People With Disabilities Demand Their Rights Now

OUR COUNTRY IS WASTING VALUABLE RESOURCES AND MONEY BY PREVENTING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FROM FULL PARTICIPATING AS CITIZENS.

PREPARED BY CATHY McPherson, EXECUTIVE MEMBER, CANADIAN DISABILITY RIGHTS COUNCIL.

? People with all types of disabilities line up at foodbanks to get enough macaroni to make it through the month.
? Wheelchair users begging bus drivers and airline pilots to let them on their vehicles-even though they have already bought and paid for their tickets.
? Children and adults with disabilities who have been brutally raped or sexually assaulted but can’t convince the police, crown attorneys or judges to hear their stories.
? Blind and low vision individuals who are refused even the most basic information by government on tape or in braille.
? People who are deaf or hard of hearing, unable to convince Canada’s Spicer Commission on our constitution to have a TDD installed so that people with hearing disabilities can communicate their concerns directly.

Has Justice Turned Its Back on People with Disabilities in This Country? People With Disabilities in Canada are Responding With a Resounding NO!!!!

No other country in the world has enshrined equality rights for people with disabilities in its constitution (the Charter of Rights and Freedoms). We can be proud of our success in getting disability rights covered under our various human rights codes.

Despite these victories, the reality is that many of the principles we have fought for are not being carried out at a grassroots level. People with disabilities in this country are still being denied the most basic rights many citizens in our country take for granted-the right to vote, to travel, to give their evidence in court, to get information from the government in a form useable to them, to receive captioned information from the television and the right to become a Canadian citizen.

Since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, disability rights activists across the country have been talking about the introduction of a similar piece of Canadian legislation.

For many of us who have appeared repeatedly at commissions, review bodies and committee hearings over the last years to achieve even the minimal rights we have today, the prospect of having to fight again is a daunting one. But with 63% of people with disabilities in this country reporting incomes of less than $10,000 and from 60-80% of people with disabilities unemployed we owe it to ourselves, and our country, to take these reforms a step further.

People with disabilities, who make up a significant proportion of our country (14+%) want to be contributing members of our society. Our country is wasting valuable resources and money by preventing people with disabilities form fully participating as citizens.

Last November the federal government agreed to carry out a full review of federal legislation as it affects people with disabilities thanks to the long-standing efforts of the all-party Parliamentary Standing Committee of Disabled Persons and the lobbying of disability groups.

This September people with disabilities will be presenting a package of proposals to change several pieces of proposals to change several pieces of existing federal legislation at once, called an omnibus bill. It is not exactly like the Americans with Disabilities Act but it will make several long sought after changes to federal legislation. (An omnibus bill lasts only for as long as it takes to amend the pieces of legislation and must be tied together by a theme.) We see it as a first step in a longer process of reforming federal laws to ensure that people with disabilities are treated with the dignity and respect they deserve in this country.

In this first go round we are proposing reforms in areas which are the sole responsibility of the federal government-reforms that will give us some momentum so we can build on these successes. We are asking that these and other laws be reviewed every few years to ensure that the rights of people with disabilities are respected.

Like the Americans, we have not included every piece of legislation that needs change in the Omnibus Bill because we believe that existing review mechanisms can deal with some of these other issues more effectively. They include reviews of the Employment Equity Act, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Canada Labour Code, the Copyright Act and others.

Many other areas which desperately need reform will require the agreement of the provincial and federal governments. These areas are being targeted for longer term reform in the second and third stages of this project.

Some of these longer-term issues include reforms to: our social assistance system (the Canada Assistance Plan); national housing standards; the Income Tax Act; the Canada Pension Plan-Disability Pension; the Canada Health Act-and many others! We also want to make sure that the federal government’s spending power is used in a way that will not discriminate on the basis of disability.

The federal government has been saying some positive things about this process. The recent throne speech promised proposals for programs and policies to remove the barriers still faced by Canadians with disabilities from fully participating in Canada’s political life and economic prosperity in such areas as: access to employment, training, housing, transportation, public sensitivity and community integration.

On May 16th, 1991, The Honourable Robert De Cotret said in his response to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Rights and the Status of Disabled Persons that, “The Canadian Disability Rights Council is carrying out a review of major pieces of legislation in consultation with disabled people across the country. This input will provide an essential frame of reference for the review”.

This fall we will be holding meetings across the country with local disability groups to talk about our package of proposals and get your ideas about other areas you’d like to see changed. But we need the support of people with disabilities, their families, friends and advocates to make sure these reforms become a reality.

What we are calling for in this first package or proposals:

An Act to Implement the Equality Rights of People with Disabilities in Canada

1. The Canada Elections Act:

It’s hard to believe that the most basic right of Canadian citizens-to cast a vote-is frequently denied to people with disabilities. Many people with disabilities are still unable to cast their vote because polling booths are not physically accessible or located where people with disabilities in institutional settings can easily get to; information about voting is not available in a form that people who are blind or who are deaf can access; people with disabilities who want to vote are not allowed to have people who are their interpreters or support persons assist them in the voting process.

In addition to these barriers, people with disabilities are not depicted in advertising about voting, nor are they often hired as returning officers.

Our goal: to ensure that polling stations are accessible, that election material is available in alternate formats, and that enumeration procedures identify the needs of those with a disability.

2.The Canada Evidence Act:

Children and adults with disabilities are 1.5 to ten times as likely to be assaulted or sexually assaulted as non-disabled people. That’s why it’s so important for education, prevention and the prosecution of abusers to take place. In all too many cases of abuse involving people with disabilities, the assailant is never charged and punished.

Police, crown attorneys and judges are preventing cases from going forward because they presume the person with a disability will not be a credible witness in court. In some cases they are denied the support of an interpreter (where they are deaf) or the assistance of someone they know (where they have cerebral palsy or disabled through a stroke, for instance) to help them communicate in the court process. The use of videotaped statements of victims and protective screens in the courtroom permitted for children in cases of sexual assault are not allowed for use by adults with disabilities who might have a stronger case with these accommodations in place.

Our goal: to allow people who are labelled “mentally handicapped” and those who have difficulty communicating without assistance to give their evidence in court.

3. The Broadcast Act:

Despite the fact that there are 260,000 deaf people in Canada and more than 1.5 million hard of hearing individuals (who are bound to increase as our population ages), these individuals are still denied the enjoyment and information relayed through one of our most popular media forums-television. Technological advances can now make television programs accessible to people who are deaf or hearing impaired through: on-screen sign language; subtitled dialogue on the bottom of the screen (open captioning); or closed captioning (which can only be seen through the use of special equipment such as a decoder).

The Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), however, has refused to use its considerable power to make television programming accessible to deaf and hard of hearing people-sooner rather than later. This even though the Parliamentary Committee on Communications and Culture in its Recommendations for a New Broadcasting Act (1987) suggested “clear legislated targets” that would improve access to broadcasting services for the deaf and hearing impaired.

The Committee recommended that conventional networks be required to caption a minimum of 50% of their programs within five years; that other broadcasters be expected to provide a significant and reasonable proportion of their programming in an accessible format for the hearing impaired; and that the CRTC ensure compliance by attaching conditions to individual licenses of broadcasters.

Our goal: to make captioning a reality and not something that will be done as resources become available as the present Act says.

Time lines for when captioning must be introduced will be proposed.

4. The National Transportation Act:

In 1974 a couple with cerebral palsy was not allowed to board a bus in Toronto because the driver said there was no room for their collapsible chairs and that they needed an attendant. The Blanchers had taken buses on previous occasions and had been helped on and off the bus by the drivers. They had never used attendants. They won their case in court, but 20 years later, people with disabilities are still being denied the right to ride on buses. For the most part, despite the availability of accessible bus models, accessible inter-city bus service in Canada is virtually non-existent.

In 1982 the Canadian Transport Commission’s Air Transport Committee instituted a one person one fare policy on March 2, 1982 to stop what they termed “unjust discrimination” against disabled travelers. The decision supported the recommendation in the February 1981 Obstacles report, that airlines not charge people with disabilities for attendants assisting them on flights.

Ten years later, people with disabilities continue to argue out this issue with airline personnel and bureaucrats despite the fact that seats on our national airlines go empty.

In May 1990, Bill Hoch, Executive Director of the Ontario Division of the Canadian Paraplegic Association (CPA) was not permitted to travel on a Canadian Partner airplane to Montreal because he was a wheelchair user. The pilot refused to carry Hoch because he wasn’t accompanied by an attendant and there was no one available on the flight to assist him. Hoch had informed the airline weeks in advance that he was disabled and in need of boarding assistance.

Ironically, Mr. Hoch was leaving Ottawa where he had just finished meeting with federal Transport Minister Doug Lewis about concerns over air transportation issues. The next day he was to make a presentation in Montreal on the rights of disabled people to travel by rail.

The inability to get accessible transportation prevents many people with disabilities in the country from holding down jobs (and paying taxes), getting medical attention, and fleeing from situations of assault or abuse. Ultimately, the lack of access to transportation by people with disabilities costs our society money. We’re not asking for everything immediately-vehicles that are inaccessible can, and should be phased out and replaced by new accessible models. The technology exists to make airplanes, buses, trains and cabs wheelchair accessible.

People with disabilities are prepared to pay for airline, bus and train tickets during a period where travel is being adversely affected by the recession-now all they want is the right to ride.

Our goal: to establish time frames to make air, bus and railway transportation accessible to people with disabilities. To ensure that any new airport, bus and railway terminals are accessible to disabled passengers and employees.

5. The Immigration Act:

Under our present Immigration Act most people with disabilities are excluded from being granted landed immigrant status in Canada. New immigrants must undergo a medical examination to determine if they are suffering from any disease, disorder, disability or health impairment by virtue of which “they are likely to be a danger to public health or public safety” or whose admission “would cause or might reasonably be expected to cause excessive demands on health or social services”. If a family member is denied landed immigration status for this reason, often the whole family is rejected.

In some cases a Minister’s Permit is granted (and reviewed yearly) for disabled individuals which allows them to stay in the country but denies them the right to social, community and health services extended to landed immigrants or citizens. If the permit is not renewed, the individuals must return to their country and leave their family behind.

People with disabilities who are employed in other countries are being denied the right to immigrate to Canada. Even when families make a personal commitment to support children and adults with disabilities out of their own pockets at no cost to our country, they are being denied landed immigrant status, a Minister’s permit or Canadian citizenship.

Having a disability is not the same as being “sick”. People with all types of disabilities have proven that they can earn a living, live independently, develop socially and can contribute in a meaningful way to Canadian society.

It is a myth that people with disabilities cause the most expense to the health care system. Statistics show that people at the end of their lives-the elderly-are the greatest health care users. We do not prevent people who smoke or drink from entering the country who might later contribute to high costs in the health care system.

Clearly the assumptions in our Immigration Act are outdated and discriminatory.

Our goal: to allow people with disabilities to be granted landed immigrant status in Canada and the opportunity to become Canadian citizens.

6. The Access to Information Act:

552,585 adult Canadians are visually impaired, which means that even with glasses they have difficulty reading normal print. Thousands of Canadians have physical disabilities severe enough to make it difficult or impossible for them to read. The inability to access information without difficult is a formidable barrier to their participation in Canadian society.

Current Treasury Board policy establishes board categories of materials where alternate formats may be required; the need to communicate the availability of alternate formats; and the importance of providing alternate format within the same general time frames as for printed material. Unfortunately, this is simply a guideline and is difficult to enforce.

As a result each government department, individually and voluntarily, must decide how to produce material in a useable form to satisfy the public. Not surprisingly, few departments are actually producing material in a useable form for people who are print handicapped.

Our goal: to ensure that government publications and information in alternative media are available to people who are print handicapped.

WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET INVOLVED?

? Write a letter today to your Federal member of Parliament(MP) explaining the importance of legislative reform for persons with disabilities. Call or write us for a sample letter and tips on writing to MP’s. The MP’s return to Ottawa in mid-September. Write now to voice your support for an Omnibus Bill. Remember: a handwritten or typed letter is better than a form letter.
? Put aside an hour at your next meeting for every one in your group to write a letter to the Honourable Robert De Cotret, Secretary of State, and Minister Responsible for the Status of Disabled Persons and your local MP. Address your letter to the House of Commons, Room 337, West Block Ottawa, K1A 0A6. Get people who are better writers to help people who can’t write as well. You don’t need a stamp to send your letter to federal Members of Parliament.
? Organize an information session on these issues-we’ll supply the speakers if you need them.
? Set up a meeting with your Federal member of Parliament to talk to her or him about the importance of this reform. Team up more experienced people in your group with people who have less experience. Use the following questions as conversation starters: “Are you aware that people with disabilities are putting together a federal Omnibus Bill? Can we count on your support? I’d like to talk to you about some of the issues that we think must be addressed.” Discuss issues that you are most comfortable with-use personal experiences as examples.

There are 3.3 million people with disabilities in this country who have a lot of voting power-we can use it to bring pressure on the Government to make much needed reforms.

Let’s use the momentum generated by disabled activists in the United States and the passage of the American with Disabilities Act to show Canadian politicians that the time has come for people with disabilities to be listened to!!!

For more information call the Canadian Disability Rights Project Office in Ottawa (613)563-2581 collect and ask for Roz Currie, project
co-ordinator or call our national office in Winnipeg at: (204)943-4787 VOICE or TDD. You can also write us at: 926-294 Portage Ave., Winnipeg, Man. R3C 0B9