QUEEN’S PARK – NDP MPPs are calling for urgent action after the Conservatives tried to bury the AODA’s fourth review, that rang alarm bells about accessibility in Ontario being in a ‘crisis’ state.
“Accessibility in Ontario is in a clear state of crisis and it’s shameful for this government to sit on a report of this importance,” said MPP Monique Taylor (Hamilton Mountain), NDP critic for Children, Community, and Social Services. “The crisis in accessibility is having a real, daily impact on the quality of life of millions of people in Ontario. Do the Conservatives think they can just dodge accountability for this?”
The Conservative government received a copy of the fourth and final AODA review in June of 2023. One of the report’s recommendations is for the government to urgently address Ontario’s poor accessibility measures as a ‘crisis’.
Ford’s Conservatives quietly released the report last week – six months later.
“It speaks volumes that the Conservative government sat on this report for six months instead of taking immediate action to address this crisis,” said Taylor. “It’s clear they are not taking it seriously. We need urgent action to address this serious challenge, especially if we want to have any hope of getting anywhere near AODA standards by 2025.”
The AODA standard was passed into law in 2005, and mandated that Ontario be fully accessible by 2025. Ontario is likely to miss that target, after subsequent Liberal and Conservative governments have failed to take serious measures.
BACKGROUND
- The third review of the AODA was a scathing admonishment of the Ford government, delivered in 2019 by former Lieutenant Governor, David Onley
- The fourth review urges the government to convene a “Crisis Committee chaired by the Premier and co-chaired by the Secretary of Cabinet” within 30 days. This recommendation seems to have been ignored.