Tag Archives: amherstburg

Human Rights Tribunal Ontario Hearing Reminder

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A countdown calendar has been added to the right sidebar regarding the hearing of an Application by James Saxon v. Amherstburg Police Service Board and Amherstburg Police Association and an allegation of discrimination because of age.

The hearing is open to the public and it would be a good opportunity to see taxpayer dollars at work.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Tribunal denied the Amherstburg Police Services Board’s request to dismiss or defer the Application. The Board requested that the Tribunal defer consideration of the Application pending the outcome of collective bargaining between it and the union representing the applicant.

The Tribunal decided, “In my view, deferral is not appropriate in this case since there are no parallel proceedings between the parties. In my view, the fact that the Board and the union representing the applicant will commence their next round of bargaining sometime in 2014 is not a reason to defer consideration of this Application. The Application concerns the failure to pay disability benefits after the applicant turned 60 years old. There is no parallel proceeding in this case that is underway that would cause the Tribunal to defer consideration of the Application.”

Council Will Consider Possible Budget Reductions

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Ron Giofu, The River Town Times, reports that town council will consider budget reductions of zero, two, four, five or ten per cent, but it may be mid-February or early March before actuals could come before town council.

Councillor Leo Meloche said based on his business background, he knows it takes time for year-end numbers to be finalized. “If we are going to make the right decisions, we have to have the right information,” said Meloche.

Council will need more information than just the numbers; when it considers each department’s submission, including the police department budget, will council be able to differentiate between necessity and wish list items?

While council does not have the authority to approve or disapprove specific items in the estimates, the Police Services Act states, “council shall establish an overall budget for the board for the purposes described in clauses (1) (a) and (b) and, in doing so, the council is not bound to adopt the estimates submitted by the board.”

There has been reluctance in the past to address policing costs, either by claims of autonomy or by not obtaining an OPP costing, so we’ll see what this council does to control police spending.

In an earlier post, Council Could Cut More, I mentioned that “Policing costs and/or any proposed cuts to the police budget were missing. In an April 8, 2014 CKLW post, Police Chief Tim Berthiaume was confident council will approve the police budget, saying his force is one of the most cost-effective in the province.”

The Auditor General of Ontario’s Cost Comparison of Municipal Police Services estimated per capita cost of police services for a population between 15,000 and 49,999 was:

  • Municipal Police Service $284.00
  • OPP – with contract $150.00
  • OPP – no contract $131.00

We taxpayers do not need budget setting decisions based on subjective information; we need well informed elected officials willing to act in the responsible manner they promised they would.

If a few ‘nice to have but don’t need’ items are cut, they probably won’t even be missed.

Amherstburg Police Services Board Ignored Question About Legal Fees

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The October 21, 2014 Amherstburg Police Services Board Minutes, attached to the December 15, 2014 Council Agenda, do not include my October 4 request to the Board to place my correspondence on its meeting agenda.

I followed up on Sutton’s September 17 letter and requested, “the date(s) of scheduled negotiation meetings and also to request if a decision has been made to hire a consultant and if so, if there was a competitive process and if there was, i’d like an electronic copy of the notice/advertisement for a consultant.

i would also like to know the legal cost to the board/taxpayer with regard to the human rights tribunal of ontario discrimination application by j. saxon.”

I emailed again on October 28, “as you will note from the email below of october 5, i requested my correspondence be placed on the board’s agenda for the next meeting.

i understand the board held a meeting on october 21 and therefore i’m writing to request what the board’s action was regarding my requests.”

No response was received; no surprise and no accountability?

Instead of ratepayers receiving correspondence from staff advising of outcomes, like in the good old days before we became an amalgamated metropolis, citizens are forced to search information via inaccessible web sites and lengthy 300+ page documents with no links to individual reports.

Enough already! Essex County can do it, why can’t Amherstburg?

Commentary by Linda Saxon

Outstanding Town Litigation Excludes Amherstburg Police Service

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The Monday, December 15, 2014 Council Agenda (still, unfortunately, found off site) includes a Report to Council regarding the Council Update on Outstanding Town Litigation.

There is fine print indicating what is not included, but the Amherstburg Police Service is not mentioned.

In a December 2011 post, Amherstburg Police Chief Berthiaume Tight-lipped About Deployment, I mentioned how Chief Tim Berthiaume stated, “the amherstburg police service does not ‘breakdown’ legal expenses.”

If the police service legal fees regarding outstanding litigation are excluded from the Report to the Town, should the police service then submit its own Report to the town but this time with a breakdown of fees – for prosecutions, defending claims, complaints, etc.?

shopamherstburg.ca has accessibility issues

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The shopamherstburg.ca site has accessibility issues that need to be addressed, which makes me wonder – was accessibility included in any RFP?

There is no accessibility statement on the site, nor does the company that designed the site have any accessibility related information on its site.

One can ‘search’ to find a business but unfortunately, there is also no information regarding accessibility of individual businesses, something people need to know – both residents and tourists.

For example, there are two dollar stores in town, but the Dollar Tree is the only one i visit because of its push button doors and wide uncluttered aisles.

I expect the building department to adhere to its ‘minimum requirements’ position, but I would remind everyone that the Ontario Human Rights Code supersedes all legislation in Ontario.

If businesses want to attract more customers, they need to be more accessible; otherwise, I shop out of town.

Commentary by Linda Saxon

1762668 Ontario Inc. Added To Accessibility Hall Of Shame

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1762668 Ontario Inc., owned by Rene and Anne Rota, is being added to the Accessibility Hall Of Shame because, as mentioned in this post, the February 20, 2014 Human Rights Tribunal Ontario Order has not been complied with regarding the hiring of a consultant to provide training to Mr. Rota and any managers on the landlord’s obligations under the Code with respect to accommodating disability.

Equal Access Movement 20 Years Old

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Two occasions cause me to reflect on my campaign to improve accessibility in my community.

Last week the AODA Alliance gathered at Queen’s Park to celebrate the November 29, 1994 birth of Ontario’s tireless grassroots movement for a fully accessible Ontario and December 3 is the International Day for People with Disabilities.

Prior to the ODA 2001, I endured a decade long battle with the Town of Amherstburg to obtain equal access to the town’s historic Carnegie library. Funding opportunities were lost because the town prioritized other amenities even when the grants specified accessibility came first.

Finally, as a result of my human rights settlement in 2004, an elevator was installed at the library. I was not invited, but the council of the day held a ribbon cutting ceremony and unveiled a plaque crediting council.

A second human rights complaint, merged with the library complaint, resulted in the creation of two accessible parking spaces in the rear parking lot of General Amherst High School.

I recently filed another complaint when I encountered difficulty entering a physiotherapy clinic in a building owned by a corporation. Following a September 2013 Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario Hearing, a February 20, 2014 decision was issued against two Respondents: the landord, 1762668 Ontario Inc., owned by Rene and Anne Rota, and the tenant Anna Maria Fiorito Physiotherapy.

The Tribunal ordered both respondents to pay monetary compensation and install an automatic door with a 4 inch diameter push button. Additionally, the landlord was ordered to retain a consultant with expertise in human rights, disability and access who will provide training to Mr. Rota, and any managers, on the landlord’s obligations under the Code with respect to accommodating disability, and the landlord must provide to the applicant by June 1, 2014, a copy of a letter from the consultant verifying that the training is completed.

The adjudicator noted, “It is obvious that the landlord does not appreciate its obligations under the Code with respect to making its facilities accessible to people with disabilities.”

Mr. Rota did not comply with the training requirement by June 1, nor did he respond to my July 21, 2014 letter reminding him of his obligation.

Any discussion regarding the removal of barriers should include the lack of redress for the non-compliance of an HRTO Order without imposing any additional bureaucracy and/or expense to the victim of discrimination.

Commentary by Linda Saxon

MAKING NIAGARA THE ACCESSIBLE DESTINATION OF CHOICE

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Comments have been made regarding transforming Amherstburg into a Niagara-on-the-Lake, but the topic of the community’s lack of accessibility has never been mentioned.

Thankfully, more open minds exist; the Niagara Parks recently conducted an audit of all its attractions to ensure inclusion and accessibility for both visitors and staff and even updated the agency’s websites to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. Full story at the Niagara Falls Review.

The poll at the bottom of the article indicates that 57% are limited of places because of lack of accessibility.

If there were no attitudinal barriers, there would be no barriers – Linda Saxon