out key information reflected in the news release.
The Toronto Star reports that the Ontario cabinet minister
responsible for enforcing the AODA, Dr. Eric Hoskins, is “upset” about the lack
of compliance. The Star reports that he said the level of compliance is
unacceptably low. He believes the Government is not doing enough to make sure
organizations are complying with this law. The Star also reports that Dr.
Hoskins is sending 2,500 enforcement notices today to non-complying
organizations, and that he will “pursue vigorously those businesses that don’t
respond.” This overdue action clearly results from our advocacy.
We encourage you to
* circulate this update widely, including to your local
media.
* Let your MPP know what you think of this news, and
* Send a letter to the editor to the Toronto Star. You can
send it by email to lettertoed@thestar.ca
We always urge you to send us your feedback. Write us at
aodafeedback@gmail.com
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updates, write to: aodafeedback@gmail.com
Learn more at: www.aodaalliance.org
The Toronto Star November 18, 2013
News
Ontario businesses ignore provincial accessibility law; Queen’s
Park not enforcing legislation, activist says
Queen’s Park is ignoring thousands of Ontario businesses
that are flouting the province’s disability accessibility legislation,
government documents show.
Meanwhile, $24 million in government funds earmarked to
oversee the law since it was passed in 2005 remains unspent, say the documents
obtained under a freedom of information request.
Seventy per cent of private businesses with 20 employees or
more, about 36,000 across the province, have failed to comply with the law’s
reporting requirement, according to the data obtained by lawyer David Lepofsky
of the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance.
Under the 2007 requirement, companies had until Dec. 31,
2012, to e-file a report with the government outlining how they accommodate
customers with disabilities, train staff and receive customer feedback.
Despite the lack of compliance, not one business in
violation has been inspected, issued a compliance order or fined, the documents
show.
Lepofsky, who asked for an update on business compliance in
January, was forced to file an FOI and initially charged $2,325. He appealed
and the government released the documents late last week.
“In both the 2003 and 2011 provincial elections, the
Liberals promised to effectively enforce their disability legislation,”
Lepofsky said.
“But the documents show they have been palpably derelict in
their duty to enforce this law.”
Economic Development, Trade and Employment Minister Eric
Hoskins, who is responsible for the legislation, said he is also upset about
the lack of compliance.
“I believe we are not doing enough to make sure companies
and organizations are complying with the standards,” he said in an interview.
“The percentage of compliance is unacceptably low.”
Since taking over the portfolio in February, Hoskins said he
has doubled the number of businesses in compliance from about 7,000 to 15,000.
He ordered the ministry to send information notices to every
business last spring and again last summer. On Monday, he is sending out 2,500
enforcement letters.
“I will pursue vigorously those businesses that don’t
respond,” he said.
As for the $24 million in unspent funds to oversee the law,
Hoskin predicted that once enforcement measures begin, spending will increase.
“Until Dec. 31, 2012, we really only had the ability to
increase awareness,” he said. “This calendar year, we have turned our attention
to identifying those that didn’t comply.”
Ontario’s 2005 disabilities act requires the government to
ensure the province is fully accessible by 2025.
“Professionally, this is one of my top priorities as a
minister and I have worked very seriously on this,” he added.
A 2010 independent review of the disabilities act urged the
government “to show new leadership” and “revitalize” implementation of the law.
But these latest documents show the government has fallen
down on the job of serving the province’s 1.7 million Ontarians with
disabilities, Lepofsky said.
“The government said this is a top priority,” Lepofsky said.
“Their inaction speaks far louder than their hollow words. I’d hate to see what
it would be like if it was a low priority.”
Laurie Monsebraaten Toronto Star
* * * * *
ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Government Records Reveal Triple Affront To Over 1.7 Million
Ontarians With Disabilities: Thousands Of Ontario Organizations Violating
Ontario’s Disability Accessibility Law’s Reporting Requirement – Government
Breaching Its Promise To Effectively Enforce This Law – 24 Million Dollars,
Allocated From 2005 To 2013 to Government Agency To Implement/Enforce This Law,
Go Unspent.
November 18, 2013: Toronto
The Ontario Government has finally admitted that a
staggering 70% of private sector organizations in Ontario with at least 20
employees are violating Ontario’s 2005 disability accessibility law’s reporting
requirement. Making this worse, the Government has flagrantly broken its
promise to effectively enforce this law, despite unused appropriated public
funding available for it. Ontario’s 2005 Disabilities Act requires the Ontario
Government to lead Ontario to become fully accessible to people with
disabilities by 2025.
These revelations are all shown in Government documents that
the non-partisan AODA Alliance pried from the Government, after a 287-day
ordeal to unearth this information. A key four-page Government document
including the pivotal information is set out at the end of this news release.
1. Rampant Violations of Disabilities Act Reporting
Requirement
Under a 2007 regulation, private sector organizations in
Ontario with at least 20 employees were given a lengthy five years to take
modest steps. It required them to adopt a customer service accessibility policy
(to help accommodate customers with disabilities), to train their staff on this
policy, and to establish a customer feedback process. By December 31, 2012,
private sector organizations with at least 20 employees were required to e-file
with the Government a report simply self-declaring if they did what they are
required to do.
By the end of 2012, only 7,983 private sector organizations
with at least 20 employees had filed the simple mandatory report. The
Government wrote to these organizations this summer to remind them. As of
November 3, 2013 this number only increased to 15,293, about 30% of the total
number of Ontario private sector organizations required to obey this
requirement.
Government records report that until recently, the
Government pegged the total number of Ontario private sector organizations with
at least 20 employees at 60,000. The Government now says that the lower total
of 51,421 is more accurate, based on Statistics Canada. Even with that 20%
reduction, fully 70% of obligated Ontario private sector organizations are now
violating the accessibility law’s simple reporting requirement, after five
years to be ready.
This only relates to the e-filing requirement. The
Government cannot say how many of the 30% of private organizations which filed
the mandatory reports, have actually done what the law says they must do, to
ensure accessible customer service for customers with disabilities.
2. Broken Government Promise to Effectively Enforce the
Disabilities Act
In the 2003 and 2011 elections, Ontario’s Liberal Government
promised to effectively enforce this legislation. Yet the recently-revealed
Government information also shows that the Ontario Government has been palpably
derelict in its duty to enforce this law.
Under the Disabilities Act, the Government must appoint one
or more directors and inspectors to audit and inspect public and private sector
organizations across Ontario, and can levy monetary administrative penalties.
Government records reveal that for this huge province, it now has a paltry two
directors and one inspector, to enforce the entire Disabilities Act. It has
conducted no inspections of any organizations and a paltry percentage of
audits. It has issued no compliance orders and imposed no monetary
administrative penalties.
On May 10, 2005, when the Legislature unanimously passed the
Disabilities Act, the Government proudly proclaimed at a Queen’s Park news
conference that there would be spot audits, inspections, and available monetary
penalties and enforcement for violators. Then-Minister Marie Bountrogianni
reiterated why it is important for the AODA to be effectively enforced, not
voluntary, referring to the previous Conservative Government’s weak and
unenforceable disability law:
“They will be given of course chances to remedy their
situation. It’s not about punishment. It’s about doing the right thing. However
if they do not comply, there is a fine — fifty thousand dollars for individuals
and a hundred thousand dollars for corporations. So we’re serious. That was
missing in the previous act. That was one of the things that was missing in the
previous act. And without that enforcement compliance, when you just leave it
to the good will of the people, it doesn’t always get done. And so we know that
we know that from the psychology of human nature. We know that from past research
in other areas, like the environment, like seatbelts, like smoking. And so we
acted on the research in those areas.”
3. 24 Million Unspent Public Dollars Allocated to Government
Agency to Implement/Enforce Disabilities Act Since 2005
The Government has no excuses. This breach of promise is not
due to the provincial deficit, or a lack of funding for the Government’s office
charged with responsibility for implementing and enforcing the Disabilities
Act, the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario. That Directorate has
consistently had substantial unspent funds and a clear legal mandate to enforce
this law.
Government records reveal that that office has operated well
under budget each year since 2005, the year the Disabilities Act was enacted.
Between 2005 and the present, fully $24,264,833.00 has been unspent that was
allocated to it.
Here is how much the Government annually appropriated to the
Accessibility Directorate, and how much per year it spent.
2005-06 Budget = $ 7,284,800.00 Actuals = $ 4,465,060.00 Difference
= $ 2,819,740.00
2006-07 Budget = $10,284,800.00 Actuals = $ 7,776,128.00 Difference = $ 2,508,672.00
2007-08 Budget = $10,284,800.00 Actuals = $ 9,405,472.00 Difference = $ 879,328.00
2008-09 Budget = $14,784,800.00 Actuals = $12,434,436.00 Difference = $ 2,350,364.00
2009-10 Budget = $17,617,000.00 Actuals = $12,799,778.00 Difference = $ 4,817,222.00
2010-11 Budget = $16,468,100.00 Actuals = $12,244,031.00 Difference = $ 4,224,069.00
2011-12 Budget = $17,600,300.00 Actuals = $14,483,762.00 Difference = $ 3,116,538.00
2012-13 Budget = $16,446,500.00 Actuals = $12,897,600.00 Difference = $ 3,548,900.00
2006-07 Budget = $10,284,800.00 Actuals = $ 7,776,128.00 Difference = $ 2,508,672.00
2007-08 Budget = $10,284,800.00 Actuals = $ 9,405,472.00 Difference = $ 879,328.00
2008-09 Budget = $14,784,800.00 Actuals = $12,434,436.00 Difference = $ 2,350,364.00
2009-10 Budget = $17,617,000.00 Actuals = $12,799,778.00 Difference = $ 4,817,222.00
2010-11 Budget = $16,468,100.00 Actuals = $12,244,031.00 Difference = $ 4,224,069.00
2011-12 Budget = $17,600,300.00 Actuals = $14,483,762.00 Difference = $ 3,116,538.00
2012-13 Budget = $16,446,500.00 Actuals = $12,897,600.00 Difference = $ 3,548,900.00
4. Conclusions – Appalling Abdication of Government’s Duty
to Effectively Enforce the Disabilities Act
“Before this new revelation, an important Government-appointed
2010 Independent Review of the Disabilities Act urged the Government to show
new leadership under the Disabilities Act, and to revitalize its implementation
of the Disabilities Act. The Government has inexcusably fallen down on the
job,” said David Lepofsky, who chaired the non-partisan coalition that
campaigned to pass the disabilities act from 1994-2005, and now chairs the
coalition that fights to get it effectively implemented and enforced.
“Accessibility is good for business and for the public. It helps the bottom
line by opening up business to more customers with disabilities. The Government
said this is a top priority. Their inaction speaks far louder than their hollow
words.”
“It is important for the Government to give organizations the
information they need to comply with this law, and only to resort to
enforcement when all else fails, but it now has been over 8 years since the
Disabilities Act was passed, over 5 years since the customer Service
Accessibility Regulation was passed, and over 10 months since the deadline for
e-filing accessibility reports,” said Lepofsky. “Enough is enough!”
The Government has kept this embarrassing information from
the public for months. Back on January 22, 2013, the AODA Alliance wrote the
Government to find out how many organizations were complying with the
Disabilities Act, and what the Government planned to do with those who don’t
comply. For 287 days, the Government did not answer.
Fed up, on August 15, 2013, AODA Alliance chair David
Lepofsky filed a Freedom of Information request to get this information. On
October 2, 2013, the Government told him it would cost him about $2,325 to get
the answers he sought.
Ten days ago, the Government finally agreed to disclose the
requested information. This came only after an embarrassing exchange during
Question Period in the Ontario Legislature with NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo and after
a blistering October 31, 2013 Toronto Star editorial.
Contact: David Lepofsky aodafeedback@gmail.com
www.aodaalliance org Twitter @aodaalliance
KEY LINKS
To read the Toronto Star’s October 31, 2013 editorial on
enforcement of the Disabilities Act, visit
http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/11052013.asp
To read the exchange on enforcement of the Disabilities Act
in Question Period in the Ontario Legislature on October 29, 2013, visit
http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/10302013.asp
Dalton McGuinty’s August 19, 2011 letter to the AODA
Alliance, promising effective enforcement of the AODA, is available at: http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/090220111.asp
Dalton McGuinty’s April 7, 2003 letter, promising a
Disabilities Act with effective enforcement, is available at
http://www.odacommittee.net/news80.html
Kathleen Wynne’s December 3, 2012 letter to the AODA
Alliance, promising to keep all
Dalton McGuinty’s disability accessibility
commitments, is available at
http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/12032012.asp
The transcript of the May 10, 2005 Queen’s Park news
conference, held immediately after the Legislature passed the Disabilities Act,
is available at http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/09272013.asp
To read the AODA Alliance’s January 22, 2013 letter to the
Ontario Government, requesting the Ontario Government’s plans for enforcing the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, visit http://is.gd/XdwlVG
Learn more about AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky’s August
15, 2013 Freedom of Information application by visiting
http://www.aodaalliance.org/strong-effective-aoda/08152013.asp
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