The Community Has a Voice

By Raymond D. Cohen

RC: In the recently tabled budget for the province of Ontario, conspicuous by its absence was any direct reference to disability issues. Are there initiatives included that will directly or indirectly benefit people with disabilities?

EZ: The budget is there only to show a fiscal overview and the direction in which the province wants to head in the next year. It is never intended to name specific groups of people.

First of all, the province wanted to make sure that there were no new taxes. We also wanted the budget to spell out that we had been on a plan of action and that it was working. The deficit was coming down, and we were maintaining services and creating jobs at the same time. For people with disabilities, I think these two areas are extremely important.

People who rely on family benefits or social assistance will not see a cut in those particular programs. We worked very hard to do that. Of all the provinces in Canada, we spend more on social assistance, and the payments to recipients are the highest in Canada. We’re proud of that record and we want to maintain it.

The other important area is job creation. We have just passed a bill that I put in legislation which will have profound benefits for people who have disabilities who want to get into the work force, and who have been trained and have experience, but have not been able to get jobs because of discrimination and barriers in the workplace. This bill will remove those barriers and will assist people in being treated equitably in all workplaces in Ontario. We’re setting up a new commission in a time of great fiscal restraint. Our ministry has received the funding to proceed as quickly as possible.

RC: What is the time frame on the employment equity bill?

EZ: The time frame right now is to set up the commission to give everybody the services they need. Because this is quite a major change in the way employers do things, and because it’s a significant and complex piece of legislation, the commission must be set up in the most appropriate manner. That’s difficult. We can’t ask another province, "How did you set up your commission?" We’ve heard from large corporations that whatever we do in Ontario, they’re going to plan that same type of program in their companies across Canada. We have to make sure we do this right.

RC: It’s common knowledge that your ministry is restructuring both the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) and the Office for Seniors. Could you let ABILITIES readers know how and why this is being implemented, and what you see as being the impact on the availability of provincial government services to these two groups?

EZ: The Office for Seniors and the Office for Disability Issues are two separate offices disconnected from the main part of the ministry. They are advocacy types of ministries. They have funding for some projects, but they don’t provide direct services. They mainly sit at the cabinet table, having direct input into policy and discussions leading to legislation that will affect seniors or people with disabilities.

We realized that although both offices were trying to get information out, they were inconveniently located in downtown Toronto. We have 24 offices across Ontario, but if someone in Thunder Bay walked into our ministry office there, they would not be able to receive any information on seniors’ issues or disability issues. They would be redirected to the Toronto office.

We realized that we had to get that information out across Ontario. It’s a very large province with many people with disabilities, and if we are to do a good job in providing information and access to our ministry, we have to be out there at the forefront. So we decided to bring specialists in disability issues into the various components of the ministry. They’re lodged within the policy units so that every time a policy issue is raised within our ministry, whether it’s immigration or employment equity or community action funding, the policy of disability will be there to give guidance on addressing those issues. It’s a matter of making sure that disability issues are addressed across the ministry in a coordinated fashion -- and, on the flip side, that people with disabilities can access the ministry all across Ontario.

RC: Are there any particular measures being taken to inform consumers across the province about the new structure and how they can approach government?

EZ: Yes, we have been sending out information. Certainly if people have any inquiries or need further information, we are available to answer their questions.

A contact person has been assigned who can be identified across Ontario as heading up all disability issues. There was some concern that if you don’t have an office for disability issues per se and the issues are being addressed in many different components, then who will people get in touch with if there is an issue or problem? So we have appointed Sandra Carpenter. She is well known across Ontario and has great abilities, so we know she’ll do a great job.

RC: While the NDP was coming to power in Ontario, a great deal of interest was expressed in disability issues. Some consumers feel that, with recent concerns around the restructuring of ODI, changes in the Advocacy Project and changes in the Substitute Decision Making Act, the commitment by this government to people with disabilities may have lessened or changed somehow. Would you speak to this issue?

EZ: If anything, our commitment is stronger than ever. Having an office in our ministry does not have the same importance as a specialist in the policy units. An office does not necessarily have a minister, or perhaps it’s a minister without portfolio. This time we do have a minister who’s at the cabinet table all the time and is there to speak up on the issue. We’ve seen a great change in how other ministries deliver services and how they think about doing things. For instance, the Ministry of Natural Resources now thinks about accessibility in provincial parks. If you really want equity, you have to get all ministries to think about these issues all the time, not just some of the time.

By focusing more on mainstreaming, the objectives might be such that there are fewer specialized programs, perhaps. We are making sure that we maintain the specialized programming within our ministry, that we are still funding non-profit agencies and organizations to make their buildings accessible. But at the same time, we have to start to look at issues in a different way. All ministries have to take the responsibility to make sure that all people are treated in an appropriate fashion. And we’re starting to see that the benefits of one program can sometimes assist people in other programs.

But I know that there is a concern and this was not an approach that we took quickly. We wanted to make sure that this was the appropriate thing to do.

RC: I think the different way of which you speak is a more integrated way, and that’s what people are saying they’ve been wanting for some time.

EZ: That’s right. As I was growing up, equity meant that you would all be treated the same. We’ve gone beyond that because we’ve realized we’re all different. We can’t be treated the same. The needs of people with disabilities are different and their abilities are different. So now we rejoice in our differences, in the fact that we are separate, individual people all wanting similar things and all wanting to be part of an inclusive society.

People are just starting to learn about diversity. Diversity is about people who are male and female, are different ages, come from different racial, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, and who may or may not have a disability.

But what is exciting is that some people have started to capture that. I’ve talked to lawyers who do diversity training and look at all these issues. They realize that women coming into the work force do have to be treated with respect and dignity and fairness, but may have different needs: day care needs, different obligations at home and a need for flexible work hours. And that also helps people with disabilities who use Wheel-Trans or need attendant services. It helps people who are far from work and need different hours because of their transportation needs. So there is a whole different sense about how we see diversity. It’s a very complicated issue and one that I think is still going to take some time.

Some of the issues coming up in our legislature will address the discrimination that people face. Sometimes people don’t understand that discrimination against one person can be against all of us.

RC: You do have an Advisory Council on Disability Issues which reports to you. Could you explain a little about the structure of this group and what specific responsibilities it holds?

EZ: The advisory group consists of 12 people, including a chair and vice-chair. People apply to sit on the advisory committee by writing a letter to the appointed advisory office stating that they have an interest in disability issues or that they know of a person who would add to the makeup of the council. It has been done in a political way, in that the minister usually makes the appointment that goes to cabinet, the premier has the final say, and the lieutenant governor signs the Order-In-Council. We try to pick people from various parts of Ontario with various types of abilities and disabilities.

Our view for the future is to see how we can evolve the process to be more inclusive and accessible to members of various regions. I would like to see the council have more input from the community. We’re trying to set up a process that would be a real in-the-community relationship where people feel they have some ownership of the council.

It is difficult to get the diversity that is out there in Ontario unless you have a council made up of thousands of people. One of the things that we have not been able to do as successfully as I would like is to try to work with the Ontario Native Affairs secretariat to understand the difficulties for people on reserves with disabilities, their needs and their concerns, and how we can play an active role with them to resolve some of the problems.

RC: It seems that having members of that group serve as information conduits from diverse communities is a healthy direction to go.

EZ: It’s a very healthy direction. I use the Council on Disability Issues as a sounding board to make sure that what we are trying to do within the government is good policy. Sometimes I go to them with a specific concern; sometimes they come to me about a specific issue that they would like to explore further.

RC: For the benefit of our out-of-province readers, could you briefly explain the Advocacy Project, its current status and how it will benefit people with disabilities?

EZ: The Advocacy Project came about because of advocacy legislation. This legislation is about making sure the most vulnerable citizens in our province have the opportunity to be heard, that if they cannot express themselves because of a disability or because of their senior years, there will be an advocate on their behalf -- not making decisions for them, but speaking for them with their consent. It’s groundbreaking legislation. It was promoted for about 10 or 15 years by family members who saw their loved ones living in unacceptable situations; people with disabilities who had suffered great indignities; and coroners’ inquests reporting abuse and neglect.

Because the legislation is about empowerment for vulnerable people, we wanted to make sure that the commission was also an empowerment tool, so the process for having commissioners has been very different. Normally, the minister of the day appoints a commissioner. We wanted to make sure that the appointments met the wishes and the desires of the vulnerable citizens in Ontario, so we set the Appointments Advisory Committee without political interference from the government. The people who make up the Appointments Advisory Committee were not appointed, but elected by their peer group.

It took almost a year: educating the citizens of Ontario on what we were doing and why, having people elected by their peers to sit on the Appointments Advisory Committee, their putting advertisements in newspapers for commissioners and interviewing over 3,000 people who wanted to serve on this commission. Out of the selection process, they gave me a list of three candidates for the chief commissioner and 16 names for the other eight positions. We interviewed the candidates and selected our commissioners.

I have the opportunity, as the bill states, to appoint additional people, in case the election process did not give us a regional representation or did not capture the types of diversity that we have in Ontario. The committee will be responsible for setting up the commission, hiring and training the advocates, and setting up the regulations.

This is a real empowerment process and it’s been fun to watch because people sometimes doubt the democratic process. There were many people who thought that it should be strictly political appointments. But the democratic process does work; the names that have come forward are excellent, and I think we’re going to have a good group of commissioners -- all done in a very democratic, open way, with representation from the most vulnerable citizens in our society.

RC: As the percentage of complaints to the Ontario Human Rights Commission involving people with disabilities increases annually, are there any plans to improve its ability to respond and deal with disability-related complaints?

EZ: The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has many problems, one of which, of course, is that there are many people who need to go to the commission to confront discrimination. There are several things that I think are going to relieve the Human Rights Commission. One is the Employment Equity Commission and its new legislation, Bill 79, because many of the complaints that have come before the OHRC are related to discrimination in the workplace. That will be one mechanism for eliminating a form of discrimination. The Advocacy Act will, again, promote people’s rights, and hopefully eliminate the barriers faced by people with disabilities, especially the most vulnerable.

There are other things that we’ve been doing with the commission itself. We’ve appointed some very good people who have taken a real hands-on role to solve some of the problems that the commission has faced over many, many years. We put in a whole new mechanism of how we address complaints. The backlog has been addressed. We’ve put in other mechanisms for resolution of disputes and early initiative settlements, so that if a complaint coming in the front door has been dealt with many times before, we try to deal with it quickly and expediently, because we know the process. But there will always be complaints that have never been dealt with before. A good human rights commission will always be facing some very difficult cases that can’t be resolved quickly.

The other thing that people have to understand is that human rights complaints create a lot of emotion for people, and sometimes it might take a bit longer because of the sensitive nature of these cases. But the standing committee of the legislature reviewed the commission in February, and we’re quite pleased with the progress that has been made and some of the initiatives that have been undertaken by the commission to resolve serious problems they faced in the past.

RC: In the reformation of Long-Term Care, I understand that there is to be the creation of Multi-Service Agencies. Some consumers have expressed concern that there doesn’t appear to be networking with all stakeholders in this process. Do you see a role for people with disabilities in this process?

EZ: Yes, I do. First of all, the decisions about Multi-Service Agencies, the delivery of services, are being given to the communities where the people live. It’s a different process again, one where instead of having the provincial legislature make all the decisions about how the services are delivered across Ontario, we understand that the needs of people are quite different in different communities.

We realized that if we were going to give good delivery of service uniformly across the province, two things had to happen. One was that the province had to set standards and criteria across the province about what services would be delivered. But it had to be flexible as well -- the community had to have input and make decisions, because they understand how these services are needed in their communities.

Seniors and people with disabilities in their organizations suggested that since we already have district health councils set up, we should utilize them more, and add people from the community who reflect seniors and people with disabilities, have them make those decisions and advise the government. So that’s what we did. Some district health councils were a little more prepared than others to come to some decisions in a different fashion. The communities have been doing things in cooperation with their agencies; they know what their community needs are.

We are pleased with the progress. It’s taken a little longer than we would have liked, but we’ve already seen some major changes with an integrated homemaker program being available all across Ontario. Now other delivery services will be put into place and brought up to speed.

RC: From the point of view of the development of the process, would it be incumbent upon people with disabilities who want to be involved in this to approach the government?

EZ: Probably by the time your publication is out a lot of this will have occurred, but there are focus groups all across Ontario right now consultating on Long-Term Care. This should be complete by August. Individuals, agencies or community groups can go to these consultations and find out what’s happening, how they can get involved and how they can get more information. If people ever do have a concern and they’re not too sure where to turn to, they should contact our ministry, and we can get them involved.

RC: Do you have general plans or a vision specific to disability issues which you would like to share with ABILITIES readers, pertaining to the final year of your present mandate? Is there some way in which you can envision an increased focus on disability issues, or a general game plan?

EZ: It has been extremely important for us this last year to implement some of the things that we’ve begun: setting up the Advocacy Commission, making sure that the services are in place, that there are advocates out there across Ontario, that vulnerable adults’ needs are addressed. The Employment Equity Commission must be set up and fully operational.

Another area of disability issues, which is addressed in other ministries but which I’m always concerned about and get involved in, is the redirection of Long-Term Care -- making sure that we have some of the good things in place so that they are actually working. Maybe we will not have everything in place in the next year, but if we could have some models in place, other communities that might not be as far advanced can look to those models.

When we look at people with disabilities who receive social assistance but want an opportunity to work and perhaps need to get retrained, we want to focus on individuals, so they’re getting services and systems that they need.

The last thing that we’ve been trying very hard to do is work with many different organizations --employers, the labour movement, or non-profit groups -- to see how we can do a different form of promotion. We like to be involved because all of us have to share that partnership.

It’s going to be an inclusive society. It’s not just government passing legislation. It’s employers wanting to accept a role as partner. It’s the union movement understanding the inclusive society and making sure that people with disabilities are included in their thinking. And, of course, it’s the non-profit groups and designated group members who will share with us and help us understand the needs. So it’s a great big partnership that everybody has to work towards.