Increasing Accessibility in British Columbia BC Disability White Paper Consultation

Recommendations from March of Dimes Canada February 2014

Submitted to Honourable Don McRae, MLA Minister of Social Development and Social Innovation

C/O Disability White Paper PO Box 9936 Stn Prov Gov Victoria BC V8W 9R2

1 Increasing Accessibility in British Columbia

This paper reflects the feedback, comments and recommendations of March of Dimes Canada toward the development of BC’s Disability White Paper.

The consultation materials, released in late 2013, outline the vision and approach for this comprehensive public policy dialogue. The approach in this consultation, a model of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Person with Disabilities, is most appropriate. As the White Paper evolves, though, we recommend a consideration of the linkages between disability and aging, specifically as regards the rights of the elderly and age-friendly communities.

It is encouraging to see governments throughout Canada conducting consultations to determine how to more effectively deliver programs and services to people with disabilities, their families, caregivers and employers.

March of Dimes Canada has worked collaboratively with many governments at all levels for more than five decades. We have participated in similar consultations in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as various departments in the Government of Canada. We would be delighted to work with the Government of British Columbia in helping devise sustainable and stronger public policy solutions.

Housing

The Disability White Paper should have a stated objective of improving the availability of quality housing for persons with disabilities that is affordable, accessible, supportive and safe.

A general recommendation would be to establish annual targets and goals so that quality improvements in new and existing units are measurable and transparent. We also recommend tabling such annual progress to the Legislative Assembly.  We encourage the adoption of a “visitable design” living standard. Other governments, such as Manitoba, already employ such a standard.  Amendments to all building codes should require that all new construction and major renovations be barrier-free, and incorporate a percentage of “visitable design” into new construction and major renovations.  March of Dimes Canada, which operates a Non-Profit Housing Corporation in Ontario and collaborates with various private sector partners, is an example of the interconnected networks through which the

2 Government of British Columbia could partner to better promote accessible design to landlords and builders.

Employment and Income Security

The threefold objective here should be to establish the Province of British Columbia as a model employer for persons with disabilities, to increase the employment rate among persons with disabilities, and to enhance the income security of persons with disabilities.  The BC Public Service is an excellent starting point. The BC Public Service should identify a target of inclusion for persons with disabilities that reflects the national population of persons with disabilities: a minimum commitment of 15%.  Enhance any government-wide disability awareness campaigns as an effective way of promoting the advantages of hiring employees with disabilities. We recommend the establishment a full-support Access Centre for employees with disabilities. Such centres exist in most post- secondary institutions throughout Canada and help provide a “one-stop shop” for information, community liaison, advocacy, education and supports.  The Minister’s Council on Employment and Accessibility is an excellent vehicle through which to develop action plans and identify measurable goals. March of Dimes Canada, a national provider of various employment services to people with disabilities and their employers, is available to assist in the Minister’s Council.  In terms of what can be done to encourage private sector employers in British Columbia to hire persons with disabilities, we recommend immediate steps that would facilitate a process of identifying, eliminating and preventing barriers to employment in the private sector. In Ontario this will be accomplished, in part, through an Accessible Employment Standard, a regulation of provincial legislation that will require employers to ensure their workplaces are accessible and document steps made to ensure that recruitment, retention and promotional measures are submitted to the government on an annual basis. A similar approach will be used in Manitoba.

Rights and Justice

As regards the promotion and protection of the human rights of persons with disabilities, we recommend, as a first step, a consideration the efficacy of introducing legislation like Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act or the Accessibility for Manitobans Act, both of which specifically work to ensure consistency with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

3 As more provinces embrace such an approach, we envision a nationally coordinated framework of such legislation, with provincial enabling statutes, jointly creating an environment in which all Canadians live and work in a legislatively harmonized barrier-free society.

Disability Supports, Training and Education

March of Dimes Canada recommends the introduction of a provincially-funded Conductive Education program in Manitoba. Conductive Education, a program administered by March of Dimes Canada, merges elements of education and rehabilitation to help people with neurologically-based movement difficulties improve their independence and mobility, which also builds confidence and self- esteem.

Accessibility

Accessibility is a broad term, indeed. Breathing life into this concept, and giving it the necessary definitions, goals and objectives to areas ranging from transportation and infrastructure to employment, recreation and housing, governments are increasingly looking towards the “standards” approach.

The “standards” approach establishes a regulatory framework for both the private and public sectors for how barriers will be identified, eliminated and prevented.

Ontario’s Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), for example, affects the following areas: customer service (which addresses personal supports, aids and devices), employment, information and communication, transportation, public spaces and the built environment. Each Standard works to ensure that all public sector and private sector organizations in Ontario are barrier-free in their respective areas of compliance by 2025.

We further recommend the use of both direct funding and tax expenditures to promote enhanced accessibility throughout the Province.

Community Living

Another question your policy makers will likely confront, and increasingly so, is “how can we better support persons with disabilities as they, their families and caregivers age?”

4 People not only age with a disability, but often age into a disability. Families and caregivers fill critical roles. How do we begin to recognize, support and enhance these roles?

The answer is not simple, but could manifest in a province-wide consultation on designing a comprehensive caregiving strategy.

Many of the concepts of aging in-place or caregiving are not new; but how our governments respond to, and plan for the future, as regards these concepts often represents a new challenge. There are governments, in the U.K. and New Zealand, for example, that have been leading the charge on incorporating caregiving into their programs and services around people with disabilities and seniors; so much so that new government agencies and departments have been created to design and deliver programs and services through smarter, more effective and more efficient government. In some cases, in the U.K., for example, the public policy and public administration around caregiving have yielded significant cost savings while simultaneously delivering more effective programs.

Asset Accumulation

The Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is an excellent long-term savings plan for people with disabilities who want to save for their future as well as families who want to help ensure the financial security of their loved ones with a disability.

The experiences of March of Dimes Canada around the RDSP show that people simply don’t know enough about it as a savings and tax-deferred vehicle or what the benefits actually are. Workshops for parents, more literature in public places, and information prominently displayed in financial institutions are all necessary.

As part of the role of March of Dimes Canada, we offer Information and Advocacy services, and one example of this is the March of Dimes Minute. March of Dimes Minutes are roughly one-minute “did you know” videos available through our website and other online properties such as YouTube. The videos are free to public, and cover a range of topics, including the RDSP. While much more needs to be done, our March of Dimes Minutes are helping broaden the awareness of the RDSP and other asset accumulation/savings measures, and helping bolster the financial security of people with disabilities.

5 Concluding Remarks

For more than six decades, March of Dimes has been working to create a society inclusive of people with disabilities. Today, our programs and services affect the lives and livelihoods of upwards of 55,000 people with disabilities nationally.

Established in 1951, March of Dimes Canada is one of Canada’s largest service providers and a tireless advocate for people with disabilities, serving as a resource for all Canadians requiring disability supports.

With a wide range of programs and services, many of our consumers utilize more than one of our services to help them gain greater independence. Solutions for independence include employment services, attendant services, financial support for assistive devices, home and vehicle modifications funding, peer support for stroke and post-polio survivors, and much more.

Last year alone, March of Dimes provided support to children and adults with all types of disabilities, representing more than 2.25 million hours of service.

The Government of British Columbia could very well find that efforts to increase accessibility in BC, and identify, eliminate and prevent barriers to the full participation of people with disabilities, will manifest in (a) partnerships with national organizations like March of Dimes Canada and (b) the adoption of existing programs and services currently being delivery by governments and sector partners outside British Columbia.

March of Dimes Canada welcomes any opportunity to participate in future initiatives aimed at increasing accessibility in BC and creating a more inclusive society.

Contact: Steven Christianson, National Manager of Government Relations & Advocacy March of Dimes Canada 10 Overlea Boulevard Toronto, ON M4H 1A4 Tel: 416-425-3463, ext. 7326 Web: www.marchofdimes.ca

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