So many heartfelt pleas from some downtown businesses to change the timeframe and/or the footprint. Shame on Councillor Crain for saying he would remove Open Air barriers when he campaigned but voted to support continuing Open Air. Shame on Councillor McArthur; as council’s rep to the Accessibility Advisory Committee who should be advocating to remove barriers. Also, shame on Deputy Mayor Gibb; he emailed that, “I’m proud to say that I did complete the ADOA training that was offered to all members of council and I hope to put what I learned into practice not only in my “municipal life” but also in my personal life.” Finally, shame on Mayor Prue.
Category Archives: Accountability
What Accessibility Training Did Council Receive? File An FOI Request
I asked CAO Critchley: on what date did current members of council receive training in accessibility?
Critchley: November 29, 2022.
I could not find accessibility listed on the November 29 council workshop agenda.
Then I asked CAO Critchley to email me copies of the accessibility training materials provided to members of council at their November training.
CAO Critchley: With respect to your request for documents, please file a Freedom of Information Request.
Tune In At 6 pm For Council Open Air Discussion
Tonight’s meeting starts at 6 pm and can be viewed online to find out:
Will Councillor Crain vote to remove barriers as he said he would during the 2022 campaign?
Will Councillor McArthur, council’s rep to the Accessibility Advisory Committee vote to remove barriers?
Will Amherstburg be the “welcoming, inclusive community that values diversity, accessibility and the essential dignity of all people?”
Mayor Prue’s Priorities As A Candidate – Boat Launch
One of Prue’s priorities: Drive completion of key town projects – Duffy’s, revitalization of parks, new fire hall, public boat launch at Ranta, Belle Vue.
Communities Are More Than Festivals
While Amherstburg won a Festival award, Central Huron won the Inclusive Community Based Initiative Award at this year’s Economic Developers Council of Ontario Conference for their Shop-ability Project to create an entire downtown that was accessible.
Read the Blackburn News article: Municipality wins award for accessibility project.
Anne Rota’s Report To Council on Open Air options includes, the concept of “Placemaking” is not a new idea with a link to an article that describes placemaking.
The same site publishes four articles on Inclusive Placemaking:
A Playbook for Inclusive Placemaking: Community Process
Programming for Inclusion: Enhancing Equity through Public Space Activation
Inclusive by Design: Laying a Foundation for Diversity in Public Space
Public Space Management and the Brass Tacks of Inclusive Placemaking
MUNICIPALITY OF THE YEAR AWARD JUDGING CRITERIA
The Festivals and Events Ontario award to Amherstburg recognizes ‘the best in municipal leadership and festival and event partnerships in the Province of Ontario.’
The application consists of:
Question 1
List of your individual festivals & events:
a) Please provide the judges with a clear presentation of why your Municipality should be selected.
b) Include a list of leading festivals and events (up to a max. of five (5). These festivals and events (provide dates) were staged in and/or supported by your Municipality for the time frame of September 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022. Please tell us when the festival or event was established, who is your primary contact for it and, if known, also provide information on the approximate attendance at each and how many are local citizens vs out-of-town visitors/tourists (i.e those residing more than 100 km away).
Question 2
Tell us about your Municipal infrastructure for festivals and events:
a) Please provide your most recent (Canada Census)Municipal population.
b) What are the accommodation, parking and transit options for visitors to the festivals and events?
c) Outline your primary festival and event venues, including capacities for each.
d) Do you have an emergency response plan for festivals and events operating within your jurisdiction? e) Is there anything else you wish to include in this section?
Question 3
Tell us about how your municipality directly supports festivals and events through areas under its direct control:
a) Do you have a dedicated support team, policy or plan for presenting and/or supporting festivals and events? If so, please elaborate.
b) What monetary budget in direct funding do you provide for presenting and/or supporting festivals and events?
c) Do you also provide a value-in-kind budget or allocation as well? if so, please elaborate.
d) Define the role of your Municipal staff in festival or event Planning Committee/Board involvement (if applicable) and/or describe the Municipal approval process for a festival or event.
e) Does your Municipality help to market or promote the festival or event within your jurisdiction?
f) Is there anything else you wish to include in this section?
Question 4
Tell us how your Municipality may indirectly support festivals and events through areas that it may be able to influence:
a) Does your Municipality provide input to and/or assistance with the efforts of other non-Municipal-government operating bodies within your jurisdiction such as Chambers of Commerce, educational institutions, local or regional sports organizations (if applicable) and/or similar externally managed organizations etc. to support festivals and events?
b) Does your Municipality get involved in such areas as helping the festival and event organizers to source volunteers and/or sponsors and/or media support and/or festival and/or event industry suppliers?
c) Is there anything else you wish to include in this section?
Supporting Materials
1) Submit up to three (3) high resolution photos demonstrating how your Municipality supported festivals and events in your jurisdiction.
What Are The Pros And Cons Of Open Air Options?
Councillor Courtney requested that staff bring back various business models for conducting Open Air and the pros and cons to each.
He mentioned that once council actually gets the ideas and the concepts and the pros and cons, they can defend council’s position.
Councillor Courtney moved, seconded by Councillor Pouget, and read aloud by the clerk ‘THAT administration bring back a report on the various business models for Open Air including pros and cons of each, for example, is it stay as it is Friday and Saturday on long weekends only? One weekend a month etc? For the next regular council meeting.’
Mayor Prue voted for the motion and it was carried.
Anne Rota Ussoletti’s Report to Council recommends council approve one of the five options; pros and cons do not appear to be included.
Procedure By-law Needs An Update
There are inconsistencies in the delegate application process and Amherstburg’s Procedure By-law, signed on January 21, 2015 needs an update.
The by-law governs ‘the proceedings of Council, the conduct of its members and the calling of meetings in the Town of Amherstburg.
k) “Delegation” means a person intending to address the Council or committee on a matter where a decision of the Council may be required.
I applied to be a delegate at the March 13 council meeting as I was advised an Open Air report would be presented to council on that date; it is now an agenda item.
CAO Critchley emailed, As noted in the provided attachment, speaking notes have not yet been provided. In accordance with Section 5.4 of the Procedural By-law any materials intended to be presented to Council are required to be provided to the Clerk’s Office in order to review the submission. Once you have these materials together, we can provide further information on this request.
I replied that section 5.4 did not apply since I already knew it would be an agenda item.
CAO Critchley responded, Although your delegation is governed by section 5.2 of the Procedure By-law (and not section 5.4 – my apology for the error), as indicated on the application form to speak at a Council meeting, speaking notes and presentation materials must be provided as part of the application. As you have delegated before Council in the past, I believe you are familiar with this procedure. Please submit your materials before noon on Friday, March 10, 2023.
Before noon Friday, I let CAO Critchley and all members of council know about the inconsistencies. The online delegate application form states, “please upload speaking notes and/or presentation materials.”
The hard copy delegate application form differs in that it states, “**Speaking notes and presentation materials must accompany this request.”
Procedure by-law section 5.2 does not stipulate anything must be submitted, but states, any material submitted to the Clerk shall be circulated to Council as a “Delegation” submission – implying if anyone has any material.
I believe administrative forms should conform to the by-law and the by-law, 2014, should be updated to conform to accessibility legislation and other Acts pertaining to freedom of expression. People with disabilities may have difficulty meeting strict deadlines and requirements. I did inquire, ‘what accommodations does the town provide for persons with disabilities who are unable to attend council/committee meetings in person but wish to provide input?’
Other municipalities welcome residents to delegate via a variety of methods: in person, zoom, telephone and written submissions that are not placed under consent correspondence.
Premier Ford and His Cabinet Have Failed 2.9 Million Ontarians with Disabilities, According to Damning Report Prepared by a Person the Ford Government Picked to Assess Its Performance on tearing Down Disability Barriers
ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE
NEWS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 10, 2023 Toronto: The Ontario Government, including the Premier and his Cabinet, have utterly failed 2.9 million Ontarians with disabilities, according to a blistering new official report prepared by a person that the Ford Government hand-picked to review the state of accessibility for people with disabilities in Ontario. Yesterday, the interim report of the Fourth Independent Review of the Government’s implementation of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act was released. Last year, the Ford Government appointed Rich Donovan to prepare that report.
After consulting with the disability community, Mr. Donovan found:
“Despite 17 years since the AODA has come into force, People with Disabilities (PWD) still consistently face barriers in their everyday experiences, from navigating city streets, to applying for jobs, to accessing public transit and government services.”.
This has led to “frustration, anger, resignation, and disappointment with the state of accessibility in Ontario.”
He concluded:
“The current experience for many people with disabilities in Ontario is poor. This stems from design flaws in services, products, technology, buildings, infrastructure, careers, processes, and human imagination.”
This new Donovan report amplifies blistering findings delivered to the Ford Government over four years ago by former Lieutenant Governor David Onley in his 3rd Independent Review of the AODA’s implementation. The crowning achievement of David Onley’s legacy for Ontarians, the 2019 Onley Report found that Ontario is full of “soul-crushing barriers” hurting people with disabilities. David Onley called on Premier Ford to take bold new action. In the four years since then, The Ford Government failed to implement the Onley Report’s core recommendations.
The new Donovan report described the failed implementation of the AODA over 17 years as “a series of failures and missed opportunities”. Mr. Donovan found it “utterly shocking” that the Ontario Premier and Cabinet have no plan to achieve an accessible Ontario for people with disabilities. His report found that both the Government and private sector organizations “have not prioritized disability in their operations.”
Mr. Donovan concluded that “…there is an urgent need for action.” His report called for accessibility for people with disabilities urgently to be made a greater priority:
“Boards of Directors, business owners and the Premier of Ontario must urgently demand better experiences for Ontario’s people with disabilities.”
Mr. Donovan assessed that the Ontario Government needs:
“an urgent and material adjustment in strategy and output.”
The Donovan report concluded that among disadvantaged groups in society, no others experience the same severity of exclusion:
“No other demographic group faces these kinds of negative experiences, barriers, and outright discrimination without public outcry, much less one that represents nearly a quarter of the population.”
The report determined that there has been a failure of needed leadership on accessibility:
“It is the assessment of the 4th Reviewer that leadership on accessibility – and the AODA – has been absent for 17 years. Without leadership, progress on this file is impossible.”
The Donovan report identified the Government of Ontario and all political parties as sharing responsibility:
“It is the obligation of the government of the day to serve the population. It has failed to do so for 22% of that population. Opposition parties have failed to hold governments of the day accountable for this lack of service. These failures are shared by all of Ontario’s political parties.”
Mr. Donovan determined that the failure to make more progress on accessibility was also due in no small part to the lack of meaningful enforcement of the AODA:
“Alongside standards is a critical lack of enforcement or incentives to comply with the AODA or improve accessibility more generally.”
The Donovan Report attributes some of the responsibility for the lack of leadership to the media’s failure to give more coverage to accessibility problems:
“A key reason for the lack of leadership on accessibility is there has been little perceived incentive for potential leaders to prioritize it. Lacking “breaking news” stories, accessibility rarely enters the media cycle in a sustained way. This has helped keep accessibility off the social or political agenda in Ontario.
The absence of disability in the news cycle reflects a failure of Ontario and Canada’s major media outlets.”
Ultimately the Donovan Independent Review concluded:
“…the Premier of Ontario and his Cabinet have yet to meet the basic needs of a group of people totaling over one fifth of its population.”
In the bluntest statement of any of the four Independent Reviews that have been conducted since the AODA was passed in 2005, the Donovan report pointedly asked:
“Mr. Premier, do you care?”
“Premier Ford must sit up and listen to the damning findings about his Government that were made by the very person his Government hand-picked to review the Government’s efforts on accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities,” said David Lepofsky, chair of the non-partisan AODA Alliance, that leads the grass roots campaign for accessibility for Ontarians with disabilities. “We have been raising the same concerns for years, without success. Premier Ford has refused every request to meet with us, and his Accessibility Minister now does not even answer requests to meet.”
The AODA Alliance Shares Mr. Donovan’s conclusion that these failures are caused by a lack of Government leadership, inadequate attention from all political parties, and the Government’s failure to effectively enforce the AODA. We disagree with Mr. Donovan’s suggestion that these failures are attributable to a failure to collect more data, or with using accessibility standards as a core tool to promote accessibility for people with disabilities. The AODA Alliance will make public a detailed response to the Donovan Independent Review regarding those issues in the next weeks. That disagreement does not derogate from our strong endorsement of the Donovan Report’s other findings, as quoted here.
Contact: AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky, aodafeedback@gmail.com
Twitter: @aodaalliance
For more background:
The AODA Alliance’s February 6, 2023 brief to the Rich Donovan AODA Independent Review.
The AODA Alliance website which documents the non-partisan campaign since 2005 to get the Ontario Government to effectively implement the AODA
Text of the March 9, 2023 interim report of the Rich Donovan 4th Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
Tell Mayor Prue There ARE Barriers At Open Air
Email Mayor Prue at mprue@amherstburg.ca to tell him there are barriers at Open Air that prevent people with disabilities from equally participating in the community.
the burg watch 