THE JOINT PEEL- CALEDON

ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Glenn Barnes, Chair presiding

1. CALL TO ORDER

Glenn Barnes, Chair of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee called the meeting to order at 1:55 p.m. and welcomed everyone present.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of the Joint Peel - Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting held on June 8, 2004.

RECOMMENDATION AAC-18-2004

That the minutes for the June 8, 2004, Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting be approved.

Glenn Barnes, Chair of the AAC, briefly informed the members that all future AAC meetings would be digitally recorded.

William Goursky, AAC Member, referred to item 4c from the June 8, 2004 Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) meeting minutes. He suggested that a letter be sent to the Chair of the Housing Committee, raising concerns about the current application process for persons seeking accessible public housing.

Kent Gillespie, Commissioner of Corporate Services, explained that staff could prepare a Council report to address these concerns or the Chair of the AAC could prepare a letter to appear as a communication item on the Housing Section of the General Committee agenda. He briefly summarized that the AAC can utilize two options for action; first, the AAC can consider a motion, which when passed becomes a recommendation, or secondly, the Committee may request staff to perform a task, such as drafting a letter. Both recommendations and staff directions are tracked and followed up on by the staff of the Regional Clerk.

Glenn Barnes, Chair of the AAC, suggested that the Committee could address this issue further when item 4a. on the agenda for this meeting, July 9, 2004, is discussed.

Meenu Sikand, Accessibility Planning Co-ordinator, provided an update on the status of action items listed in the minutes.

Glenn Barnes then asked if there were any further questions regarding the minutes of the June 8, 2004 meeting, upon receiving no further comment, the minutes were approved.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Agenda of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting held on July 29, 2004.

RECOMMENDATION AAC-19-2004

That the agenda for the July 29, 2004 Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting be approved.

4. COMMUNICATION ITEMS

a. Keith Ward, Commissioner of Housing and Property and General Manager, Peel Living, Letter dated January 14, 2004, Regarding Proposed Amendments to the Social Housing Reform Act from the Ontario Regions Social Housing Working Group, Copy Provided in Response to the Request from the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee for Clarification of the "Positions" Referred to in the Letter from Keith Ward dated May 31, 2004

Received

William Goursky asked that the AAC consider a motion regarding a letter to the Chair of the Housing Committee regarding the current application process for persons seeking accessible public housing. He explained that a person making a standard request for public housing needs only to complete one application and will be considered for all units available within the system. Currently, when a person makes application for accessible housing, they are required to apply separately to each facility.

Group discussion occurred and the AAC agreed on the following Staff Directions:

Staff Direction AAC-07-2004-01

The Members of the AAC requested that the Commissioner of Housing, Keith Ward, or a member of his staff, attend a future meeting of the AAC to address concerns about the current application process for accessible public housing.

Staff was further directed as follows:

Staff Direction AAC-07-2004-02

The Members of the AAC requested that the Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee prepare a letter to the Housing Committee detailing concerns about the current application process for accessible public housing.

b. Submission of the Ontario Human Rights Commission to the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration Regarding the Consultations to Strengthen the Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001 Dated March 31, 2004

Received

William Goursky raised concerns about the lack of authority that can be exercised under the current Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

Glenn Barnes noted that the AAC needs to pay particular attention to point 4, "Achievable" and point 7, "Transparent" found on page 4b-4 of the report while working on the next Accessibility Plan for the Region.

c. The Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee, London Area, Agenda for the Michael Lewis Memorial Symposium titled "Still Waiting: A Forum For Moving Ahead", being held on September 11, 2004 at King's University College, London, Ontario.

Received

Glenn Barnes asked if any of the members were interested in attending the London Symposium. Marlow Horn and William Goursky indicated that they were interested in attending. Glenn Barnes also suggested that Naz Husain would likely be interested.

Kent Gillespie confirmed that there was some funding available in the budget for the members to attend conferences.

Meenu Sikand, Accessibility Planning Co-ordinator for the Region of Peel, requested that the members interested in attending the conference notify her by e-mail so that she can assist with the arrangements.

Item 6a was dealt with.

6. PRESENTATIONS

a. Mike Goldrup, Director, Communication Services, Region of Peel, Presentation Outlining the Function and Responsibilities of the Communications Division for the Region of Peel.

Received

Mike Goldrup, Director of Communications, presented an overview of the Communications division services and accomplishments along with detailed information regarding the structural and functional organization of the division.

Jana Manolakos, Senior Public Affairs Associate, provided the AAC Members with a portfolio that contained copies of all materials published by the Communications division regarding the AAC.

Sue Henry, Webmaster, demonstrated for the Committee where valuable information related to the AAC and accessibility in general was located on www.peelregion.ca and on the regional intranet site.

William Goursky inquired if it would be possible to make the human interest stories on the internal website available on the Regional website. Mike Goldrup and Sue Henry confirmed that the stories could be posted on www.peelregion.ca subject to the consent of the people who are the subjects of those stories. Mike Goldrup encouraged the members to bring forward accessibility human interest stories for future posting.

Glenn Barnes thanked the Communications staff that attended for their time and hard work.

5. CONSULTATION SESSION FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE REGION OF PEEL AND TOWN OF CALEDON ACCESSIBILITY PLANS - FURTHER TO THE SESSION HELD AT THE JUNE, 8 2004 JOINT PEEL-CALEDON ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING
Facilitated by Janine Elias Joukema, Director of Strategic Initiatives, Executive Office, Region of Peel

Received

Janine Elias Joukema, Director of Strategic Initiatives, provided the AAC with a summary of the input received from the Committee and how it will be incorporated into the next Regional Accessibility Plan.

Meenu Sikand explained that the next Accessibility Plan will appear in a different format than the first Plan. The Plan will appear in the format aligned with the Service Strategy Business Planning process and format.

Glenn Barnes thanked Janine Elias Joukema for her significant contribution to the accessibility planning process and the assistance that she provided to the AAC.

6. PRESENTATIONS

a. Mike Goldrup, Director, Communication Services, Region of Peel, Presentation Outlining the Function and Responsibilities of the Communications Division for the Region of Peel

This item was dealt with earlier in the meeting

7. REPORT FROM THE ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING COORDINATORS

a. Eriks Eglite, Assistant Director of Recreation, Town of Caledon

Received

Eriks Eglite, Assistant Director of Recreation for the Town of Caledon thanked Janine Elias Joukema and Kent Gillespie for the strong foundation they have laid to facilitate the accessibility planning process.

b. Meenu Sikand, Accessibility Planning Coordinator, Region of Peel

Received

William Goursky inquired about the Accessibility Coordinators meeting held in Paris, Ontario, regarding the dissemination of information for the application processing within the Region of Peel to apply for public housing.

Meenu Sikand explained that the group has a flexible meeting agenda and she was able to present the position of the Region for the information and consideration by the other Accessibility Coordinators.

Meenu confirmed that the sensitivity training pilot is scheduled for August 3, 2004, and that she is assisting People, Information and Technology (PIT) with training coordination and in preparing proposed evaluation forms for the training exercise.

8. REPORT OF THE ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHAIR

Received

Glenn Barnes advised the AAC that he will be making a presentation to Council on September 9, 2004 regarding Transhelp. He will be focusing upon the current eligibility assessment process and policies for the use of Transhelp services.

Glenn Barnes addressed the sense expressed by members of the AAC that they are not involved in the processes enough and he wished to emphasise the desire of the Members to contribute to improve the situation for persons with disabilities.

Janine Elias Joukema stated that it is the responsibility of staff to bring to the attention of the AAC of any changes proposed or implemented with the associated costs, and also to provide the members with a recommendation or advice as requested.

William Goursky requested that staff provide a report of progress to the AAC in a timely manner because accessibility issues are issues that persons with disabilities are impacted by every day.

9. NEXT MEETING

Tuesday, August 17, 2004 (1:45 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.)
Region of Peel Headquarters
Council Chambers, 5th floor
10 Peel Centre Dr.
Brampton, Ontario

10. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 4:15 p.m.