THE JOINT PEEL- CALEDON

ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Glenn Barnes, Chair - presided

1. CALL TO ORDER

A quorum of voting members was not present, and in accordance with Section III-4(f) of the Procedural By-law 54-1999, as amended, the Advisory Committee members received information from staff.

Item 5b was discussed by the Advisory Committee.

5. PRESENTATIONS

b. Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon, Presentation of the 2004 - Accessibility Plan

William Goursky arrived at 2:15 p.m.

A quorum of voting members was achieved.

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES

Minutes of the Joint Peel - Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting held on August 17, 2004.

RECOMMENDATION AAC-23-2004

That the minutes for the August 17, 2004, Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting be amended to revise Item 4b on page 68 to read "Hansen";

And further, that the minutes be amended to reflect the current title for Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon;

And further, that the minutes be amended to reflect the title for Giancarlo Cristiano, Policy Support Analyst, Region of Peel;

And further, that the minutes for the August 17, 2004, Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting be approved, as amended.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA

RECOMMENDATION AAC-24-2004

That an update on the Michael Lewis Memorial Symposium titled "Still Waiting: A Forum For Moving Ahead", held on September 11, 2004 at King's University College, London, Ontario, be added to the agenda under Other Business as Item 8b;

And further, that a discussion of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) Terms of Reference be added to the agenda under Other Business as Item 8c;

And further, that an update on the Disabled Persons International (DPI) World Summit - 2004 titled "Diversity Within", held from September 8 to 10, 2004 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, be added to the agenda under Other Business as Item 8d;

And further, that the agenda for the September 14, 2004 Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting be approved, as amended.

Giancarlo Cristiano, Policy Support Analyst, Executive Office, advised the Committee that he was attending the meeting on behalf of Regional Chair Kolb who was unable to attend because of other municipal business.

Glenn Barnes, Chair of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC) noted that Councillor Paterak and Councillor Saito were unable to attend because of other municipal business.

4. COMMUNICATION ITEMS (Nil)

Item 5b was dealt with

5. PRESENTATIONS

b. Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon, Presentation of the 2004 - Accessibility Plan

RECOMMENDATION AAC-25-2004

That the second Annual Town of Caledon Accessibility Plan, dated September 2004, as amended, with the endorsement of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC), be forwarded to the Council of the Town of Caledon for approval.

Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon, provided a brief overview of the Town of Caledon 2004 Accessibility Plan.

Naz Husain inquired who would be providing the sensitivity training session for the Council of the Town of Caledon. Eriks Eglite confirmed that it would be the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, the same organization that the Region of Peel is using for a similar training session.

Maureen Tymkow specifically asked if the Town of Caledon or the Region of Peel was responsible for addressing sidewalk accessibility along Highway 50. Eriks Eglite suggested that the information line for either the Town of Caledon or the Region of Peel would be able to direct the appropriate staff to investigate these concerns. Kent Gillespie further noted that the specifics of the concerns could be e-mailed to him or Eriks Eglite for further assistance as required.

Maureen Tymkow requested that Eriks Eglite highlight the issues raised in the e-mail by Marlow Horn dated August 17, 2004 and explained how they were incorporated into the Town of Caledon Accessibility Plan. Eriks Eglite read the e-mail from Marlow Horn into the record and detailed how each item identified in the e-mail was or would be addressed under the Town of Caledon Plan.

Glenn Barnes, on behalf of the AAC, thanked Eriks Eglite and other Town of Caledon staff involved in the preparation of the 2004 Town of Caledon Accessibility Plan. He went on to compliment Eriks Eglite on both the quality and content of the Plan presented.

Harvinder Bajwa arrived at 2:20 p.m.

5. PRESENTATIONS

a. Meenu Sikand, Accessibility Planning Coordinator, Region of Peel, Presentation of the 2004 - Accessibility Plan

RECOMMENDATION AAC-26-2004

That the second Annual Region of Peel Accessibility Plan dated September 2004 attached as Appendix I to the report of the Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor, dated August 12, 2004, titled "Second Annual Region of Peel Accessibility Plan - September 2004", as amended, with the endorsement of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (AAC), be forwarded to Regional Council for approval.

Naz Husain noted that she particularly liked the section of the Plan setting out departmental tasks and accomplishments. She commented that this section served to highlight the many important accomplishments of the AAC during its first year of existence.

Naz Husain inquired if the Plan would be submitted to the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration before the end of September. Glenn Barnes confirmed that the Plan would be on Thursday, October 7, 2004 Regional Council agenda for approval and that the Plan would be submitted by staff as soon as the Plan is approved.

Kent Gillespie invited the members of the AAC to attend the Regional Council meeting on October 7, 2004. Glenn Barnes confirmed that he would attend and requested the members of the AAC to provide him with comments that could be included in his presentation to Regional Council on Thursday, October 7, 2004.

Glenn Barnes, on behalf of the AAC, thanked Meenu Sikand and other Region of Peel staff involved in the preparation of the 2004 Region of Peel Accessibility Plan. He went on to compliment Meenu Sikand on both the quality and content of the Plan presented.

Marlow Horn arrived at 2:55 p.m.

5. PRESENTATIONS

b. Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon, Presentation of the 2004 - Accessibility Plan

This item was dealt with earlier in the meeting

6. REPORT FROM THE ACCESSIBILITY PLANNING COORDINATORS

a. Eriks Eglite, Acting Director of Recreation and Property Services, Town of Caledon

Received

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

Received

Naz Husain offered to assist Meenu Sikand and the Region of Peel Web Team with the accessible formatting of the Region of Peel Plan for posting on www.peelregion.ca.

Meenu Sikand further advised the Committee that she had contacted the area municipal Accessibility Coordinators in an effort to enhance communication and align the various accessibility audit tools between the Joint Peel-Caledon, Brampton and Mississauga AAC's. In addition, Meenu Sikand had been corresponding with the Region of Peel Property Services division staff to review the use of the Accessibility Audit Tool for Regional facilities.

7. REPORT OF THE ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE CHAIR
Glenn Barnes, Chair of the Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee (Oral)

Received

Glenn Barnes read the memo circulated to the members of the AAC from Charlotte Gravlev, Regional Clerk, dated September 7, 2004 and titled "Disability Education and Sensitivity Training". The memo addressed the need to postpone the sensitivity training session for Council to October 7, 2004 Regional Council meeting, which will now allow it to correspond with the presentation to Council of the 2004 Accessibility Plan.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

a. Community Outreach and Communications Sub-committee Report, remarks by Terri Hamilton.

Received

Terri Hamilton provided the Committee with a copy of the minutes and brief summary of the discussions from the August 31, 2004, Subcommittee meeting. The meeting was purposed with establishing the basis for a recognition mechanism for staff initiatives and/or programs that promote accessibility at the Region of Peel. Discussions included the following recognition options: "Letter of Thanks"; "Certificate of Recognition" and an "Annual Award". Further, the Subcommittee discussed efforts to promote the United Nations International Day of the Disabled.

Glenn Barnes inquired if the recognition initative would include public organizations and/or the business community. Terri Hamilton responded that the members of the AAC Subcommittee agreed that the initial stage of the program would focus on internal efforts with Regional staff and programs. An expanded program would be considered at a future date subsequent to the evaluation of the internal program. Glenn Barnes agreed that this was a prudent approach and emphasised the need to establish clear criteria around the determination/evaluation process for recognition.

Additional Item

b. Update from the Michael Lewis Memorial Symposium titled "Still Waiting: A Forum For Moving Ahead", held on September 11, 2004 at King's University College, London, Ontario, remarks by William Goursky

Received

William Goursky provided the Committee with an update from the London forum. He indicated that the event was well attended and included participants from across Ontario, providing an excellent opportunity for networking. The discussions focused on efforts to strengthen the Ontarians with Disabilities Act and successful community efforts to improve accessibility.

Additional Item

c. Joint Peel-Caledon Accessibility Advisory Committee Terms of Reference, remarks by Kent Gillespie, Commissioner of Corporate Services and Regional Solicitor

Item deferred to the October 19, 2004 AAC meeting

Additional Item

d. Update from the Disabled Persons International Conference (DPI) World Summit - 2004 titled "Diversity Within", held from September 8 to 10, 2004, Winnipeg, Manitoba, remarks by Meenu Sikand, Accessibility Planning Co-ordinator, Region of Peel

Item deferred to the October 19, 2004 AAC meeting

9. NEXT MEETING

Tuesday, October 19, 2004 (1:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.)
Region of Peel Headquarters
Council Chambers, 5th floor
10 Peel Centre Dr.
Brampton, Ontario

10. ADJOURNMENT

Meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.