[2] Ontario Bar Association, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario, Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at pages 4-5.
[3] ARCH Disability Law Centre, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario in Response to the Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (September 2009) at page 5.
[4] Government of Canada, Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities (December 2002) at page 5.
[5] Environics Research Group, Canadian Attitudes Towards Disability Issues, A Qualitative Study: Final Report, prepared for the Government of Canada Office of Disability Issues (2004) at pages 9, 32-34; also see Ontario Human Rights Commission, Mental Health Consultation Paper (August 2009) at pages 10 – 11.
[6] Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, Preamble.
[7] Granovsky v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration) [2000] 1 S.C.R. 703, 2000 SCC 78 at para 56 – 58.
[8] Battleford and District Cooperative Ltd. V. Gibbs [1996] 3 S.C.R. 566 dealt with the history of stigma and marginalization affecting persons with mental health disabilities: see para 30 – 31; also see R. v. Swain [1991] 1 S.C.R. 933 at p. 994 on this same issue.
[9] Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse v. Montreal (City) [2000] 1 S.C.R. 665, 2000 SCC 27, at para. 77 – 83.
[10] Eaton v. Brant County Board of Education [1997] 1 S.C.R. 241 at para. 67.
[11] In Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General) [1997] 3 S.C.R. 624, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the right of Deaf citizens, under section 15 of the Charter to receive sign language interpretation to ensure equal access to hospital services.
[12] Council of Canadians with Disabilities v. VIA Rail Canada Inc. [2007] 1 S.C.R. 650, 2007 SCC 15, at para 162.
[13] British Columbia (Superintendent of Motor Vehicles) v. B.C. (Council of Human Rights) [1999] 3 S.C.R. 868 at para. 38 – 40, following B.C. (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v. BCGSEU [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3.
[14] Ontario Human Rights Commission, Policy and Guidelines on Disability and the Duty to Accommodate (November 2000), at section 4.1., available online at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/
resources/Policies/PolicyDisAccom2.
[15] The Government of Canada also releases regular reports on Advancing the Inclusion of People with Disabilities, which are available online at http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/disability_issues/
eports/fdr/2008/page00.shtml. As well, some provinces, such as Saskatchewan and Manitoba have moved towards comprehensive policy frameworks for disability issues.
[16] Available online at www.socialunion.gc.ca/pwd/union/unison_e.html.
[17] Environics Research Group, Canadian Attitudes Towards Disability Issues, A Qualitative Study: Final Report, prepared for the Government of Canada Office of Disability Issues (2004) at pages 9, 32-34.
[18] For a definition of “ableism” see Ontario Human Rights Commission, Mental Health Consultation Paper (August 2009) at page 10.
[19] The Ontario Human Rights Commission recently expressed concern about this issue in Right at Home, its 2008 report on its public consultation on human rights and housing (see pages 78-80). The Report is available online at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/discussion_consultation/
housingconsultationreport. See also the discussion in Disability, Community and Society: Exploring the Links (Roehrer Institute: 1996) at page 57.
[20] Ontario Bar Association, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario: The Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at page 23.
[21] Eaton v. Brant County Board of Education [1997] 1 S.C.R. 241 at para. 67.
[22] Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General) [1997] 3 S.C.R. 624.
[23] 2006 data indicated that 51 per cent of Canadians with disabilities were employed at the time of the survey, as compared to 75 per cent of their non-disabled peers. Labour force participation for persons with disabilities is lower across all age groups. Persons with disabilities were also more likely to be employed in part-time or precarious work. See Statistics Canada, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 2006: Labour Force Experience of Persons with Disabilities in Canada (Ottawa: Minister of Industry, 2007). The average income for an Ontarian with a disability in 2006, based on PALS data, was $25,304, as compared to $38,358 for an Ontarian without a disability: Statistics Canada, Social and Aboriginal Statistics Division, Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 2006: Tables (Part V) (Ottawa: Minister of Industry, 2007) at Table 1.3.
[24] See Ontario Human Rights Commission, The Opportunity to Succeed: Achieving Barrier-Free Education for Students with Disabilities (Toronto: 2003), available online at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/discussion_consultation/ConsultEduDisablty2; also see ARCH Disability Law Centre, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario in Response to the Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (September 2009) at page 15, and Ontario Bar Association, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario, Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at pages 20-21.
[25] See Fraser Valentine, Enabling Citizenship: Full Inclusion of Children with Disabilities and Their Parents (Canadian Policy Research Networks, June 2001).
[26] Roeher Institute, Harms Way: The Many Faces of Violence and Abuse Against Persons with Disabilities, (North York: 1995) at pages 15-18.
[27] Ontario Bar Association, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario: The Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at page 14.
[28] Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, S.O. 2005, c. 11.
[29] Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2001, S.O. 2001, c. 32.
[30] See, for example, André Marin, Ombudsman of Ontario, “Losing the Waiting Game” (May 2006); Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, “ Barriers to ODSP: Experiences of People with Mental Health and Addictions”; HIV/AIDS Legal Network, “Support for Survival: barriers to income security for people living with HIV/AIDS and directions for reform” (2005); Tanya Hyland, “A Critical Analysis of the Ontario Disability Support Program Act and Social Citizenship Rights in Ontario” (2001; Income Security Advocacy Centre, “Denial by Design: The Ontario Disability Support Program Act” (January 2003), and Pro Bono Students Canada, Faculty of Law at the University of Western Ontario, “Pathway to Progress: ODSP – Accountability, Reform & Systemic Change” (March 2006).
[31] See, for example, the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s Submission of the Ontario Human Rights Commission Concerning Barrier-Free Access Requirements in the Ontario Building Code (March 2002); Moving Towards Barrier-Free Services: Final Report on the Restaurant Accessibility Initiative (July 2006); Submission of the Ontario Human Rights Commission to the Transportation Standards Review Committee Concerning the Initial Proposed Transportation Accessibility Standard ( August 2007), all available online at www.ohrc.on.ca. This issue has also been raised by the AODA Alliance in their brief to the Independent Review on the Effective Implementation of the AODA, available online at www.aodaalliance.org.
[32] See André Marin, Ombudsman of Ontario, “Losing the Waiting Game” (May 2006), available online at http://www.ombudsman.on.ca/media/3289/losing_the_waiting_game_20060531.pdf
[33] See DAWN Ontario, Ontario Disability Support Program: Summary of Forum Reports, section D.1., available online at http://dawn.thot.net/odsp.html.
[34] See Legal Assistance of Windsor, Response to the Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at page 2.
[35] Ontario Bar Association, Submission to the Law Commission of Ontario: The Law as it Affects Persons with Disabilities (August 2009) at page 23.
[36] Auton (Guardian ad litem) v. British Columbia (Attorney General) [2004] 3 S.C.R. 657, 2004 SCC 78, at para. 43.
[37] Canadian Association for Community Living, Response to the Law Commission of Ontario’s Consultation Paper on the Law as it Affects Older Adults (July 2008), at page 4.
[38] These provisions were the subject of a human rights complaint, which was upheld at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, but subsequently overturned by the Divisional Court. See Braithwaite v. Chief Coroner (2006), 56 C.H.R.R. D/171 (H.R.T.O.), and Ontario (Attorney General) v. Ontario (Human Rights Commission), [2007] O.J. No. 4978 (Div. Ct.).
[39] Office of the Provincial Auditor of the Province of Ontario, 2001 Annual Report, Section 3.06, “Special Education Grants to School Boards”.
[40] Ontario Human Rights Commission, The Opportunity to Succeed: Achieving Barrier-Free Education for Students with Disabilities (Toronto: 2003), available online at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/discussion_consultation/ConsultEduDisablty2
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