FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMMITTEE
	TO:	Mayor and Members of Council
	FROM:	Catherine M. Conrad, Town Solicitor
	PREPARED BY:	same as above
	DATE OF MEETING:	October 20, 2003
	SUBJECT:	Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 Town of Markham Draft Accessibility Plan

RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. That the draft Accessibility Plan be received.

2. That the Accessibility Plan be made available to the public through the Clerk’s Department and the Town’s website.

3. That the Accessibility Plan be provided to the Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility for comment.

4. That a public meeting be held and that notice of a public meeting be given by newspaper publication and by notice on the Town’s website.

5. That the Manager of Corporate Strategy and Quality, within the Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships Commission be appointed to:

a. Coordinate responses of Commission staff assigned to implement the Plan, monitor accessibility and update the Plan annually;

b. Maintain records with respect to accessibility issues and actions; and

c. Report to Council on the implementation of the Plan on a regular basis and make recommendations for future initiatives.

6. That a staff person be identified within each commission to be responsible for inquiries relating to accessibility, annual updates of the Accessibility Plan, implementation of Commission accessibility initiatives, monitoring accessibility and following up on complaints related to accessibility.

7. That the Planning Department’s Design Excellence Awards for 2005 include a category for excellence in design and accessibility.

8. That the Provincial government be requested to amend the Building Code Act, the Planning Act and other related Acts to ensure that municipally adopted accessibility guidelines are enforceable on non-municipal projects through subdivision, zoning, site plan approval, building permit issuance and any other means available.

PURPOSE:

The purpose of this report is to receive the draft Accessibility Report attached, to initiate public consultation of the draft with the Markham Advisory Committee on Accessibility and the public, appoint staff and establish a procedure for ongoing accessibility planning and recommend that legislation be amended to permit accessibility guidelines to be enforceable on non-municipal projects.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 requires each municipality within Ontario to begin to focus on removing barriers and improving opportunities for persons with disabilities. Markham has been engaged in improving its capital facilities, programming and accessibility for more than 10 years. The draft Accessibility Plan attached is, in part, the culmination of the past decade of work in improving accessibility but also provides a focus and mandate for improving on past achievements and formalizing the process of continuing to identify and remove barriers.

The Plan itself is composed of Accessibility Achievements and Accessibility Objectives for Town Departments. Achievement of some of those objectives will require funding through capital or operating budgets and the departments responsible will include projects identified for 2004 in their departmental budget submissions.

The recommendations of the report and those set out above provide for the publication of the Plan and further consultation and establish a framework within the Town’s existing staff complement to ensure that accessibility continues to be an important initiative of the Town.

BACKGROUND:

On December 14, 2001, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 received Royal Assent. The purpose of the Act is to “improve opportunities for persons with disabilities by comprehensively identifying, removing and preventing barriers to their participation in the life of the jurisdictions of governments”.

The Act requires provincial and municipal governments and other public sector organizations, such as hospitals, universities and school boards, to review their policies, programs and services through the development of annual accessibility plans.

The Act also requires municipalities larger than 10,000 population to establish accessibility advisory committees. The legislation requires that at least 50% of the members of the Advisory Committee on Accessibility have disabilities. Markham’s Advisory Committee on Accessibility has been in place since 1991.

In 2003, a team of representatives from the Corporate Services Commission, Community and Fire Services Commission, Development Services Commission, Human Resources Department and Legal Services Department was established to coordinate the preparation of the first Markham Accessibility Plan as required by the Act.

Commissions and Departments were asked to identify the accessibility challenges they had addressed in the past, the current accessibility challenges they are addressing and the additional accessibility challenges they foresee and to provide a planning timeframe to address those additional challenges. All of those challenges are set out in the draft Plan attached to this report. The Plan will be updated annually and will be in effect for a period of one year from the date of Council’s adoption.

OPTIONS/DISCUSSION:

The Plan attached is a draft for consultation purposes. The Act requires that the public and the Advisory Committee be consulted in its preparation. It is recommended that the Plan be provided to the Advisory Committee for its review and comment and that a public meeting be scheduled to provide an opportunity for the public to provide their comments to Council. When public consultation has been completed, staff will report back on any recommended amendments to the Plan prior to Council adopting the Plan.

The draft Plan includes a number of completed and planned initiatives to improve accessibility to Town facilities and programs. The planned initiatives include retrofitting facilities to make them accessible, providing diversity training to staff, facilitating the employment of persons who are physically disabled by providing voice recognition software, providing “signing” for hearing impaired persons at public meetings and installing accessible playgrounds. While these initiatives tend to focus on providing services to persons with disabilities, it is also important to make accessibility a more visible issue in other spheres. Therefore, it has also been recommended that the Design Excellence Awards for 2004 include a category for Excellence in Accessibility and that legislative changes to the Planning Act be pursued to make accessibility standards enforceable in the site plan review process.

FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS:

The Plan recommends improvements to accessibility which will be addressed in Commission budget submissions for 2004 and subsequent years.

ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS:

N/A

ACCESSIBILITY CONSIDERATIONS:

The attached Plan has been prepared in accordance with the provisions of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001. It provides for improvements to facilities, programs and policies and recommends establishment of protocols to ensure that accessibility for persons with disabilities is improved and monitored annually.

ENGAGE 21ST CONSIDERATIONS:

The Town’s strategic plan contemplates that the separate yet integrated needs, expectations and requirements of the Town’s different communities – geographic, ethnic and interest groups – will be met through a wide range of community facilities, programs, employment opportunities and housing types. The Accessibility Plan will assist the Town in identifying the needs of persons with disabilities and focus attention on removing barriers and improving opportunities.

BUSINESS UNITS CONSULTED AND AFFECTED:

The Community Services Commission, Corporate Services Commission, Development Services Commission and Strategy, Innovation and Partnerships Commission and the Office of the Chief Executive Officer were consulted and participated in the preparation of the attached report.

ATTACHMENTS:

Attachment A - Draft Accessibility Report, a copy of which is available in the Clerks Department.

Catherine M. Conrad, Town Solicitor

John Livey, CAO

Q:\Exec Office\Legal\CONRAD\Reports\Accessibility\accessibility report.doc