Appended below are excerpts from the LCO’s Framework for the Law as It Affects Persons with Disabilities and Framework for the Law as It Affects Older Adults. The originals can be consulted in the final reports for those projects.

Excerpt from A Framework for the Law as It Affects Persons with Disabilities

Principles for the Law as It Affects Persons with Disabilities

In order to counteract negative stereotypes and assumptions about persons with disabilities, reaffirm the status of persons with disabilities as equal members of society and bearers of both rights and responsibilities, and encourage government to take positive steps to secure the wellbeing of persons with disabilities, this Framework centres on a set of principles for the law as it affects persons with disabilities.

Each of the six principles contributes to an overarching goal of promoting substantive equality for persons with disabilities. The concept of equality is central to both the Charter and the Code. The Supreme Court has recognized that governments, in providing services, must respect the equality rights of disadvantaged groups. Observance of the principles ought to move law and policy in the direction of advancing substantive equality, and interpretation of the principles must be informed by the concept of substantive equality.

There is no hierarchy among the principles, and the principles must be understood in relationship with each other. Although identified separately, the principles may reinforce each other or may be in tension with one another as they apply to concrete situations.

  1. Respecting the Dignity and Worth of Persons with Disabilities: This principle recognizes the inherent, equal and inalienable worth of every individual, including every person with a disability. All members of the human family are full persons, with the right to be valued, respected and considered and to have both one’s contributions and needs recognized.
  2. Responding to Diversity in Human Abilities and Other Characteristics: This principle requires recognition of and responsiveness to the reality that all people exist along a continuum of abilities in many areas, that abilities will vary along the life course, and that each person with a disability is unique in needs, circumstances and identities, as well as to the multiple and intersecting identities of persons with disabilities that may act to increase or diminish discrimination and disadvantage.
  3. Fostering Autonomy and Independence:  This principle requires the creation of conditions to ensure that persons with disabilities are able to make choices that affect their lives and to do as much for themselves as possible or as they desire, with appropriate and adequate supports as required.
  4. Promoting Social Inclusion and Participation: This principle refers to designing society in a way that promotes the ability of all persons with disabilities to be actively involved with their community by removing physical, social, attitudinal and systemic barriers to exercising the incidents of such citizenship and by facilitating their involvement.
  5. Facilitating the Right to Live in Safety: This principle refers to the right of persons with disabilities to live without fear of abuse or exploitation and where appropriate to receive support in making decisions that could have an impact on safety.
  6. Recognizing That We All Live in Society: This principle acknowledges that persons with disabilities are members of society, with entitlements and responsibilities, and that other members of society also have entitlements and responsibilities. 

 

  • For more information on the principles, see the Final Report: A Framework for the Law as It Affects Persons with Disabilities, Chapter III.C

Implementing the Principles

As principles are relatively abstract and aspirational, challenges may arise in their implementation. For example, resources are not unlimited, so that it may not be possible to fully implement all of the principles immediately. In some cases, the principles may point to different solutions for the same issue. The LCO suggests the following factors to be taken into account in the application of the principles.

Taking the Circumstances of Persons with Disabilities into Account: While it is generally recognized that persons with disabilities make up a significant and growing proportion of Canada’s population, and that they may have needs, circumstances and experiences that differ from their non-disabled peers, laws and policies do not always systematically and appropriately take these into account. As a result, laws and policies may have unintended negative effects on persons with disabilities, may work at cross-purposes with each other, or may fail to achieve their intended goals. In some cases, stereotypes or negative assumptions about persons with disabilities may shape the degree to which or the way in which persons with disabilities are taken into account. In this way, the law may be ableist in its impact. As part of respecting and implementing the principles, the circumstances of persons with disabilities must be taken into account in the development and implementation of all laws, policies and programs that may affect them. This includes the recognition that persons with disabilities are themselves a highly diverse group, with widely varying perspectives, circumstances and experiences. The LCO’s Final Report, which is a companion to this Framework, along with the resources linked to throughout the Framework, may provide assistance in understanding the circumstances of persons with disabilities.

Life Course Analysis: Following from the above, in applying the principles, it is important to consider the full life course of persons with disabilities. The life experiences of each of us will profoundly shape the resources and perspectives we bring to each stage of life. Barriers or opportunities experienced at one stage of life will have consequences that will reverberate throughout the course of life. The life course of an individual will shape the way in which that individual encounters a particular law; in return, laws will significantly shape the life course of individuals. That is, the impact of laws must be understood in the context of every stage of the life of persons with disabilities, from birth to death, and how these stages relate to each other.

Treating Law as Person-Centred Approaches: Law is often developed, implemented and analyzed as a set of separate and largely independent systems. A person-centred approach highlights the ways in which individuals encounter law – often as a confusing web of  fragmented systems – and requires that laws be developed and implemented in a way that respects the full experience of the individuals that will encounter them. This requires law to respond to individuals as whole persons with unique needs and identities, and to take into account the ways in which individuals transition through the life course or between systems.

Inclusive Design: While in some cases it may be necessary or most appropriate to design specific laws, practices, programs or policies to meet the needs of persons with disabilities, in many cases an inclusive design approach that incorporates from the outset the needs of persons with disabilities a