Tag Archives: accessibility

Promoting Inclusive Community: A Call to Action for Council Members

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My delegation at last night’s council meeting as a person with disabilities, as a representative of residents who reached out to me with their concerns, and on behalf of the Amherstburg Residents Forum, regarding the adverse effect on the disability community of the closing of Murray Street was met with apathy.

Not that it ill have any more effect on council than mentioning, during last night’s delegation, the AODA and the UN Convention On The Rights of Persons With Disabilities, but I emailed council members anyway.

The lack of decorum at last night’s meeting was appalling. I urge you to update the procedural by-law to include a time limit on your speeches, a limit on the number of times you can speak, and a limit on the number of questions to admin. Other municipalities do it and I know you rely on comparators sometimes. Also, a meeting of council is where you, as decision-makers, debate the issues yet admin are invited to participate in debates.

I also urge you to post the council and committee meeting videos to youtube which is a good transparency initiative that other municipalities do.

it’s very disappointing, especially during National AccessAbility Week, that the town is promoting a flag raising or wearing red shirts while votes in favour of closing off yet another public space adversely affects people with disabilities. Shame on you. 

in my opinion, it’s hypocritical to promote anything that may appear as tokenism. we already have plenty of awareness. what we need is a stronger commitment to ensuring we live in an inclusive community, free of discrimination and free of barriers that prevent our human right to equally participate. we need to ensure that we people with disabilities stop encountering attitudinal barriers and ableism. we need elected officials to take a stand and not vote in favour of barriers or spend taxpayer dollars on barriers.

we also need people to realize that input from residents like me, with disabilities, should be welcomed; it should not be met with examples like the attached. chris drew, an accessibility advisory committee member posted this yesterday to the town’s facebook page.

Screenshot

Kingsbridge Sidewalks: Accessibility and Inspection Inquiries

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A reader reached out and I said I’d make inquiries, which I did yesterday. I sent the following questions to CAO Critchley and specifically mentioned I was making inquiries for my blog; I copied members of council.

  1. what accessibility legislation/standard/guidelines/criteria were used for the newest sidewalks in Kingsbridge on Whelan for the tendering process?
  2. what is the reason for the elevation changes at driveways? 
  3. who was responsible for inspection upon completion?
  4. was the inspection upon completion satisfactory/dissatisfactory?
  5. was public consultation held?
  6. did any member of council visit the area of concern?
  7. did any member of staff visit the area of concern?
  8. what is the process to file a claim with the town for damage to assistive devices as a result of this situation?

I thought they were all generic questions but CAO Critchley’s response was, “As your email seems to indicate that the information you are seeking is connected to a possible insurance claim against the Town, we are unable to comment at this time. Should someone wish to file a damage claim, this can be down through the Municipal Clerk’s Office. (original typo).

I thanked her but wrote back that perhaps she would answer all the other questions.

Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee’s Motion vs. Administration Report

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Will council agree with its Accessibility Advisory Committee’s (AAAC) motion that this is not just about accessibility or with an administration report to council that accessibility funding should be used?

I shared my concerns with Councillor McArthur, council’s rep to the Committee, and Councillor Pouget who attended the AAAC meeting when the discussion occurred.

  1. Shouldn’t rest areas be more important than more planters?

    In my January email, I urged council to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council did not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’
  3. Why use AODA Compliance Reserve Fund?

The January 29 administration report recommended using funds accrued within the accessibility compliance reserve fund which are intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.

The May 13 administration report states the AODA compliance reserve fund was introduced in 2017 as an annual contribution to the reserves of the town of Amherstburg for municipal building and infrastructure improvements to eliminate barriers with regards to accessibility.

The August 2016 Accessibility Advisory Committee Minutes indicate the motion that administration develop a policy that the committee reviews and edits to ensure the town is promoting accessibility in the strategic plan and ask that $50,000 a year starting in the 2017 annual capital budget be set aside for promoting accessibility in public buildings. 

  • Which recommendation should prevail?

The Accessibility Advisory Committee’s April 10 motion, following concerns that AODA Compliance Funds were to be used for the Richmond St. sidewalk repairs, was that council consider the reconsideration of the funding source for reduction by 50%. 

The clerk advised the committee that his professional recommendation to council would be to use that fund because that is why that fund was created.

  • What type of motion is required?

At the April 10 committee meeting, Councillor McArthur asked, couldn’t council in that very meeting make a motion to reconsider it and then either Council says yes to 50% or no to 50% but it could proceed on the same timeline? 

The clerk answered that yes, if the motion was carefully worded, where it asked for the funding consideration to be reviewed, he didn’t think there would be any reason why they couldn’t be shifted after they were already spent. If for example, it was 31,000 drawn out of the reserve but this recommendation was that it shouldn’t be funded from this reserve then Council could pull the funds from another reserve to replenish that; they do journal entries all the time.

The clerk repeated that if the committee wished to have council look at that and fund it from a different source if it was worded right the project could continue.

Councillor Donald McArthur stated if the committee is comfortable with 50% he’d happily go to council and ask them to reconsider the funding source. 

The May report to council addresses a reconsideration. ‘It is debatable whether such a motion would be permissible though, as portions of the original motion which would be the subject of the reconsideration have already been acted upon, and as such, are not open to be reconsidered. The reconsideration of the funding source would need to be considered outside of the reconsideration on the consultation and/or whether the works should be undertaken. A less procedurally fraught motion would be to cause $16,000 worth of funding to be redirected to the AODA Compliance Reserve fund, from another funding source to offset the associated costs. That said, such a motion is not recommended by Administration as funding this $16,000 from another reserve creates a need to identify $16,000 of unbudgeted and unplanned expense which may have adverse impacts on other projects.’

Didn’t council approve $450,000. of unbudgeted and unplanned expense for pickleball?

Will Street Signs Meant To Honour Veterans Be Readable?

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There were the typical kudos to admin for getting the job done so quickly, to Deputy Mayor Gibb for raising the issue before he was elected, and to the Legion for their ‘sense of community.’

How appropriate is it to honour veterans but not ensure signs are large enough for them or other people with vision disabilities to read? 

I emailed members of council in advance of the February 12 meeting and stated there is no mention in the report of accessible sign design or design standards. I urged members to consider the fact that Highway Gothic typeface is mainly used throughout Canada and Ontario, including on provincial highways and in cities including Windsor; it makes reading signs easier.

Mayor Prue did ask council to consider making the signs larger and mentioned that it didn’t cost any more money, but he could have made the motion himself especially since he passed the gavel.

Amid the claims that we are an inclusive community, possibly striving to become a designated ‘age friendly’ community, it was deplorable to hear a question about the cost of bigger signs and an answer that there is an assumption there will be some additional costs. Given the budget approval, how does anyone justify limiting funds for this expenditure? Besides, if the signs will slowly be replaced council could have directed administration to bring back a report on the cost with actual figures for larger and more readable signs. 

When the town applied for a $100,000. grant for wayfinding signs, one of the project priorities it listed was ‘accessible, diverse, equitable and inclusive: The sign design will take into consideration AODA requirements, MTO roadway recommendations and eligibility standards.’ Did the town create a wayfinding plan? Consult the Ontario Traffic Manual? Consult the CNIB?

Why were those priorities not incorporated for the poppy street sign designs? I have asked that the town’s procurement policy be updated to include more than the consideration of AODA training. The AODA Integrated Accessibility Standard Regulation states designated public sector organizations shall incorporate accessibility design, criteria and features when procuring or acquiring goods, services or facilities. 

Council needs to make a stronger and more consistent commitment to removing barriers in our community. Still, council’s motion will result in a celebration that will be a great photo op and a reminder to pay tribute to veterans even if the signs are too small for some to read. 

What’s More Important – Planters Or People?

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Although I predicted the answer, I asked council members anyway due to a report to council for the January 29 meeting regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs. Also predictable was that only Councillor Pouget answered she would definitely question this issue and she did. More on that later.

email to council: I urge you to embrace the spirit of the AODA and consult the public regarding Richmond Street sidewalk repairs even though the report to council does not mention public consultation in accordance with the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation regarding exterior paths of travel, rest areas:

‘Designated public sectors when constructing new or redeveloping existing exterior paths of travel that they intend to maintain, shall consult on the design and placement of rest areas along the exterior path of travel and shall do so in the following manner: 

  1. the public and persons with disabilities.
  2. a municipal accessibility advisory committee if one exits.’

The report to council concludes with Financial Matters and admin’s recommendation to use Accessibility Compliance Reserve Funds that are ‘intended for repairs and improvements designed to reduce or remove barriers and promote greater access to public spaces, goods and services.’ 

Planters may create barriers for people with disabilities who rely on visual cues and space to travel along the sidewalks. Another concern is that there is no mention of what standards will be specified in the tender. 

Some of you voted to keep the loading/unloading zone on Dalhousie Street for accessibility reasons, so why not commit to accessibility and persons with disabilities in this instance and hold public consultations?

Who Are ‘You People’?

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Someone started a rant to me with ‘you people just want to complain’ and included ‘wheelers’ in response to a Facebook conversation about inclusivity of an event.

‘You people,’ like ‘those people’ implies, to me, that people with disabilities are a separate segment of society. And, historically, people with disabilities have been disadvantaged, not by disabilities, but by a society where ableism prevailed and the identification, prevention and removal of barriers hasn’t been a priority.

As a person with disabilities, the barrier that I encounter the most is the attitudinal barrier; it’s usually based on stereotypical beliefs that people using wheelchairs make up the majority of the disability community or that people are demanding extra.

Do you know anyone that has or has had cancer? diabetes? arthritis? MS? lung disease? heart disease? dyslexia? low vision? hearing loss? ADHD? depression? anxiety? Then you know someone that has a disability.

While there are legislative definitions of ‘disability,’ there are also various models of disability that describe attitudes toward people with disabilities and I can usually quickly spot and categorize where people fit in.

There is a longer list, but briefly, the medical model where members of the medical community need to ‘fix’ an individual. The charity model; I see photo ops of politicians at charity events where people with disabilities are depicted as victims of tragedy and are pitied. What I sometimes hear are political comments related to costs and how things take time. The social model, and more recently the human rights model, emphasizes that it’s the environmental and attitudinal barriers that prevent people with disabilities from equally participating in communities, even though everyone has the right to equality.

There is also preferable and inclusive language but people still use the outdated ‘handicap’ and other euphemisms.

Ignorance is no excuse in 2024. It’s also unacceptable to personally attack people with disabilities on social media for ‘complaining’ about a lack of access or pointing out attitudinal barriers.

Inconsistent Evaluation Tours

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Some of the accessibility committee’s 7 members will tour 7 facilities over the course of the next year while ALL of the parks and rec committee’s 9 members will tour ALL 24 parks by the end of the year.

Three members of the two committees are the same: Shirley Curson-Prue, who chairs both, and Councillor McArthur and Tony Pietrangelo.

At the August 24 Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting, Pietrangelo noted the document title is municipal property audit locations and asked if playgrounds are municipal properties. The clerk advised they do playground audits as well; they were just waiting on the AODA standards to be updated and that it’s anticipated within a year or so that might move forward for legislation.

At the September 19 Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee meeting, members viewed a document wherein accessibility was mentioned twice in quotes from the Parks Master Plan, currently being updated:

  1. To reflect the evolving role of parks in the Town – including a greater emphasis on events, passive uses and accessibility – a new system for classifying parks in Amherstburg has been developed. 
  2. It is essential that parks are inclusive and barrier-free, as guided by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). To ensure that the parks system is able to serve people from all segments of the community, accessible seating, washrooms, shade (structures and trees), parking, connections to key destinations and safety must be prominent considerations.

Using the Assessment Form, the accessibility committee will tour:

  • Town Hall
  • Libro Centre & Property Tony Pietrangelo, Councillor McArthur
  • Visitor Information Centre Christine Easterbrook
  • Gordon House
  • Amherstburg Public Library Tony Pietrangelo
  • Gibson Gallery Christine Easterbrook
  • Community Hub Tony Pietrangelo, Christine Easterbrook

Prue thought the biggest contention is probably the town hall and suggested they don’t need to do that first because they have the data from the last round.

Christine Easterbrook mentioned she’d never been in the Gordon House, the Gibson Gallery and the community hub. She also asked if they need to do the police station again; the clerk advised it wasn’t included because its public facing areas have been reduced significantly since COVID and it really is only a vestibule.

The parks and rec committee will tour:

  • Alma West Lookout
  • Anderdon Park
  • Angstrom Park
  • Bar Point Park
  • Beaudoin Park
  • Belle Vue House
  • Bill Wigle Park
  • Briar Ridge Park
  • Canard Estates
  • Centennial Park
  • Co-An Park Golfview Park
  • Jack Purdie Park
  • King’s Navy Yard Park
  • Libro Credit Union Centre
  • Malden Centre Park
  • North Gateway
  • Ranta Memorial Park
  • River Canard Park
  • Scodeller Park
  • Seagram’s Garden
  • South Gateway
  • Thrasher Park
  • ‘Toddy’ Jones Park
  • Warren Mickle Park
  • Waterfront Property Project

Inclusive Playgrounds Are Possible

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The number and type of comments here and on Facebook about children with disabilities is concerning. I can’t imagine anyone would choose to deny any child a fun playground experience.

There seems to be some mis- and disinformation regarding playgrounds that children with disabilities can equally access and enjoy. I also think there is ignorance about the fact that the terms accessible, inclusive, and useable are not interchangeable.

The AODA and Canada Safety Association Standards are minimum requirements and nothing in the legislation stops anyone from exceeding those minimum standards.

When there is a claim that a playground is AODA or CSA Annex H compliant, it might mean that only some elements are accessible but the playground still might not be inclusive.

There are a number of excellent resources for municipalities to refer to if decision makers decide they will exceed those minimum standards and build playgrounds that are inclusive and useable.

Holland Bloorview’s EPIC Lab has teamed up with Dr. Kelly Arbour-Nicitopoulos (University of Toronto), Ms. Ingrid Kanics (Kanics Inclusive Design Services, LLC), and Dr. Jennifer Leo (University of Alberta) to create a comprehensive report titled, “Creating Inclusive Playgrounds: A Playbook of Considerations and Strategies.”

The development of this playbook has received generous support from Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities’ Inclusive Play Project and their mission to build more inclusive play spaces across Canada.

Mickle Park Playground – How Useable?

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Below is an email to Councillor Pouget and Councillor McArthur on June 12 in advance of the council meeting.

After watching the June 5 Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting, and reading some of the documents, I have some concerns regarding the recommendation to ENDORSE the playground design proposed for Warren Mickle Park’s playground redevelopment.

I’m writing to both of you because Councillor McArthur is council’s rep on the AAAC and Councillor Pouget consistently represents the interests of people with disabilities.

Ms. Heidi Baillargeon advised the AAAC an RFP resulted in three proposals that went through a Review and Scoring committee, and this was the design that was selected for installation at Warren Mickle Park. Ms. Baillargeon also advised the AAAC that it is partly a ramp structure, there are a number of accessible components, and that ‘a wheelchair can only go up to the first deck.’ It is preferable to use person first or identity first language and not refer to the assistive device alone.

How did a Review and Scoring committee approve this proposal?

What Makes a Playground Inaccessible? (aoda.ca)

  • Multilevel platforms
  • Stairs
  • Narrow walkways
  • Monkey bars
  • Bucket swings
  • Swings
  • Slides (plastic or metal)

Would someone please explain how the proposed Warren Mickle Park will be AODA compliant and inclusive if children with disabilities can’t access or use all the equipment? 

From the Parks Master Plan 2018, “It is essential that parks are inclusive and barrier-free, as guided by the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). To ensure that the parks system is able to serve people from all segments of the community, accessible seating, washrooms, shade (structures and trees), parking, connections to key destinations and safety must be prominent considerations.”

While Ms. Baillargeon mentioned the CSA Z614:20, a safety standard, there was very little discussion regarding the AODA, Regulations, inclusive playground guidelines and mandatory public consultation.

The Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation of the AODA mandates public consultation as follows:

“When constructing new or redeveloping existing outdoor play spaces, obligated organizations shall consult on the needs of children and caregivers with various disabilities” and shall do so in the following manner: 

1. designated public sector organizations and large organizations must consult with the public and persons with disabilities. (emphasis added).

2. Municipalities must also consult with their municipal accessibility advisory committees, where one has been established in accordance with subsection 29 (1) or (2) of the Act. 

Outdoor play spaces, accessibility in design 

80.20 When constructing new or redeveloping existing play spaces that they intend to maintain,obligated organizations shall,

(a) incorporate accessibility features, such as sensory and active play components, for children and caregivers with various disabilities into the design of outdoor play spaces; and

(b) ensure that outdoor play spaces have a ground surface that is firm, stable and has impact attenuating properties for injury prevention and sufficient clearance to provide children and caregivers with various disabilities the ability to move through, in and around the outdoor play space. O. Reg. 413/12, s. 6.

There was also no discussion regarding the 2021 survey that no children under the age of 18 participated in. 

Will the four benches be accessible? Will the bike racks be accessible? Will there be any braille elements? Will accessible washrooms be installed? Will accessible parking spaces be available? Will accessible signage and wayfinding be installed? The concept plan 2021 included a picnic area and in answer to the question, What park amenities would you like to see at Warren Mickle Park, 50 (74.6%) said picnic table: will accessible picnic tables be installed?

Also of concern is an AAAC member’s comments regarding the slide: he could only see one problem with it – that is you put it in this park and people find out about it, they’re gonna want it in all the other parks and that means retrofitting. Then the member asked about the cost for that.

In is my understanding that AAAC members identify barriers and ‘provide advice and recommendations to Council on accessibility issues within our community’ and council makes budgetary decisions for what accessible projects it prioritizes.

Questions For New Council Unanswered: Update

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Some elected officials have now answered some of my October 26 questions, as mentioned in the November 14 post, Kudos And Questions For New Council Unanswered.

Since I did not encounter any barriers during campaigns by Councillor Diane Pouget and Councillor Peter Courtney, they were not asked to answer the three questions.

Mayor Michael Prue and Councillor Donald McArthur did not respond at the time of this post.

All answers, including typos and misspellings, are as received.

  • of the accessibility information the town provided to you for your campaign, which did you read?

    Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb: no answer

    Councillor Molly Allaire: I read all materials supplied to me during my campaign from the town. I did not want anything to jeopardize my chances of making it into council.

    Councillor Linden Crain: I read all election material provided by the Town throughout my campaign, including any information pertaining to the Municipal Elections Act, 1996, the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005.

  • what trainings have you participated in for accessibility legislation, for example, as an employee, volunteer, etc.?

    Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb    : 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.

Councillor Molly Allaire: I have never really had any accessibility training. I have taken a few courses in university such as “Special Populations” and “Athletics for Everyone” which basically taught us many different populations accessibility needs and how to make recreation possible for everyone. At my previous job I learnt in the field about all walking aid assistive devices and such/

Councillor Linden Crain: Both the Town of Amherstburg and the County of Essex members of Council have received training on accessibility. I have also been advised that Administration will be doing a special session on accessibility in the first quarter of 2023.

  • how will you fulfill the obligation to remove barriers?

    Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb: no answer

Councillor Molly Allaire: I am just dipping my feet into the waters here so bare with me. I plan to start applying for grants with the towns approval of course to help making our playgrounds and “heritage buildings” more accessible. I know this is not the perfect plan but starting somewhere is important. If you have any ideas or concerns specifically about the town that you would like to bring forward I will always listen and try to help. This is why I stepped up for this position.

Councillor Linden Crain:

  • Continue an open dialogue with the Town’s Accessibility Advisory Committee.
  • Follow regulations outlined in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act. 
  • Always remain available to address concerns any resident faces in the Town of Amherstburg.
  • Work closely with Town Administration to establish procedures and measures that ensure those with disabilities have the opportunity to experience all our community has to offer.