ACA Briefing Notes and Letter Template – February 19, 2019

There has been lots of talk around the ACA, the Accessible Canada Act.

The letter below was received as we were part of the working group that put this plan of action together. Everyone is encouraged to take the time to read the nine short briefing notes on the areas that were in the open letter the Coalition signed to better understand what has to happen to make the ACA actually work for us and not become a bureaucratic mess.

These are the same issues that were put forward by many organizations to the HUMA committee before 3rd reading. That is the committee made up of MP’s to look at any new legislation.

The legislation has now gone onto the Senate committee before it is made into law. That committee has the power to make changes and send it back to Parliament to vote on the changes. This is our last chance. 95 organizations across Canada signed onto the open letter to the Minister and Prime Minister and this is the followup to that and an opportunity to try and make the Senate make the changes to the Act we need to make it work for us.

We are planning a conference call soon to discuss them and answer questions anyone may have.

We would like to thank ARCH, the Disability Law Centre for their endless hard work on defining the issues and working so diligently on behalf of all of us in Canada and writing these nine briefing notes, as well as the template letters.

Please also feel free to go over their submissions regarding the ACA last year and their analysis regarding the move away from Human Rights language into standards thinking. This is a very serious departure from our goals and work on Human Rights and something we all need to understand and fight back on. Any questions or thoughts can be sent to info@hooh.ca.

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Dear colleagues,

You are receiving this note because you (or your organization) signed an Open Letter calling for amendments to Bill C-81, the “Accessible Canada Act,” late last year. If you prefer not to receive more correspondence just let us know and we will remove your email address from the mailing list.

We wanted to provide you with a further update to Steve Estey’s email sent to you over a week ago. ARCH has developed a series of short briefing notes connected to each of the nine proposed amendments that were set out in the Open Letter. The briefing notes are available in both English and French. ARCH has also prepared a template letter in both official languages that you may wish to use in your advocacy efforts. These materials are available on ARCH’s website in accessible RTF and accessible PDF formats.

We also encourage you to exchange your views on the Google group.

We hope that these materials provide some assistance to you in your advocacy efforts as we all work towards a stronger and effective Accessible Canada Act.

Warmest regards,

Robert

_______________________

Roberto Lattanzio, B.A., LL.B., B.C.L.

Executive Director

ARCH Disability Law Centre

55 University Avenue, 15th Floor

Toronto, Ontario M5J 2H7

Coalition Brief to the Parliament of Canada on Bill C-81, the Proposed Accessible Canada Act

Here is the Coalition’s submission to Canada’s Parliament regarding Bill C-81, the Canadians with Disabilities Act: Coalition Bill C-81 Standing Co. Final Oct 25 2018.

CTA Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes – June 18, 2018

Here is the summary of the Canadian Transportation Agency’s Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting held in Toronto on June 18, 2018: CTA Accessibility Advisory Cttee Summary June 18 2018

 

The Blind Man’s French Dog Problem

It’s not really about the dog. Or being French. Or blind.

New York Times – Oct. 18, 2018

By Adam Linn

Mr. Linn is writer who travels with a Seeing Eye dog.

Last summer my wife, Juju, was invited to attend a conference in Paris, and she asked me to come along. I’d always wanted to visit Paris, so of course I said yes. But before I could book my ticket, I needed to do some research. I’m blind, and I use a Seeing Eye dog — a German shepherd named Nadia — to help me get around.

First, I needed to find out where the French stood on guide dogs. This wasn’t an unreasonable concern. In New York, where the law clearly states guide dogs can accompany their owners everywhere, I frequently run into trouble — in restaurants, cabs, parks, even hospitals. I didn’t want to go to Paris on vacation only to have the same fights over my guide dog I could have at home.

My research turned up some good news. It said that the French have some of the strongest service animal laws in the world, and more important, these laws are rigorously enforced — any form of discrimination is strictly forbidden. I was ecstatic. Not only was I going to experience a city that I’d always wanted to visit, but I also was now sure that my guide dog and I would be welcomed with open arms.

The problems began the moment we arrived in Paris. The representative from the apartment rental company took one look at Nadia and me and demanded an extra 700 euros security deposit, along with an additional 500 euros for a mysterious “deep-clean fee.” I felt like I’d been smacked in the face. And it really stung after the warm welcome I’d imagined.

So much for discrimination being strictly forbidden. Juju and I were furious, but what could we do? We’d never find another apartment at the height of the tourist season. We were stuck. So that afternoon, I was on the Métro traveling to a gritty neighborhood in the 20th Arrondissement in search of the office of the local guide dog federation to find out if anyone there could help me resolve my problem with the rental company. When I arrived, I was met by the director, a small lively man, who shook my hand vigorously before leading me into his cluttered office. He listened sympathetically while I described my dispute with the rental company. When I finished, he sighed heavily and drummed his fingers on the desktop.

“You are absolutely correct, Mr. Linn,” he said, “This is unquestionably a violation of French law. But your situation is a bit … er … tricky.”

“Why tricky?” I asked. “The law clearly states you can’t charge a blind person with a guide dog more than you charge everyone else.”

“That’s exactly right,” he said. “But the law doesn’t apply to you.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because French law only applies to French dogs.”

French dogs? Was this guy pulling my leg? What the hell was a “French dog?” I pictured a bored-looking bulldog sitting at an outdoor cafe, a beret on his head, a cigarette in one paw, a glass of wine in the other.

Then the director interrupted my daydream. “But,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper, “there is one thing I can do for you.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“I will make you a false identification card. Then, while you are in France, you and Nadia will be French, and you will enjoy all the rights of a French guide dog handler. Restaurants, taxis, museums, you name it. Simple, no?”

Clearly I was missing something. Making a fake ID for a dog didn’t strike me as particularly simple. But just then the director snapped a photo of Nadia and me, and began tapping away at his computer.

I sat there stunned, a frozen grin on my face, while wave after wave of déjà vu crashed over me. I felt a familiar anger rising in my chest. I wanted to pound my fist on the director’s desk. I was angry because being blind is rarely my problem; my biggest frustrations stem from the fact that there is always some person in a position of power telling me that I’m not quite right.

Suddenly I was back in a Brooklyn courtroom for a custody hearing when a judge told me I couldn’t see my 1-year-old daughter without my mother being present “because no judge in their right mind would leave a baby alone with a blind man.” This despite the fact the judge knew I’d been my daughter’s principal care giver from the time she was born.

Then there was the immigration hearing to determine whether Juju would receive a green card. While a stone-faced immigration officer pored over pictures of our wedding, I sat there sweating through the back of my pants, obsessing over our lawyer’s final words before we went into the hearing: Juju had a great chance of receiving her green card — she was a doctor, we had married for love, we were the right age and had similar backgrounds. The only “problem” with our application was my blindness, which was sure to send up red flags.

I could have remembered countless other examples of discrimination I’d experienced over the years, but at that moment, the director tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my new identity card.

“Voilà,” he said.

Back at the apartment, I made a few jokes about my new French identity, but my heart wasn’t in it. We spent the rest of the week going to museums and restaurants and holding our breath. I could never just relax and enjoy myself. Having to use a fake ID all over Paris made me feel like I was “getting away with something,” which left me tired and irritable.

In the airport on the way home, I was still angry. My anger wasn’t aimed at the French or their laws. I was angry because I’d hoped to be treated with respect in France and instead I encountered the same problem I ran into in New York. The problem is a whole lot bigger than guide dogs or blindness or unexpected cleaning fees. Once again I was experiencing what it means to be a member of a minority — blind or black or poor or a newly arrived immigrant, for that matter — living day to day in constant fear that everything you have can be taken away from you, even your identity.

Adam Linn is an author living in New York. He is working on a memoir of growing up without a father, going blind and becoming a father himself.

Disability is a series of essays, art and opinion by and about people living with disabilities. The entire series can be found here.

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTOpinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter.

TED Talk on Training Humans Around Service Dogs

Service dogs are increasingly visible in society, but do you know how to behave around one?

Jocelynn Johnson, is a Geospatial Analyst for the Government of Manitoba. She is a graduate of both Red River College and the University of Manitoba (BSc), and is currently pursuing a third degree.

While part of an average Winnipeg family, at age seven Jocelynn went from having perfect hearing to being completely deaf overnight from meningitis. She became the first child in Manitoba to receive a Cochlear Implant. In her twenties, she had to have it removed after a medical incident, effectively losing her hearing for a second time.

As a result, she has gone between existing in the hearing world, the deaf world, and the grey area in-between. Since receiving her Hearing Ear Service Dog nearly nine years ago, she has recognized a gap in education about service animals, and has strived to narrow this gap by educating formally or informally whenever possible.

Jocelynn is the co-chair and founder of the Civil Servants with Abilities Network and a founder of the Deaf Professionals Network. She is also President of the Manitoba GIS Users Group.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community

Minister Carla Qualtrough answers questions regarding Bill C81, the Accessible Canada Act

Here is a link to a video of a two hour standing committee meeting on Oct 2, 2018, where Minister Carla Qualtrough answered questions regarding Bill C81, the Accessible Canada Act.

The people asking questions are MP’s assigned to that committee from all political parties.

Many people in Canada, and elsewhere, are asking:

• What is in this Bill?
• What does it mean to people with disabilities in Canada?
• What does it mean to people who use Guide and Service Dogs?

It is important to get either an understanding of this Bill, as it will impact everything we do going forward. For example, our latest submission to the Canadian Transportation Agency’s (CTA) proposed accessibility regulations was written through a disability lens based in Human Rights.

Some have said the CTA proposed regulations are a mixture of the charity/medical model and of the social model of disability, so some parts are very good and other parts are very regressive.

If Coalition members and supporters could find time to listen to this very good explanation of Bill C81 and give feedback regarding your thoughts and questions, it would be much appreciated. Information is power and as we know better we will do better. All of our voices are important and supporting each other to learn and grow our understandings of the processes now in play will benefit us all greatly.

Please feel free to share this very long link, provided in full here: http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/XRender/en/PowerBrowser/PowerBrowserV2/20181002/-1/30088 Language=English&Stream=Video&useragent=Mozilla/5.0%20(Macintosh;%20Intel%20Mac%20OS%20X%2010_14)%20AppleWebKit/605.1.15%20(KHTML,%20like%20Gecko)%20Version/12.0%20Safari/605.1.15

Service Dog Refusal Ruins Vacation

A visually impaired woman missed out on a dream trip to Dublin with her friends after her service dog was denied boarding by WOW airlines.

An Introduction to Scott Streiner, Chair and CEO of the Canadian Transportation Agency

For those following the Coalition’s submission to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), the attached biography and recent speech by the CTA’s Chair and CEO, Scott Streiner may be of interest.

Finalized Coalition Submission to the Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA), September 27, 2018

Here is the Coalition’s finalized submission to the CTA, provided to them on September 27, 2018.

As a reminder of what the Coalition is responding to, here is a summary of the CTA’s proposed regulations.

Another Attack On Guide and Service Dog Handlers – A Message From Yvonne Peters

Well, Canada’s federal government is once again mounting another attack on guide and service dog handlers.

Now the Canadian Transportation Agency is proposing that all guide and service dog handlers provide documentation and register with all federally regulated modes of transportation if they wish to travel.

They are requesting that an accredited professional service animal training institution certify that our dogs are indeed trained. No definition of what they mean by such an institution.

They also want a vet to provide a up-to-date vaccination record. Okay, maybe to some this sounds reasonable, but the CTA offers no rationale or explanation as to how this will improve passenger service.

I have traveled for about 40 years with my guide dog and never been asked for documentation. My speculation is that maybe people have been trying to pass their pets off as service dogs and causing problems once onboard. So why not go after those fakers? Why put the burden on persons with legitimate guide and service dogs? Such action is contrary to how are society normally addresses crime or wrongdoing.

Maybe we should level the playing field and ask other groups to also register and provide documentation of their ability to travel. For example, doctors could be asked to certify that passengers will not cough and sneeze on fellow passengers; social workers could certify that parents are trained to manage their children while in the air; and an addictions counsellor could certify that passengers are capable of drinking responsibly while flying.

This constant demand to prove legitimacy is getting so tiresome and an erosion of our rights. Traveling with a guide or service dog is not a luxury or life style. It is a human right confirmed by Canadian law.