1
00:00:00,730 --> 00:00:03,250
Ontario's Progress Toward Fully Accessible

2
00:00:03,250 --> 00:00:06,110
Transportation for People with
Disabilities.

3
00:00:06,110 --> 00:00:07,970
David Lepofsky, Chair.

4
00:00:07,970 --> 00:00:12,450
Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act Alliance.

5
00:00:12,450 --> 00:00:15,160
Delivered at the Osgoode Hall Law School,
January

6
00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:19,310
23rd, 2014 as a Roy McMurtry Clinical
Fellow.

7
00:00:21,170 --> 00:00:28,150
>> Good morning everyone today's
lecture is gonna focus on, the campaign

8
00:00:28,150 --> 00:00:32,670
for accessible public transportation for
people

9
00:00:32,670 --> 00:00:34,740
with disabilities in the province of
Ontario.

10
00:00:36,050 --> 00:00:39,850
My name is David Lepofsky, I'm Chair of
the Accessibility for Ontarians.

11
00:00:39,850 --> 00:00:41,560
With Disabilities Act Alliance.

12
00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:43,620
And I'm, I'm very honored to be able to
present

13
00:00:43,620 --> 00:00:49,160
to this policy course in the critical
disability studies program.

14
00:00:51,260 --> 00:00:55,860
I want to talk to you about why public
transportation matters,

15
00:00:55,860 --> 00:00:58,980
about the kind of problems that people
with disabilities face using it.

16
00:01:00,810 --> 00:01:04,530
About the kind of, resistance we faced

17
00:01:04,530 --> 00:01:08,780
trying to achieve full accessibility in
public transit.

18
00:01:08,780 --> 00:01:14,090
And then I wanna take you through the
gains made or site but

19
00:01:14,090 --> 00:01:19,600
not made under the accessibility for
Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

20
00:01:20,820 --> 00:01:25,210
And I'm going to conclude with some
remarks about recent developments

21
00:01:26,340 --> 00:01:31,180
and upcoming events on the public
transportation front.

22
00:01:32,200 --> 00:01:35,760
You should consider public transpiration,
a really

23
00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:40,860
good case study in the battle for
accessibility.

24
00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,630
It isn't always this vexing.

25
00:01:46,390 --> 00:01:50,270
We don't meet as much resistance, in each
sector as we have here.

26
00:01:51,580 --> 00:01:54,250
But each sector we challenge, take on as
important and

27
00:01:54,250 --> 00:01:58,450
each battle in one way or another has it's
own dynamic.

28
00:01:59,980 --> 00:02:00,900
So what's the problem?

29
00:02:03,150 --> 00:02:06,960
We have at least 1.8 million people with

30
00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:10,940
disabilities in Ontario, over four million
in Canada.

31
00:02:10,940 --> 00:02:14,550
And many more will get disabilities,
virtually everybody as they age.

32
00:02:16,080 --> 00:02:18,390
They face too many barriers in society,

33
00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:23,130
and our public transit system is one
example.

34
00:02:24,490 --> 00:02:26,920
Our public transit system was not
originally

35
00:02:26,920 --> 00:02:33,450
designed, to accommodate and include
people with disabilities.

36
00:02:33,450 --> 00:02:34,170
That's crazy.

37
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:43,529
It's not like we just invented people with
disabilities in 2005, or even in 1982.

38
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:49,110
However, we still face too many barriers,
barriers getting

39
00:02:49,110 --> 00:02:54,360
into stations, barriers getting out of
vehicles, barriers knowing where

40
00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:56,700
we are on the vehicle or what stop we're
at

41
00:02:56,700 --> 00:03:02,189
on the route, barriers getting service,
barriers with fee structures.

42
00:03:04,270 --> 00:03:07,890
Barriers with public para-transit for
those who

43
00:03:07,890 --> 00:03:11,470
can't use the, the conventional transit
system, getting

44
00:03:11,470 --> 00:03:16,930
a ride, getting to where you want to go,
and getting there in a timely fashion.

45
00:03:18,450 --> 00:03:20,420
Far too many barriers.

46
00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:22,540
They're not all physical barriers.

47
00:03:22,540 --> 00:03:24,940
The first thing you might think of are
steps to get into

48
00:03:24,940 --> 00:03:31,090
a subway station, or onto a bus, that
impede people with mobility disabilities.

49
00:03:31,090 --> 00:03:35,340
But I, as a blind person, have faced
barriers finding out what stop I'm at.

50
00:03:35,340 --> 00:03:37,610
More about that in a moment.

51
00:03:37,610 --> 00:03:40,920
People with hearing loss, face difficulty
knowing

52
00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,580
what's being announced over the public
address system.

53
00:03:44,580 --> 00:03:47,940
Where it's not displayed in text form on a
video screen.

54
00:03:50,900 --> 00:03:56,700
Some of the barriers are old, like subway
stations built in the 50s, and some

55
00:03:56,700 --> 00:04:00,440
are brand new, like the spanking new
presto

56
00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,850
smart card for paying your public transit
fares.

57
00:04:03,850 --> 00:04:08,100
A system designed with barriers included.

58
00:04:08,100 --> 00:04:10,500
I'll talk about that right near the end of
my presentation.

59
00:04:12,180 --> 00:04:14,230
How do we take on these barriers?

60
00:04:14,230 --> 00:04:20,730
Historically, the only way we could was by
bringing claims

61
00:04:20,730 --> 00:04:25,030
under the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which guarantees equality.

62
00:04:25,030 --> 00:04:28,980
Without discrimination, based on physical
or mental disability.

63
00:04:31,020 --> 00:04:33,400
That applies to governments, Federal,
Providential,

64
00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,140
Municipal, including Municipal Public
Transit Authorities.

65
00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:40,810
We could also file individual claims of

66
00:04:40,810 --> 00:04:44,260
discrimination, under the Ontario Human
Rights code.

67
00:04:45,570 --> 00:04:49,190
It guarantees the right to good services
and facilities without

68
00:04:49,190 --> 00:04:53,380
discrimination, based on disability in
both the charter and the

69
00:04:53,380 --> 00:05:00,430
human rights code imposed on all
organizations including transit providers,

70
00:05:00,430 --> 00:05:03,800
a duty to accommodate the needs of people
with disabilities.

71
00:05:03,800 --> 00:05:05,380
Up to the point of undo hardship.

72
00:05:06,750 --> 00:05:10,650
If equal service is not being provided.

73
00:05:12,370 --> 00:05:16,930
Put simply, these barriers I've described,
are at some

74
00:05:16,930 --> 00:05:20,240
way, or in some way, pretty much all
illegal.

75
00:05:21,490 --> 00:05:23,230
It may take time to remove them.

76
00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:28,920
And it should take no time to prevent the
creation of new ones, but they gotta go.

77
00:05:30,330 --> 00:05:33,140
The problem historically was that, if we
had to

78
00:05:33,140 --> 00:05:36,520
reinforce these one barrier at a time, one
complaint

79
00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,830
at a time, one transit authority at a
time,

80
00:05:40,110 --> 00:05:44,470
one individual with a disability bringing
claims at a time.

81
00:05:44,470 --> 00:05:48,300
The burden of enforcing them was just far
too heavy.

82
00:05:50,510 --> 00:05:54,600
That's what led a number of us in 1994 to
argue that we needed a new law,

83
00:05:56,690 --> 00:05:59,940
to systematically require the removal and
prevention of these kind of

84
00:05:59,940 --> 00:06:03,080
barriers without us having to litigate
them one at a time.

85
00:06:03,080 --> 00:06:04,820
I had the privilege of leading the.

86
00:06:04,820 --> 00:06:07,910
Coalition that fought for a decade and won
that law.

87
00:06:07,910 --> 00:06:10,420
The Ontarians with disabilities act
committee.

88
00:06:10,420 --> 00:06:12,530
The law that we won in 2005 is called

89
00:06:12,530 --> 00:06:15,630
the accessibility for Ontarians with
disabilities act, or AODA.

90
00:06:17,170 --> 00:06:20,130
I now have the privilege of leading the
successor coalition,

91
00:06:20,130 --> 00:06:22,090
these are all volunteer roles,

92
00:06:22,090 --> 00:06:25,080
of volunteer coalitions that are
non-partisan.

93
00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,570
The accessibility for interims with
disability act alliance

94
00:06:29,570 --> 00:06:32,670
campaigns to get the disability act
effectively implemented.

95
00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:36,047
Let me zero in on public transit.

96
00:06:38,456 --> 00:06:40,511
Why is it so important?

97
00:06:40,511 --> 00:06:42,378
It's hugely important.

98
00:06:42,378 --> 00:06:46,091
It's hugely important because getting
around.

99
00:06:46,091 --> 00:06:52,091
Is vital if you're gonna get a job and
keep a job, if you're gonna get an

100
00:06:52,091 --> 00:06:57,943
education, if you're gonna get to the
doctor or the grocery store.

101
00:06:57,943 --> 00:07:05,202
For many, many people who don't, or can't,
drive or afford their own car.

102
00:07:08,132 --> 00:07:11,230
Well, some people with disabilities can't
drive.

103
00:07:11,230 --> 00:07:12,840
I'm one of em.

104
00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:15,240
Being totally blind you don't want me
driving.

105
00:07:17,160 --> 00:07:23,560
So for us, unless you've got someone to
drive you, the TTC, the public transit

106
00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:28,290
system, I'm gonna talk a lot about TTC cuz
we're in Toronto and that's where I live.

107
00:07:28,290 --> 00:07:29,510
But it's, it's our car

108
00:07:31,780 --> 00:07:38,980
unless you've got a family member or or
access to taxis or whatever.

109
00:07:38,980 --> 00:07:39,680
It's your car.

110
00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:48,090
And without an education you can't get to
school, to university.

111
00:07:48,090 --> 00:07:50,230
You're not gonna get an education, if you
don't

112
00:07:50,230 --> 00:07:52,990
get an education you're gonna have trouble
getting a job.

113
00:07:52,990 --> 00:07:55,300
And even if you get an education, if you
can't get to that job you're

114
00:07:55,300 --> 00:07:58,500
not gonna be able to be interviewed and
then win the job and then keep.

115
00:07:58,500 --> 00:08:00,120
It's all pretty obvious.

116
00:08:02,630 --> 00:08:05,520
Access to public transit is vital to being

117
00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,870
able to take part in the mainstream of
life.

118
00:08:07,870 --> 00:08:10,230
For other people with disabilities, they
may be

119
00:08:10,230 --> 00:08:12,060
able to drive, but they can't afford a
car.

120
00:08:12,060 --> 00:08:13,020
What we know about people with

121
00:08:13,020 --> 00:08:15,690
disabilities is that we're large in
number.

122
00:08:15,690 --> 00:08:18,250
But we're also substantially over
represented

123
00:08:18,250 --> 00:08:21,550
among the unemployed, or under employed.

124
00:08:21,550 --> 00:08:26,680
We're substantially over represented among
the welfare dependent and the poor.

125
00:08:28,030 --> 00:08:31,210
So buying a car, for a number of them, is
out of the question.

126
00:08:32,740 --> 00:08:35,690
Moreover, cars are not designed to

127
00:08:35,690 --> 00:08:38,330
accommodate people with certain kinds of
disabilities.

128
00:08:39,620 --> 00:08:43,140
And for them, they may need a speciali-,
specially designed

129
00:08:43,140 --> 00:08:46,870
vehicle, and to buy that, they'd be way
more expensive.

130
00:08:47,895 --> 00:08:51,780
Than an already expensive conventional
car.

131
00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:56,670
Also potentially out of their financial
reach, if they're among the many people

132
00:08:56,670 --> 00:09:00,730
with disabilities who are unemployed,
underemployed, poor,

133
00:09:00,730 --> 00:09:03,030
and or socially dependent, social systems
dependent.

134
00:09:05,210 --> 00:09:07,800
These barriers hurt everyone.

135
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:10,890
Nobody benefits, from the barriers of our
public transit system.

136
00:09:12,880 --> 00:09:16,620
They hurt people with disabilities by
driving, helping drive, or

137
00:09:16,620 --> 00:09:20,450
keep people with disabilities into a state
of unemployment or poverty.

138
00:09:21,900 --> 00:09:26,040
They force more of them to become, social
assistant dependent.

139
00:09:26,040 --> 00:09:27,540
Not just the barriers in, in

140
00:09:27,540 --> 00:09:29,600
transportation alone drive them to this
condition.

141
00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:31,150
They contribute.

142
00:09:31,150 --> 00:09:37,650
To the disadvantage that leads to this,
this economic end result.

143
00:09:37,650 --> 00:09:41,010
It ends up with society not benefiting
from as many

144
00:09:41,010 --> 00:09:44,980
people with disabilities contributing as,
as employees and as workers.

145
00:09:46,650 --> 00:09:50,089
And it, puts a greater social assistance
burden on society.

146
00:09:51,180 --> 00:09:53,770
It also hurts our society, because
businesses

147
00:09:53,770 --> 00:09:56,020
don't get the benefit of their skills,

148
00:09:56,020 --> 00:09:59,570
if they can't get there or can't get an
education or can't get a job.

149
00:09:59,570 --> 00:10:03,480
Similarly, these kind of barriers hurt us
economically,

150
00:10:05,020 --> 00:10:09,690
because if you can't get to a store, you
can't spend your money there.

151
00:10:11,750 --> 00:10:13,340
So if a person with a disability can only

152
00:10:13,340 --> 00:10:16,000
get to the stores immediately near them,
that means

153
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:19,310
that other stores and other services that
might benefit

154
00:10:19,310 --> 00:10:22,354
from there, from them as customers don't
get the chance.

155
00:10:22,354 --> 00:10:29,000
And finally, it undermines your community
as a tourism destination.

156
00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:34,770
Tourists with disabilities, like to travel
like anyone else.

157
00:10:34,770 --> 00:10:37,950
But, they're gonna pick a city that's got
accessible public transit

158
00:10:39,120 --> 00:10:44,240
over a city that doesn't, in making their
choices whenever they can.

159
00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,459
There are a billion people with
disabilities around the world.

160
00:10:48,930 --> 00:10:52,470
Not all of them are gonna come to a
particular city in, in Ontario.

161
00:10:53,860 --> 00:11:00,040
But, within them there's a lot of spending
power that we'd benefit from having.

162
00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:03,380
And with inaccessible public transit, or
transit barriers,

163
00:11:04,630 --> 00:11:08,730
we make ourselves an unattractive tourist
destination for them.

164
00:11:10,500 --> 00:11:11,390
And that hurts everybody.

165
00:11:13,390 --> 00:11:20,040
Well, how hard should it be, to achieve an
accessible public transit system?

166
00:11:21,370 --> 00:11:26,009
Well, I'd like to suggest to you that it
actually shouldn't be hard at all.

167
00:11:27,670 --> 00:11:29,570
At one level you might say oh, well, we're
talking about

168
00:11:29,570 --> 00:11:33,520
a lot of buses, lot of subway cars and
stations and

169
00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:35,730
man if we, if they're not accessible to
change that all

170
00:11:35,730 --> 00:11:38,940
that's gotta be a huge pile of money, it
should be tough.

171
00:11:38,940 --> 00:11:43,220
But here's why it shouldn't be hard.

172
00:11:43,220 --> 00:11:46,640
Number one, we all have a financial
interest.

173
00:11:46,640 --> 00:11:48,430
Collectively as a society,

174
00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:53,770
in having an accessible public transit
system

175
00:11:53,770 --> 00:11:56,790
because it helps our economy across the
board.

176
00:11:56,790 --> 00:12:00,110
We all have an individual interest in it
because, if you

177
00:12:00,110 --> 00:12:03,700
don't have a disability now, you're likely
gonna get one later.

178
00:12:03,700 --> 00:12:08,600
And even if you don't have one now, you've
got friends or family who do.

179
00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:10,050
And when you're going to go out for the

180
00:12:10,050 --> 00:12:12,050
afternoon or the evening if you're with a
person with

181
00:12:12,050 --> 00:12:15,620
a mobility disability who can't get on,
can't use

182
00:12:15,620 --> 00:12:18,780
a particular subway station or, or a bus
or whatever.

183
00:12:18,780 --> 00:12:20,160
You're not going to say well lets go with

184
00:12:20,160 --> 00:12:22,220
a movie together, you figure out how
you're getting there.

185
00:12:22,220 --> 00:12:23,510
I'll see you if you make it.

186
00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:26,040
You want travel together.

187
00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,199
That's what's going out together is all
about.

188
00:12:29,620 --> 00:12:31,860
So we all have an interest in it.

189
00:12:31,860 --> 00:12:37,946
Moreover, the organizations that deliver
public transit are large organizations.

190
00:12:37,946 --> 00:12:42,250
They're not mom-and-pop operations,
rubbing two nickels

191
00:12:42,250 --> 00:12:44,640
together to just try to get by.

192
00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,629
They're mainly large organizations, I'll
talk separately about taxis later.

193
00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:52,990
Moreover, the equipment they use is not
internal.

194
00:12:54,310 --> 00:12:57,480
They have to, replace it over time.

195
00:12:57,480 --> 00:12:59,610
And if they replace inaccessible vehicles

196
00:12:59,610 --> 00:13:03,070
with accessible ones and inaccessible
equipment with

197
00:13:03,070 --> 00:13:08,520
accessible equipment over time, we can get
away from this problem over time.

198
00:13:10,330 --> 00:13:16,150
It's also a problem that we should be able
to solve relatively readily because

199
00:13:16,150 --> 00:13:18,360
the organizations, at least those that
deliver

200
00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:24,550
public transit, are non-profit public
sector organizations.

201
00:13:25,580 --> 00:13:28,436
We don't have to meet a profit margin for
them.

202
00:13:28,436 --> 00:13:29,785
At all.

203
00:13:33,278 --> 00:13:39,480
As well, they're not only public and non,
and, and non-profit.

204
00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,200
They get their money substantially from
the government.

205
00:13:44,310 --> 00:13:46,840
Any year you pick up the newspaper or turn
on

206
00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:50,240
the radio and you're gonna hear some
announcement or other.

207
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:54,650
From the federal or provincial government,
of millions or tens

208
00:13:54,650 --> 00:14:00,690
or hundreds and sometimes billions of
dollars going into capital infrastructure.

209
00:14:00,690 --> 00:14:06,610
And one major area that is going, that
that funding goes to, is public transit.

210
00:14:08,990 --> 00:14:11,760
So as a society, we're paying the freight.

211
00:14:11,760 --> 00:14:14,210
We ought to be able to call the
accessibility tune.

212
00:14:16,060 --> 00:14:21,280
So for all these reasons, [SOUND] it ought
to be doable in a straightforward way.

213
00:14:22,400 --> 00:14:23,470
Here's the shocker.

214
00:14:24,980 --> 00:14:27,830
I've been involved in advocating now on
accessibility, one

215
00:14:27,830 --> 00:14:31,530
way or another, for many years, as a
volunteer.

216
00:14:31,530 --> 00:14:34,530
Working with many wonderful people.

217
00:14:34,530 --> 00:14:38,110
If you're interested in getting involved,
just send

218
00:14:38,110 --> 00:14:43,060
an email to AODAfeedback@gmail.com and ask
to sign

219
00:14:43,060 --> 00:14:47,360
up for our email list and we'll give you
lots of tips on how to do that.

220
00:14:47,360 --> 00:14:49,280
If you want to see, a record of

221
00:14:49,280 --> 00:14:52,110
our campaign including a fight on the
transportation front.

222
00:14:53,950 --> 00:14:57,820
Just go to our website at AODAAlliance.org
or

223
00:14:57,820 --> 00:15:03,994
follow us on Twitter AODAAlliance, pardon
me, @AODAAlliance.

224
00:15:03,994 --> 00:15:10,100
But in any event, in all the different
context in which I've done this

225
00:15:10,100 --> 00:15:11,870
advocacy, people think all of the biggest

226
00:15:11,870 --> 00:15:14,600
opponents to advocating for accessibility
across the board.

227
00:15:14,600 --> 00:15:16,130
It's probably going to be the business
sector.

228
00:15:16,130 --> 00:15:18,570
They're going to be worried about their
profits.

229
00:15:18,570 --> 00:15:20,620
And, you know, why are you requiring this?

230
00:15:20,620 --> 00:15:22,320
It's not the case.

231
00:15:22,320 --> 00:15:27,530
There's some in any sector who, you know,
may be skiddish.

232
00:15:27,530 --> 00:15:31,370
But generally, I will tell you that of the
various sectors

233
00:15:31,370 --> 00:15:36,250
we've dealt with, the area where I at
least have seen.

234
00:15:36,250 --> 00:15:44,060
The greatest collective resistance has
been Ontario's public transit providers.

235
00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:47,000
I'm just gonna give you a couple of
illustrations.

236
00:15:47,000 --> 00:15:48,850
In some cases Canada's.

237
00:15:48,850 --> 00:15:51,590
Number one: Me and TTC.

238
00:15:53,080 --> 00:15:57,980
I In 1994, I approached the Toronto
Transit Commission to ask

239
00:15:57,980 --> 00:16:01,890
them to do something which they've been
doing for years in Boston

240
00:16:01,890 --> 00:16:04,730
and Washington and New York and elsewhere
which is to have

241
00:16:04,730 --> 00:16:08,700
their their subway crews announce route
stops as you get to them.

242
00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,380
That ended up in protracted litigation.

243
00:16:14,380 --> 00:16:17,140
It took to 2005 on and off.

244
00:16:17,140 --> 00:16:22,240
And I had to go through a full human
rights hearing to force them,

245
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:24,170
to get an order forcing them, to

246
00:16:24,170 --> 00:16:27,740
consistently and reliability announce all
route stops.

247
00:16:27,740 --> 00:16:31,670
Now every subway has a crew.

248
00:16:31,670 --> 00:16:33,550
Every crew member has a mouth.

249
00:16:33,550 --> 00:16:37,030
They all have a microphone, and presumably
they know what the stops are.

250
00:16:38,190 --> 00:16:40,760
So it shouldn't be hard to do.

251
00:16:40,760 --> 00:16:43,190
I wasn't asking them to put in any fancy
automated

252
00:16:43,190 --> 00:16:47,580
system, but you would not believe the
fight they put up.

253
00:16:47,580 --> 00:16:50,300
When I, just before I won that case, I
asked

254
00:16:50,300 --> 00:16:53,999
them to also audibly and reliably announce
all bus stops.

255
00:16:56,330 --> 00:16:57,600
They fought that one, too.

256
00:16:57,600 --> 00:16:59,300
Even after I won the subway case.

257
00:17:01,080 --> 00:17:02,690
Now you might think that if you got to

258
00:17:02,690 --> 00:17:05,660
announce all, when I won in 2005, it was
held

259
00:17:05,660 --> 00:17:08,070
that the Human Rights Code requires the
TTC to announce

260
00:17:08,070 --> 00:17:11,160
all, all subway stops for the benefit of
blind people.

261
00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:13,370
Now, you'd think that If they gotta do it

262
00:17:13,370 --> 00:17:14,800
on the subways, they gotta do it on the
bus.

263
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:16,280
I mean, it seems pretty obvious.

264
00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:17,840
Seems obvious to me.

265
00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,660
Probably to you and I don't know if any of
you have had any legal

266
00:17:20,660 --> 00:17:21,990
training, but on the first day of law

267
00:17:21,990 --> 00:17:23,440
school that wouldn't be a tough one
either.

268
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:27,580
It's obvious to everybody except, the TTC.

269
00:17:27,580 --> 00:17:29,840
So I had to file a second case.

270
00:17:29,840 --> 00:17:33,320
And I won that in 2007.

271
00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:36,610
I did a Freedom of Information request
afterwards to find out how

272
00:17:36,610 --> 00:17:40,820
much they spent on lawyers in these two
cases, fighting against accessibility.

273
00:17:41,850 --> 00:17:48,100
I got their legal bills, and between the
two cases, it totaled $450,000.

274
00:17:48,100 --> 00:17:50,550
That's a lot of accessibility that could
have

275
00:17:50,550 --> 00:17:53,160
been bought by the money they spent on
lawyers.

276
00:17:53,160 --> 00:17:55,030
To lose to loser cases.

277
00:17:56,410 --> 00:17:58,750
To oppose something as simple, as

278
00:17:58,750 --> 00:18:01,390
consistently and reliably announcing all
stops.

279
00:18:01,390 --> 00:18:03,430
Now, in this lecture series, there will be
another

280
00:18:03,430 --> 00:18:06,440
lecture on a closer look at those two
cases.

281
00:18:06,440 --> 00:18:08,740
I don't have time now to go into them, but

282
00:18:08,740 --> 00:18:14,360
they, they're, with that kind of fight
over a simple accommodation.

283
00:18:14,360 --> 00:18:16,780
An accommodation that helps not only blind
people, but

284
00:18:16,780 --> 00:18:19,420
sighted people, who can't see through a
crowd on

285
00:18:19,420 --> 00:18:22,080
the bus or subway, or through dirty
windows, or

286
00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:24,980
through a snowstorm, or when it's dark at
night.

287
00:18:26,590 --> 00:18:29,360
When, so much of a fight over that simple
accommodation.

288
00:18:31,220 --> 00:18:33,780
Imagine what we, we're fearing.

289
00:18:33,780 --> 00:18:35,360
For tougher ones.

290
00:18:35,360 --> 00:18:40,170
By the way after I won that case, the
human right's commission to their

291
00:18:40,170 --> 00:18:42,560
credit, surveyed all transit authorities
to say

292
00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:43,910
what they were gonig to do about it.

293
00:18:43,910 --> 00:18:46,140
Some say they would, some said they
wouldn't.

294
00:18:46,140 --> 00:18:48,000
Some of them that said they would still
didn't.

295
00:18:49,100 --> 00:18:51,860
And now stops when they said they would.

296
00:18:51,860 --> 00:18:54,480
The human right's commission had to start
two more.

297
00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:55,720
Legal proceedings.

298
00:18:55,720 --> 00:18:56,470
After that.

299
00:18:58,670 --> 00:18:59,850
When the law was clear

300
00:19:02,060 --> 00:19:04,510
over, something as simple as calling
stops.

301
00:19:04,510 --> 00:19:09,450
And let me just explain that it's the, the
bus stops case.

302
00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:11,220
By the time I got to the tribunal,

303
00:19:11,220 --> 00:19:13,270
the human rights tribunal on the bus stops
case.

304
00:19:13,270 --> 00:19:16,190
The TTC had said, we're gonna put in
automation.

305
00:19:16,190 --> 00:19:18,800
We're gonna put in automated stops,
announcements,

306
00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:20,810
but it's gonna take a couple years.

307
00:19:20,810 --> 00:19:23,290
So by then I was arguing at the Human
Rights Tribunal that

308
00:19:23,290 --> 00:19:26,340
in the interim two years, get your drivers
to call the stops.

309
00:19:26,340 --> 00:19:28,495
TTC said no, and I won.

310
00:19:28,495 --> 00:19:32,660
[COUGH] A leading spokesman for London's
public transit

311
00:19:32,660 --> 00:19:35,299
authority was quoted in the London Free
Press.

312
00:19:36,900 --> 00:19:40,290
When asked if London would also direct
their drivers to call

313
00:19:40,290 --> 00:19:45,360
stops, pending their putting in an
automated system, the answer was no.

314
00:19:45,360 --> 00:19:49,510
I guess they felt they were above the law
or something.

315
00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:52,460
And the law was clear, it won the case.

316
00:19:52,460 --> 00:19:55,640
[NOISE] But another public transit
authority has according

317
00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,980
to this news report in substance felt that
they

318
00:19:57,980 --> 00:20:00,580
could decide to disregard the law, on
something

319
00:20:00,580 --> 00:20:04,185
that had been hard, you know, fought, and
lost!

320
00:20:04,185 --> 00:20:10,720
[SOUND] Another illustration.

321
00:20:10,720 --> 00:20:13,270
A case in the Supreme Court of Canada,
this is not

322
00:20:13,270 --> 00:20:15,060
an Ontario provider, but national, Via

323
00:20:15,060 --> 00:20:17,920
Rail against Council Canadians with
Disabilities.

324
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:26,030
Via Rail decided to go out and spend $134
million, on some passenger cars replacing,

325
00:20:26,030 --> 00:20:29,140
if memory serves, and I could have this
wrong, about a third of their fleet.

326
00:20:30,190 --> 00:20:31,940
But the cars they decided to buy.

327
00:20:34,470 --> 00:20:39,990
It was argued, were less accessible than
the ones they were gonna replace.

328
00:20:39,990 --> 00:20:43,640
They were gonna use public money to create
new barriers.

329
00:20:45,690 --> 00:20:48,270
Council of Canadians with Disabilities, a
fabulous advocacy

330
00:20:48,270 --> 00:20:51,269
group, took them to the Canadian
Transportation Agency.

331
00:20:52,960 --> 00:20:55,800
They won their case, in substantial part.

332
00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:00,920
The Canadian transportation legislation
has a human rights-like provision.

333
00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:02,410
Got fought all the way to the Supreme

334
00:21:02,410 --> 00:21:05,770
Court in Canada, and Via Rail lost there
too.

335
00:21:05,770 --> 00:21:10,040
That case stands for the proposition in my
view, the essentially.

336
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:13,970
You can't use your money to create new
barriers.

337
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:16,850
That's going to be important in a couple

338
00:21:16,850 --> 00:21:20,270
of moments, for what happened in Ontario
afterwards.

339
00:21:20,270 --> 00:21:21,700
But this is an illustration of via

340
00:21:21,700 --> 00:21:29,600
rail, resistance to uum, providing
accessible public transit.

341
00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:31,179
So this is what we've been up against.

342
00:21:33,020 --> 00:21:37,720
And it's a sector that's not only
demonstrated itself to be.

343
00:21:37,720 --> 00:21:39,160
I'm not saying everybody.

344
00:21:39,160 --> 00:21:40,260
And I'm not saying always.

345
00:21:40,260 --> 00:21:43,120
But collectively through these
illustrations and

346
00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:46,140
through a process of standards development
I'm

347
00:21:46,140 --> 00:21:49,430
gonna talk about in a moment, a sector
that' demonstrated itself to be,

348
00:21:52,590 --> 00:21:57,592
Less enthusiastic about doing the right
than, than we would like.

349
00:21:57,592 --> 00:22:02,890
[COUGH] And the frustrating part from our
perspective is, these are public sector

350
00:22:02,890 --> 00:22:09,630
agencies who are using public money to
resist, and a foot drag.

351
00:22:11,290 --> 00:22:12,090
It's not their money.

352
00:22:13,390 --> 00:22:15,380
It's not their companies.

353
00:22:15,380 --> 00:22:16,430
They work for us.

354
00:22:18,690 --> 00:22:22,680
So, with all this in mind along comes the

355
00:22:22,680 --> 00:22:26,210
Accessibility for Ontarians with
Disabilities Act passed in 05.

356
00:22:26,210 --> 00:22:28,100
How does it work?

357
00:22:28,100 --> 00:22:30,340
It requires the government of Ontario to
lead

358
00:22:30,340 --> 00:22:34,010
this province to become fully accessible
by 2025.

359
00:22:34,010 --> 00:22:36,090
That would include making sure all our

360
00:22:36,090 --> 00:22:39,800
public transit services are fully
accessible by 2025.

361
00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:40,300
How's the

362
00:22:42,820 --> 00:22:44,530
government to do that?

363
00:22:44,530 --> 00:22:50,810
It's required to develop, enact, and
enforce access ability standards.

364
00:22:50,810 --> 00:22:53,620
To tell organizations what they've got to
do.

365
00:22:53,620 --> 00:22:54,870
And when they gotta do it by.

366
00:22:54,870 --> 00:22:57,690
What barriers they gotta fix and when they
gotta fix em by.

367
00:22:59,550 --> 00:23:01,120
How does that work?

368
00:23:01,120 --> 00:23:04,140
The government appoints a standards
development committee,

369
00:23:06,940 --> 00:23:11,550
with representatives from the disability
community and the obligated organizations.

370
00:23:11,550 --> 00:23:15,580
In this case, it would be the transit
providers among others.

371
00:23:15,580 --> 00:23:17,000
To come up with proposals,

372
00:23:19,250 --> 00:23:23,700
for what a new standard would look like in
an area the government wants regulated.

373
00:23:23,700 --> 00:23:27,200
One of the first ones the government
wanted was transportation.

374
00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:27,940
Good job.

375
00:23:27,940 --> 00:23:28,440
We agree.

376
00:23:30,260 --> 00:23:33,750
In the year, in the two thousands-a.

377
00:23:33,750 --> 00:23:36,660
The Ontario Human Rights Commission
released a report documenting

378
00:23:36,660 --> 00:23:39,480
serious barriers in the Public Transit
sector, and calling

379
00:23:39,480 --> 00:23:42,880
on the government to do something
proactive to fix

380
00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:44,970
it, and here was a chance to do it.

381
00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:49,384
[SOUND] So, in 2006 the government
appointed a

382
00:23:49,384 --> 00:23:52,050
Transportation Standards Development
Committee

383
00:23:52,050 --> 00:23:55,230
with Disability sector representatives.

384
00:23:55,230 --> 00:23:59,850
And government and transit representatives
and others.

385
00:24:00,860 --> 00:24:03,350
And they sat down to start working on a
proposal.

386
00:24:03,350 --> 00:24:06,770
The way it works is they, they put their
thoughts together.

387
00:24:06,770 --> 00:24:08,740
They present an initial proposal.

388
00:24:08,740 --> 00:24:10,740
It goes to the public for comment.

389
00:24:10,740 --> 00:24:12,040
We comment.

390
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:13,590
They go back and read the comments.

391
00:24:13,590 --> 00:24:17,040
And then the standards development
committee makes a final proposal.

392
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:19,430
That sent to the public, we tell the
government what we

393
00:24:19,430 --> 00:24:22,170
think of it, and then the government
decides what to enact.

394
00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:27,210
The transportation standards development
committee worked between 06 and

395
00:24:27,210 --> 00:24:32,190
if memory serves, I think, around 09 maybe
08.

396
00:24:33,290 --> 00:24:36,760
It made an initial proposal in 07 and got
feedback.

397
00:24:38,040 --> 00:24:40,400
And then a final proposal in either 08 or
09.

398
00:24:40,400 --> 00:24:43,100
All of this is documented on our website,
and I can't take you through all the

399
00:24:43,100 --> 00:24:44,320
chapter and verse, but you can read the

400
00:24:44,320 --> 00:24:47,180
proposals and you can read our feedback on
them.

401
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:51,260
And then the government of Ontario took
all that feedback

402
00:24:51,260 --> 00:24:58,170
and finally passed a standard that, was
enacted on, early June.

403
00:24:58,170 --> 00:25:00,850
Of 2011, dealing with a wide range

404
00:25:00,850 --> 00:25:03,980
of different areas, one of which is
transportation.

405
00:25:05,030 --> 00:25:07,540
Let me tell you a little bit about what
happened at the standards development

406
00:25:07,540 --> 00:25:11,638
committee, and let me tell you what the
end result that we got is.

407
00:25:11,638 --> 00:25:15,300
[COUGH]

408
00:25:15,300 --> 00:25:18,350
These are detailed organiza, pardon me,
documents worth reading.

409
00:25:18,350 --> 00:25:19,780
I'm gonna hit on some.

410
00:25:19,780 --> 00:25:21,050
Some general themes.

411
00:25:22,270 --> 00:25:24,080
The first thing I'll tell you is that when

412
00:25:24,080 --> 00:25:26,280
the standards development, the
transportation

413
00:25:26,280 --> 00:25:28,040
standards development committee first met,

414
00:25:31,130 --> 00:25:34,060
people with disabilities did not have
equal number of seats at the table.

415
00:25:35,110 --> 00:25:37,592
The government had, set up several
different

416
00:25:37,592 --> 00:25:40,620
standards [UNKNOWN] committees, and the
disability sector.

417
00:25:40,620 --> 00:25:44,320
At the table was less than 50%.

418
00:25:44,320 --> 00:25:48,632
They were outnumbered, and in the in a
sense they were

419
00:25:48,632 --> 00:25:50,430
out gunned because they were either

420
00:25:50,430 --> 00:25:52,550
volunteers, or coming from volunteer
agencies.

421
00:25:52,550 --> 00:25:54,270
With no staff support in the room.

422
00:25:54,270 --> 00:25:59,170
And on the other side of the table, would
be the organized public transit sector.

423
00:25:59,170 --> 00:26:01,550
Who had access to lawyers and policy
people that you and

424
00:26:01,550 --> 00:26:05,920
I were paying for, through the fare box or
your tax returns.

425
00:26:07,930 --> 00:26:10,240
And they came in with a pretty solid
common

426
00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:13,940
front, and it was a common front that was

427
00:26:15,980 --> 00:26:18,549
tried to argue for.

428
00:26:20,340 --> 00:26:23,240
A very limited range of barriers to be
addressed in this standard.

429
00:26:24,290 --> 00:26:28,850
For standards, for anything that was gonna
be enacted would be very vague.

430
00:26:28,850 --> 00:26:31,940
So it would lead to transit authorities
sweeping decisions

431
00:26:31,940 --> 00:26:34,520
on what they would do or what they
wouldn't do.

432
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:40,390
From the beginning, it was clear they were
only gonna pro-, or,

433
00:26:40,390 --> 00:26:41,890
they were primarily, the committee was

434
00:26:41,890 --> 00:26:44,100
primarily only gonna focus on new
barriers.

435
00:26:46,090 --> 00:26:51,190
Preventing new ones from being created,
not un-rectifying the old ones.

436
00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:54,420
And.

437
00:26:55,460 --> 00:26:58,770
There were, a couple of stunning things
that happened early on.

438
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:04,470
Both, interestingly, relate to the subject
of my TTC litigation.

439
00:27:04,470 --> 00:27:10,480
It was still ongoing when some of these
events were taking place, but I got word

440
00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:17,650
that the committee was really having a
knock down drag out over whether.

441
00:27:17,650 --> 00:27:21,080
They would require all buses.

442
00:27:21,080 --> 00:27:22,510
Subway stops to be announced.

443
00:27:23,560 --> 00:27:29,740
TTC and their fellow transit authorities
were, were I guess holding off against it.

444
00:27:29,740 --> 00:27:31,860
The disability is pressing for it.

445
00:27:31,860 --> 00:27:34,375
So I in my personal capacity wrote the
committee.

446
00:27:36,400 --> 00:27:40,030
And asked the Transportation Standards
Development Committee, and asked, can I

447
00:27:40,030 --> 00:27:42,620
come and meet with you folks just to give
you my pitch?

448
00:27:42,620 --> 00:27:45,090
After all, I'm in the middle of this
lawsuit against TGC,

449
00:27:45,090 --> 00:27:48,780
and I've been dealing with issue, this
issue for a decade.

450
00:27:48,780 --> 00:27:49,610
They refused.

451
00:27:51,660 --> 00:27:54,140
I got a letter back saying, sorry no we
are busy

452
00:27:54,140 --> 00:27:56,649
and we're running out of time, or whatever
their excuse was.

453
00:27:58,020 --> 00:28:01,110
So they were Rather than this being an
open process.

454
00:28:02,970 --> 00:28:06,600
And remember, this is a time when the
disability sector was a minority.

455
00:28:07,620 --> 00:28:08,455
In the.

456
00:28:08,455 --> 00:28:12,320
The then, recommend in their initial
proposal

457
00:28:12,320 --> 00:28:14,950
that, yes, route stops should be called
out.

458
00:28:14,950 --> 00:28:17,410
But, the public transit authority should
have.

459
00:28:17,410 --> 00:28:20,000
How much time to start up this, this
service?

460
00:28:20,000 --> 00:28:21,870
[COUGH] 18 years.

461
00:28:23,980 --> 00:28:27,290
By the way, when I won the case against
the TTC in

462
00:28:27,290 --> 00:28:31,100
05, for subway it stops and in 07 for bus
stop, they were

463
00:28:31,100 --> 00:28:34,150
ordered to get it done promptly, and in
both cases, within a

464
00:28:34,150 --> 00:28:39,660
couple of months they got their drivers
and their crews making the announcements.

465
00:28:39,660 --> 00:28:41,140
As they were ordered to do.

466
00:28:41,140 --> 00:28:47,550
18 years, that's just a good illustration
of what we're up against.

467
00:28:47,550 --> 00:28:50,590
In 07, there was a Provincial election.

468
00:28:50,590 --> 00:28:55,520
We went to the political parties and
argued that that the

469
00:28:55,520 --> 00:28:59,670
whole process for developing these
standards needs to be beefed up.

470
00:28:59,670 --> 00:29:01,860
And one of the things we said need to be
done is, we needed

471
00:29:01,860 --> 00:29:04,010
to have equal seats at the table,

472
00:29:04,010 --> 00:29:06,790
for people with disabilities or our
representatives.

473
00:29:06,790 --> 00:29:07,560
The government agreed.

474
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:10,110
In fact, if memory served, all three
parties agreed.

475
00:29:10,110 --> 00:29:13,050
We're non-partisan, we ask all parties for
election commitments.

476
00:29:14,430 --> 00:29:16,400
Well, this is amazing.

477
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:20,690
The chair of the, of the Transportation
Standards Development committee, wrote.

478
00:29:20,690 --> 00:29:22,440
The Minister responsible.

479
00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:24,160
This letter's on our website.

480
00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:26,920
Urging the Minister to break that promise.

481
00:29:28,050 --> 00:29:32,230
Please don't have more people with
disabilities at our table.

482
00:29:32,230 --> 00:29:35,360
And as far as I know, it was the only

483
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:40,440
one of the number of standards developing
committees in operation then.

484
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:41,550
That took that position.

485
00:29:41,550 --> 00:29:45,230
Needless to say, just after winning the
election, the minister was not

486
00:29:45,230 --> 00:29:49,420
inclined to break a commitment the Premier
made in writing to us.

487
00:29:51,290 --> 00:29:52,580
And they went ahead.

488
00:29:52,580 --> 00:29:56,510
The effect was our voice was strengthened
and recommendations

489
00:29:56,510 --> 00:29:58,939
that came out at the end, while weak, were
strengthened.

490
00:30:00,450 --> 00:30:02,630
Gives you a bit of an illustration of what
we're up against.

491
00:30:04,530 --> 00:30:05,150
Well then, what.

492
00:30:06,210 --> 00:30:08,090
Let's jump past all this process stuff.

493
00:30:08,090 --> 00:30:08,630
What did we get?

494
00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:17,380
Well in the end we got a, in June, 2011.

495
00:30:17,380 --> 00:30:19,400
The Ontario Government, to their credit,
passed what

496
00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:25,090
they called the Integrated Accessibility
Standard Regulation, or IASR.

497
00:30:25,090 --> 00:30:27,990
That is one big line title.

498
00:30:27,990 --> 00:30:30,970
It covered, at the time, barriers in

499
00:30:30,970 --> 00:30:37,000
transportation, in employment, and in
information and communication.

500
00:30:38,410 --> 00:30:43,030
It's since been expanded to cover barriers
in

501
00:30:43,030 --> 00:30:46,658
public spaces like recreational trails and
such things.

502
00:30:46,658 --> 00:30:50,560
Before this, in '07, the government
already

503
00:30:50,560 --> 00:30:55,800
passed a more general customer service
accessibility regulation.

504
00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:58,690
Which by the way applies to public transit
providers as

505
00:30:58,690 --> 00:31:02,820
well as others who provide good and
services to the public.

506
00:31:04,390 --> 00:31:06,600
So what's in this standard?

507
00:31:06,600 --> 00:31:09,950
its, a lot of it technical, I encourage
you to download it and read it.

508
00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:13,479
But I'm gonna sort to synthesize it for
you.

509
00:31:15,790 --> 00:31:17,930
There are two parts of it that matter to
you.

510
00:31:17,930 --> 00:31:22,440
One part deals with all obligated
organizations, and

511
00:31:22,440 --> 00:31:27,480
one part that focuses specifically on
transportation [INAUDIBLE].

512
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:30,130
There's a series of obligations that apply
either to

513
00:31:30,130 --> 00:31:35,080
all organizations that provide goods or
services or facilities.

514
00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:36,910
Or at least the public sector ones, so
that it

515
00:31:36,910 --> 00:31:42,300
certainly will capture all public transit
authorities, that Ontario can regulate.

516
00:31:43,980 --> 00:31:49,680
This includes an obligation to have a an
accessibility policy, and

517
00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:55,550
then an accessibility multi-year plan, in
which they detail.

518
00:31:55,550 --> 00:31:56,900
Not only what they're gonna do to

519
00:31:56,900 --> 00:31:59,590
address the specific requirements of the
regulation.

520
00:32:02,120 --> 00:32:07,660
But also, what they're gonna do to address
barriers generally, in their service.

521
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,750
They've gotta make that plan public.

522
00:32:11,750 --> 00:32:14,300
And they've gotta make, make or at least,
on request.

523
00:32:14,300 --> 00:32:16,880
And they've also gotta make available.

524
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:21,000
An annual status report, on what they've
done so far.

525
00:32:24,190 --> 00:32:27,750
Now these plans aren't, the regulation
doesn't specify

526
00:32:27,750 --> 00:32:29,300
what exactly they've got to put in it.

527
00:32:29,300 --> 00:32:31,569
But it names some topics that have got to
be addressed.

528
00:32:32,780 --> 00:32:36,540
And the regulation spells out for

529
00:32:36,540 --> 00:32:39,360
transit authorities some additional
requirements that

530
00:32:39,360 --> 00:32:40,520
they've got to include that other

531
00:32:40,520 --> 00:32:43,540
organizations don't, specific to public
transit.

532
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:48,640
Now, let me just explain that all of this
is helpful.

533
00:32:49,880 --> 00:32:54,000
It's helpful cuz it forces them to go to
the table and actually think it through.

534
00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:55,650
And to write it down.

535
00:32:55,650 --> 00:32:59,860
And by status reports to actually account
for what they're doing.

536
00:33:01,060 --> 00:33:03,790
This is, however, not what a, a, a, the

537
00:33:03,790 --> 00:33:06,960
core of what an access standard was meant
to be.

538
00:33:06,960 --> 00:33:10,250
An access standard was meant to sit down
and tell you.

539
00:33:10,250 --> 00:33:11,898
You gotta remove this barrier.

540
00:33:11,898 --> 00:33:15,410
It may say: Here's how you gotta remove
it.

541
00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:18,030
But it also will say when you gotta remove
it.

542
00:33:18,030 --> 00:33:20,400
And it can set different timelines and
requirements for big

543
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:25,360
organizations versus small ones, but it's
supposed to provide specific actions.

544
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:29,030
These policies and plans leave a lot of
flexibility to the Transit

545
00:33:29,030 --> 00:33:31,705
Authority or others to figure out what
they're gonna put in them.

546
00:33:31,705 --> 00:33:39,270
[COUGH]
This is also not altogether new.

547
00:33:39,270 --> 00:33:42,370
In 2001, four years before the AODA

548
00:33:42,370 --> 00:33:45,470
was passed by the McGuinty Liberal
government, the

549
00:33:45,470 --> 00:33:49,020
prior conservative, Mike Harris'
government, had passed a

550
00:33:49,020 --> 00:33:52,570
weaker law called the Ontarians with
Disabilities Act.

551
00:33:52,570 --> 00:33:56,930
That law required all public sector
organizations like.

552
00:33:56,930 --> 00:33:58,200
Public transit authorities.

553
00:33:59,460 --> 00:34:03,090
To make public and annual plan, about
accessibility.

554
00:34:04,360 --> 00:34:06,950
It didn't require the plans to be any
good.

555
00:34:06,950 --> 00:34:10,810
It didn't require the organization to ever
act on those plans.

556
00:34:10,810 --> 00:34:15,060
And it didn't require them to ever account
for what they've done.

557
00:34:16,650 --> 00:34:18,060
In a comprehensive way.

558
00:34:19,340 --> 00:34:22,360
You could, under that act you could write
a plan that was one sentence long.

559
00:34:23,460 --> 00:34:27,910
I'm gonna put a one inch ramp in front of
one little curb and that's it.

560
00:34:27,910 --> 00:34:29,270
And you'd meet the law.

561
00:34:29,270 --> 00:34:31,630
And, by the way, you don't actually have
to do that.

562
00:34:31,630 --> 00:34:34,360
Fix the ramp or the curb that you referred
to.

563
00:34:34,360 --> 00:34:36,150
You just have to release a piece of paper
saying.

564
00:34:37,270 --> 00:34:38,250
You're saying you're going to.

565
00:34:38,250 --> 00:34:41,540
And we couldn't enforce it.

566
00:34:41,540 --> 00:34:47,090
So the, the requirements in the AODA
standard are stronger,

567
00:34:47,090 --> 00:34:50,770
and they talk about both making and
implementing these plans.

568
00:34:50,770 --> 00:34:54,310
And providing standards pardon me,
providing

569
00:34:54,310 --> 00:34:56,330
status reports on how they're doing.

570
00:34:56,330 --> 00:34:59,010
So there's a potential for it to go

571
00:34:59,010 --> 00:35:03,820
further, considerably further than the
weak Paris government requirements.

572
00:35:03,820 --> 00:35:09,810
Even though plans, are different from
standards.

573
00:35:09,810 --> 00:35:11,180
A standard tells you what you gotta do.

574
00:35:11,180 --> 00:35:14,460
A plan lets you go back and think about
what you wanna do, do.

575
00:35:14,460 --> 00:35:15,660
Set it out.

576
00:35:15,660 --> 00:35:19,140
And then decide how much, how far you're
gonna go.

577
00:35:21,670 --> 00:35:25,180
and, one of the difficulties with just a
straight planning requirement,

578
00:35:25,180 --> 00:35:27,790
is each organization in a sense has to
reinvent the wheel.

579
00:35:27,790 --> 00:35:31,240
A standard invents the wheel for everyone.

580
00:35:32,570 --> 00:35:37,050
However, some of these limitations are
offset by the fact that the.

581
00:35:37,050 --> 00:35:39,400
The rest of the standard goes into some

582
00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:43,170
detail of what transit authorities are
supposed to do.

583
00:35:43,170 --> 00:35:44,470
Public transit authorities.

584
00:35:44,470 --> 00:35:49,390
I'm gonna talk you but public transit
authorities like TTC, I'll talk to you

585
00:35:49,390 --> 00:35:55,510
about requirements for a couple of sort of
offbeat things,

586
00:35:55,510 --> 00:36:00,370
like school boards and ferry services and
trains, railways, inter-city trains.

587
00:36:00,370 --> 00:36:01,720
And then I wanna talk to you about

588
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:06,190
requirements on municipalities in relation
to taxis and

589
00:36:06,190 --> 00:36:09,950
bus stops cuz those are the basic areas

590
00:36:09,950 --> 00:36:12,870
that are covered in the specific transit
context.

591
00:36:12,870 --> 00:36:14,550
Now where the standard turns to

592
00:36:14,550 --> 00:36:16,529
the requirements on public transit
authorities.

593
00:36:18,660 --> 00:36:20,770
It talks about two kinds of services.

594
00:36:20,770 --> 00:36:25,550
Conventional services, meaning the transit
services that folks are used to seeing.

595
00:36:25,550 --> 00:36:29,800
The bus on the street or the subway under
the ground that, that folks use.

596
00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:31,260
And then it talks about what

597
00:36:31,260 --> 00:36:34,250
we conventionally call para-transit, in
Toronto

598
00:36:34,250 --> 00:36:37,500
called wheel trans, for people who can't
use the main stream system.

599
00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:39,060
It's an accessible vehicle.

600
00:36:39,060 --> 00:36:39,640
You call up.

601
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:40,580
You have to book a ride.

602
00:36:40,580 --> 00:36:41,950
And it's a door to door service.

603
00:36:43,970 --> 00:36:47,790
But unlike the conventional service, it's
not available the moment you.

604
00:36:47,790 --> 00:36:50,870
If you want a bus, on Englington, you walk
out of Englington.

605
00:36:50,870 --> 00:36:51,990
You wait for the next bus.

606
00:36:51,990 --> 00:36:53,800
Maybe it's ten minutes, maybe it's 15.

607
00:36:53,800 --> 00:36:55,750
With para transit, you gotta call, book a

608
00:36:55,750 --> 00:36:57,860
ride, wait online, see if you can get
through.

609
00:36:58,890 --> 00:37:02,110
And who knows whether they've got a ride,
ride available when you want it.

610
00:37:02,110 --> 00:37:06,210
And then when you're waiting for it, they
may not show up on time and so on.

611
00:37:06,210 --> 00:37:09,600
It's, it's not a comparable level of
service at all.

612
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,620
The regulation doesn't use the word
para-transit, but

613
00:37:14,620 --> 00:37:16,420
I'm going to cuz it's what we know.

614
00:37:18,110 --> 00:37:22,120
The standard sets out a series, the first
thing I've got to

615
00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:25,830
just tell you just as happened in the
whole standard development process.

616
00:37:25,830 --> 00:37:30,440
The standard predominantly if not almost
totally, only deals

617
00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:34,610
with creating new or preventing the
creation of new barriers.

618
00:37:35,910 --> 00:37:38,360
So then a public transit authority could
have.

619
00:37:39,370 --> 00:37:43,050
Lots of old barriers, in vehicles that
they keep using

620
00:37:43,050 --> 00:37:47,050
for the next 20 years until they can't
drive them anymore.

621
00:37:47,050 --> 00:37:49,510
And there could be aspects of them that
could be

622
00:37:49,510 --> 00:37:54,210
fixed, without undue hardship to the par,
to the Transit Authority.

623
00:37:56,180 --> 00:37:58,400
Something the Human Rights Code would
require.

624
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,740
And the standard state side doesn't
require them to do that.

625
00:38:01,740 --> 00:38:06,120
In fact at one point it says that it isn't
requiring them to retrofit.

626
00:38:06,120 --> 00:38:11,510
The only time it requires retrofits is in
very limited areas

627
00:38:11,510 --> 00:38:17,520
of getting a vehicle and modifying it in
some circumstances.

628
00:38:17,520 --> 00:38:19,320
they, they might be required to also

629
00:38:19,320 --> 00:38:21,420
provide accessibility in the area they're
modifying.

630
00:38:21,420 --> 00:38:24,020
It's, it's a very limited, narrow,

631
00:38:24,020 --> 00:38:27,420
very constrained and completely inadequate
requirement.

632
00:38:27,420 --> 00:38:32,300
So there's a huge lot of barriers, that
the standard doesn't touch.

633
00:38:32,300 --> 00:38:35,270
The standard also does not touch, one

634
00:38:35,270 --> 00:38:37,849
huge important area which are public
transit stations.

635
00:38:40,270 --> 00:38:43,610
Stations where thousands of people go
through every day.

636
00:38:45,150 --> 00:38:47,110
It doesn't address them at all.

637
00:38:47,110 --> 00:38:50,660
Whether it's an old station or you're
building a new station.

638
00:38:51,950 --> 00:38:54,730
They're leaving to the building code to
fix that.

639
00:38:54,730 --> 00:38:57,390
The building code, which was just recently
upgraded on

640
00:38:57,390 --> 00:39:01,800
accessibility but is chronically out of
date on accessibility.

641
00:39:01,800 --> 00:39:06,400
Does not require any changes, in an old
building that you aren't renovating.

642
00:39:06,400 --> 00:39:11,180
So as long as you keep your old subway
station, or your old bus station, or

643
00:39:11,180 --> 00:39:13,910
your old union station and don't do
anything

644
00:39:13,910 --> 00:39:18,800
to renovate it, you can leave barriers
there forever.

645
00:39:18,800 --> 00:39:23,290
And, of course, how do you get on public
transit without being able to, or get off.

646
00:39:23,290 --> 00:39:25,710
Without having full access to the
stations.

647
00:39:27,350 --> 00:39:29,340
Now there are requirements we're getting
[INAUDIBLE] talk

648
00:39:29,340 --> 00:39:31,080
in a sec, in a couple of seconds.

649
00:39:32,390 --> 00:39:36,460
There are a series of requirements,
technical requirements

650
00:39:36,460 --> 00:39:42,280
in this standard for new, newly acquired
transit vehicles.

651
00:39:42,280 --> 00:39:43,680
And some of them are quite helpful, and,

652
00:39:43,680 --> 00:39:45,930
and some are, I mean, they're quite
detailed.

653
00:39:45,930 --> 00:39:49,690
In some cases, they're nowhere as detailed
as we'd like them to be.

654
00:39:49,690 --> 00:39:51,190
For example, in the area of lighting and

655
00:39:51,190 --> 00:39:55,690
signage, we asked for considerably more
specificity and detail.

656
00:39:57,050 --> 00:39:59,230
And the pushback we gathered from the
transit sector

657
00:39:59,230 --> 00:40:01,720
is no, no, no, leave it to us to decide.

658
00:40:01,720 --> 00:40:05,530
And there's a lot of leave at us to decide
in the standard.

659
00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:12,770
What is stunning, is that the, the
standard basically

660
00:40:12,770 --> 00:40:18,280
said that if you got, if you sign the
contract for a vehicle before

661
00:40:18,280 --> 00:40:22,330
July 1, 2011, its accessibility
requirements don't apply.

662
00:40:23,410 --> 00:40:27,930
The Standard was enacted in June of 2011
to go into effect in July in 2011.

663
00:40:27,930 --> 00:40:30,750
But here is the thing.

664
00:40:30,750 --> 00:40:35,020
The transit authority was, the transit
sector was

665
00:40:35,020 --> 00:40:39,740
at the table, negotiating these from 06
onward.

666
00:40:39,740 --> 00:40:41,840
They knew what was coming.

667
00:40:41,840 --> 00:40:46,680
Why on earth would, should they have gone
out anywhere between 06 and 2011,

668
00:40:46,680 --> 00:40:52,370
and signed a contract, with our money

669
00:40:52,370 --> 00:40:56,940
for public transit vehicles that fall
anywhere short of full accessibility.

670
00:40:58,110 --> 00:41:01,320
Especially standards that they were making
sure.

671
00:41:01,320 --> 00:41:05,488
In a number of cases, gave them a ton of
flexibility on, on, on the details.

672
00:41:05,488 --> 00:41:10,700
Moreover, even as,

673
00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:16,040
it, it's not like it was something on, on,
on June 3rd or whatever it was, 2011.

674
00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,960
They all of a sudden found out about these
new details.

675
00:41:19,960 --> 00:41:23,070
The government had released a summary of
what they were proposing to put

676
00:41:23,070 --> 00:41:28,290
in the integrated standard back at the end
of the summer before in 2010.

677
00:41:28,290 --> 00:41:32,250
And they released a draft of this
regulation at the start of February 2011.

678
00:41:32,250 --> 00:41:37,570
So as late, early, earlier, or as late as
February 2011, they could know.

679
00:41:37,570 --> 00:41:39,390
But these, they've got another grace
period of

680
00:41:39,390 --> 00:41:41,670
five months to run out and sign contracts.

681
00:41:41,670 --> 00:41:44,260
I don't know if they did, but clearly
there must have

682
00:41:44,260 --> 00:41:46,700
been pressure on the government to give
them the freedom to.

683
00:41:48,790 --> 00:41:49,790
We said, this is crazy.

684
00:41:49,790 --> 00:41:52,050
This totally, remember before I told you
about the

685
00:41:52,050 --> 00:41:53,620
Via Rail case, I said I'd get back to it?

686
00:41:53,620 --> 00:41:54,460
We're right back to it.

687
00:41:55,710 --> 00:41:58,349
This was essentially giving them Carte
Blanche.

688
00:42:00,790 --> 00:42:02,850
To do what Via Rail in the supreme court,
the via

689
00:42:02,850 --> 00:42:04,950
rail case in the supreme court of Canada,
said they couldn't do.

690
00:42:04,950 --> 00:42:11,730
Now, here's why this was especially
stupid, to use a technical legal term.

691
00:42:11,730 --> 00:42:17,350
When we were negotiating the AODA with the
Ontario government.

692
00:42:17,350 --> 00:42:20,650
We wanted to make sure that if the
standards were weaker than our

693
00:42:20,650 --> 00:42:23,030
rights under the Human Rights Code, the

694
00:42:23,030 --> 00:42:25,790
standard couldn't trump the Human Rights
Code.

695
00:42:27,890 --> 00:42:30,050
So, and we, we succeeded in that.

696
00:42:30,050 --> 00:42:33,340
Both the AODA and the standards enacted
under it recite, that

697
00:42:33,340 --> 00:42:37,630
where there's two different laws, the one
that requires more accessibility prevails.

698
00:42:39,220 --> 00:42:42,970
So where did this standard purports to
give them Carte Blanche to sign contracts

699
00:42:42,970 --> 00:42:48,160
right up to the eve of July 1st, 2011 to
buy an inaccessible vehicle?

700
00:42:52,290 --> 00:42:53,520
It's giving them nothing.

701
00:42:53,520 --> 00:42:57,930
Because it still violates, in our view the
human rights code requirements.

702
00:42:57,930 --> 00:43:01,380
As expounded on in the comparable
provisions of the Canadian Transportation

703
00:43:01,380 --> 00:43:08,369
Agency, by the Supreme Court of Canada, in
the [UNKNOWN] case.

704
00:43:08,369 --> 00:43:09,810
So, what's going on here?

705
00:43:09,810 --> 00:43:14,420
Was the public transportation sector
pressuring for a standard that gave

706
00:43:14,420 --> 00:43:17,100
them carte blanche that doesn't really
give them carte blanche at all?

707
00:43:18,280 --> 00:43:21,080
What possible use would that serve?

708
00:43:21,080 --> 00:43:25,510
Other than to, for someone who hasn't got
access transit authority, just reads

709
00:43:25,510 --> 00:43:29,310
the standard and thinks that's all they
gotta do, and goes and does this.

710
00:43:29,310 --> 00:43:31,130
Which would be pretty foolish.

711
00:43:31,130 --> 00:43:32,430
Especially with public money.

712
00:43:34,260 --> 00:43:35,830
I just didn't get it.

713
00:43:35,830 --> 00:43:36,590
We didn't get it.

714
00:43:36,590 --> 00:43:38,130
We didn't understand why they were asking
for it,

715
00:43:38,130 --> 00:43:40,560
and we didn't understand why the
government did it.

716
00:43:40,560 --> 00:43:42,660
But we pressed against it, and we didn't
succeed.

717
00:43:46,210 --> 00:43:47,310
What else is in the standard?

718
00:43:47,310 --> 00:43:50,940
There's a number of requirements about
maintaining accessibility equipment.

719
00:43:52,090 --> 00:43:54,160
Anybody with a wheelchair goes on the TTC

720
00:43:54,160 --> 00:43:57,350
knows that the elevators Can't really
count on them.

721
00:43:57,350 --> 00:44:00,900
Anybody needs the escalators to go up the
stairs in

722
00:44:00,900 --> 00:44:06,190
a subway station knows sometimes they work
and sometimes they don't.

723
00:44:06,190 --> 00:44:10,240
If you're a walking person who can walk up
the stairs anyway, it's an inconvenience.

724
00:44:10,240 --> 00:44:14,350
If you're a person with chronic fatiguing
problems or stamina problems.

725
00:44:14,350 --> 00:44:15,770
It means the, can mean the difference
between

726
00:44:15,770 --> 00:44:17,410
getting, getting to where you wanna go and
not.

727
00:44:20,080 --> 00:44:22,300
There are requirements to make this
information

728
00:44:22,300 --> 00:44:26,180
public, about the status of their
accessibility equipment.

729
00:44:26,180 --> 00:44:28,320
There are a series of added training
requirements.

730
00:44:28,320 --> 00:44:31,190
The general requirements under the
regulation requires

731
00:44:31,190 --> 00:44:34,530
all obligated organizations to train their
staff on.

732
00:44:34,530 --> 00:44:38,640
On the requirements of the accessibility
regulation and the human rights code.

733
00:44:39,700 --> 00:44:41,640
In other words, they can't just know about
the,

734
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,890
the standard, which may be lower in its
demands.

735
00:44:43,890 --> 00:44:45,880
They also have to learn to be trained on
the human rights

736
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:50,520
code, which in the number of cases is more
exacting in our favor.

737
00:44:52,610 --> 00:44:55,790
But there are also added training
requirements for transit

738
00:44:55,790 --> 00:44:59,070
authorities, training on using access
equipment, and so on.

739
00:45:06,290 --> 00:45:10,850
In a number of the areas, if you pick up
the standard and read it,

740
00:45:10,850 --> 00:45:13,620
it's quite interesting, because as you're
reading it,

741
00:45:13,620 --> 00:45:16,530
you will probably, or should, shake your
head.

742
00:45:16,530 --> 00:45:21,020
And say, you had to pass a standard to get
them to do this?

743
00:45:21,020 --> 00:45:23,320
This is just like good service.

744
00:45:23,320 --> 00:45:29,470
Like in the description of the material, I
believe it is for steps

745
00:45:29,470 --> 00:45:36,260
on a bus, it requires use of slip
resistant materials.

746
00:45:36,260 --> 00:45:37,420
Now.

747
00:45:37,420 --> 00:45:40,550
I, I'm not saying the public transit
sector was running

748
00:45:40,550 --> 00:45:44,740
around looking for buses with sheet ice on
their steps.

749
00:45:44,740 --> 00:45:48,710
But to me, when I read that I, it's like,
I mean it's great it's there but

750
00:45:51,260 --> 00:45:54,929
a lot of this is just plain basic good
customer service.

751
00:45:55,940 --> 00:46:00,620
And all of it is, are, are things that
would help everybody.

752
00:46:02,700 --> 00:46:07,450
I could give you an illustration where the
transit authorities must have been

753
00:46:07,450 --> 00:46:13,220
pushing to ensure that they had as much
discretion as possible.

754
00:46:13,220 --> 00:46:15,330
There are times when a driver is driving a

755
00:46:15,330 --> 00:46:18,020
bus and a person with a disability's on
it.

756
00:46:18,020 --> 00:46:19,610
But there's a barrier at the bus stop.

757
00:46:21,250 --> 00:46:25,090
And so the dri, the passenger can't get
off where they wanna go.

758
00:46:25,090 --> 00:46:28,390
And normally the driver only lets you off,
at a stop.

759
00:46:28,390 --> 00:46:28,890
Not anywhere.

760
00:46:29,960 --> 00:46:32,650
And it requires the driver to instead let
you off at,

761
00:46:32,650 --> 00:46:35,500
at a at an appropriate spot that's safe to
get off.

762
00:46:35,500 --> 00:46:36,090
That's fine.

763
00:46:37,740 --> 00:46:42,380
But it leaves it, it, it's worded so the
bus driver totally has the final say.

764
00:46:44,310 --> 00:46:45,990
It does require them to consult with the

765
00:46:45,990 --> 00:46:50,270
passengers preference and take it into
account, that's nice.

766
00:46:51,720 --> 00:46:55,489
But still they were bending over backwards
trying to make sure that the driver.

767
00:46:57,200 --> 00:47:04,211
Has carte blanche, on this one, with the
ultimate, decision.

768
00:47:04,211 --> 00:47:07,860
the, [COUGH] the standard requires
properly

769
00:47:07,860 --> 00:47:12,190
signed courtesy seating for people with
disabilities.

770
00:47:13,500 --> 00:47:15,680
These are good, these are good things to
have.

771
00:47:15,680 --> 00:47:17,710
They're all good customer service.

772
00:47:17,710 --> 00:47:23,040
The fact that we would need to regulate
any of this, tells you how much of a how

773
00:47:23,040 --> 00:47:29,430
much of a, a challenge, excuse me,
achieving accessibility has, has made.

774
00:47:29,430 --> 00:47:31,190
Let me be briefly turn to Paratransit.

775
00:47:31,190 --> 00:47:33,220
This is a huge issue.

776
00:47:33,220 --> 00:47:34,550
This is a huge issue

777
00:47:37,330 --> 00:47:41,060
paratransit, the paratransit services in a
city like Toronto,

778
00:47:41,060 --> 00:47:43,860
and from what I understand elsewhere, are
nowhere near comparable.

779
00:47:44,860 --> 00:47:46,860
If you have to rely on them, it is

780
00:47:46,860 --> 00:47:50,090
nowhere near comparable to the service you
get on mainstream.

781
00:47:51,200 --> 00:47:56,510
Stories are often heard of having to phone
and dial and wait and dial to get through.

782
00:47:56,510 --> 00:48:02,750
Of waiting for a bus when the standard
came along, it set consistent criteria

783
00:48:02,750 --> 00:48:08,540
across the province for qualifications,
required a prompt application service.

784
00:48:08,540 --> 00:48:11,510
System for determining whether you're
eligible, and

785
00:48:11,510 --> 00:48:13,760
provides an independent appeal if you're
refused.

786
00:48:13,760 --> 00:48:15,390
These are all good.

787
00:48:15,390 --> 00:48:17,710
And for the first time, it requires

788
00:48:17,710 --> 00:48:21,160
transit authorities to recognize and
provide service

789
00:48:21,160 --> 00:48:24,190
to visitors to their community who qualify

790
00:48:24,190 --> 00:48:27,440
for para-transit in another community in
Ontario.

791
00:48:27,440 --> 00:48:28,570
That's good.

792
00:48:28,570 --> 00:48:30,800
But it then leads to the transit authority

793
00:48:30,800 --> 00:48:33,289
huge discretion over who to decide is a
visitor.

794
00:48:34,570 --> 00:48:37,760
Well, to my mind, if you're there for one
day, you're a visitor.

795
00:48:38,770 --> 00:48:41,130
If you got qualifications, that should be
it.

796
00:48:42,350 --> 00:48:43,980
It shouldn't be open to them to say,
sorry, you've

797
00:48:43,980 --> 00:48:46,550
gotta be visiting, you know, for a month,
or whatever.

798
00:48:46,550 --> 00:48:52,420
I mean, it, it's an example of where they
went too far that way.

799
00:48:53,750 --> 00:48:57,960
The toughest issue, was what kind of
guarantee of service.

800
00:48:59,900 --> 00:49:04,160
And what our community wanted was at least
a guarantee of same day service.

801
00:49:04,160 --> 00:49:06,840
You call up, or next day service.

802
00:49:06,840 --> 00:49:11,970
You call up on Monday, you ask for a ride
on Tuesday, you get a ride on Tuesday.

803
00:49:11,970 --> 00:49:15,880
And if you want to say we gotta call by 3
O'clock or whatever that's fine.

804
00:49:15,880 --> 00:49:18,410
The transit authority wouldn't agree.

805
00:49:18,410 --> 00:49:20,090
What they got, what we got instead was a

806
00:49:20,090 --> 00:49:26,030
guarantee, of same day service next day
service where available.

807
00:49:26,030 --> 00:49:30,130
Where available means nothing, means
they'll give it to

808
00:49:30,130 --> 00:49:33,430
you if they can and if they don't, they
don't.

809
00:49:34,550 --> 00:49:35,640
And you have no recourse.

810
00:49:38,310 --> 00:49:42,560
So it's, it's, it's, it's significantly
inadequate.

811
00:49:42,560 --> 00:49:44,550
The standard does require these transit

812
00:49:44,550 --> 00:49:47,120
authorities, running para-transit
services, to put in

813
00:49:47,120 --> 00:49:52,030
their access plan, strategies to reduce
wait times and so on, and that's.

814
00:49:52,030 --> 00:49:53,470
That's helpful.

815
00:49:53,470 --> 00:49:56,130
It requires giving notification of service
delays.

816
00:49:56,130 --> 00:49:58,300
But that's gotta be if it's gonna be over
30 minutes.

817
00:49:58,300 --> 00:50:01,606
So, if they're gonna be 29 minutes, past

818
00:50:01,606 --> 00:50:04,825
the time when they pas the 30 minute
window

819
00:50:04,825 --> 00:50:07,609
when they told you to be available to be

820
00:50:07,609 --> 00:50:11,015
picked up, they don't have to let you
know.

821
00:50:11,015 --> 00:50:13,462
They don't have to let you know.

822
00:50:13,462 --> 00:50:14,800
quickly.

823
00:50:14,800 --> 00:50:15,500
There are five minutes.

824
00:50:15,500 --> 00:50:20,410
Okay, quickly, for inner city trains
you're entitled to

825
00:50:22,450 --> 00:50:24,750
you're entitled to one accessible vehicle,
one

826
00:50:24,750 --> 00:50:27,760
accessible car per train, one accessible
washroom.

827
00:50:27,760 --> 00:50:29,600
That's pretty inadequate.

828
00:50:29,600 --> 00:50:34,050
For there's some requirements for ferries
and for school boards and so on.

829
00:50:35,970 --> 00:50:42,510
But in the end, while helpful, this
standard, if fully honored and fully

830
00:50:42,510 --> 00:50:45,820
implemented, will not achieve a fully
accessible

831
00:50:45,820 --> 00:50:49,690
public transit system in 2025, or ever.

832
00:50:52,070 --> 00:50:55,640
So, while it's a step forward, and a lot
of hurdles had to be overcome.

833
00:50:57,180 --> 00:50:59,990
It is not anywhere near enough.

834
00:50:59,990 --> 00:51:04,300
Let me conclude with just a few up to the
minute things.

835
00:51:04,300 --> 00:51:07,070
Number one we are, we have been, and we

836
00:51:07,070 --> 00:51:12,960
remain, I believe significantly behind the
United States in accessibility.

837
00:51:12,960 --> 00:51:14,290
Generally.

838
00:51:14,290 --> 00:51:16,760
And as highlight example.

839
00:51:16,760 --> 00:51:18,760
in accessible public transit.

840
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:23,490
Not to say the U.S. has got it all right,
but they're considerably ahead of us.

841
00:51:25,070 --> 00:51:28,060
Number two, even though the new
accessibility

842
00:51:28,060 --> 00:51:33,730
standard requires organizations like
public transit authorities.

843
00:51:33,730 --> 00:51:40,920
To take into account accessibility when
setting up self-service electronic kiosks

844
00:51:40,920 --> 00:51:46,720
and procuring goods or serv, systems to be
used by the public generally.

845
00:51:46,720 --> 00:51:48,340
They've gotta take into account
accessibility.

846
00:51:49,400 --> 00:51:53,860
You may know that the government of
Ontario sponsored.

847
00:51:53,860 --> 00:51:58,130
And is actively pressing municipalities to
adopt the Presto smart card.

848
00:51:58,130 --> 00:52:00,140
As a single card that you could use.

849
00:52:00,140 --> 00:52:04,580
To pay fares on various public transit
systems.

850
00:52:04,580 --> 00:52:08,650
This Presto smart card was unveiled a few
years ago.

851
00:52:08,650 --> 00:52:10,670
You could look at our website.

852
00:52:10,670 --> 00:52:13,900
We hit the roof because, for us, it is not

853
00:52:13,900 --> 00:52:16,930
a PRESTO smart card, it is a PRESTO dumb
card.

854
00:52:18,520 --> 00:52:20,370
It is full of barriers.

855
00:52:20,370 --> 00:52:22,720
For example, if you go to a transit
station,

856
00:52:22,720 --> 00:52:24,040
you've got your card in your hand, you
wanna

857
00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:26,560
find out what your balances, before you
decide about

858
00:52:26,560 --> 00:52:28,890
getting on the train or the bus or
whatever.

859
00:52:28,890 --> 00:52:30,320
You pop it in and at the time it

860
00:52:30,320 --> 00:52:32,360
was designed, it was gonna come up on a
screen.

861
00:52:34,030 --> 00:52:35,530
Blind people are just like sick people.

862
00:52:35,530 --> 00:52:37,060
Can't read the screen.

863
00:52:37,060 --> 00:52:40,410
There is available access technology to
have it also talk.

864
00:52:40,410 --> 00:52:42,110
You could have an earphone jack, like bank

865
00:52:42,110 --> 00:52:44,840
machines have it, a number of banks, where
you

866
00:52:44,840 --> 00:52:46,470
pop an earphone in and it speaks you

867
00:52:46,470 --> 00:52:48,390
through what's on the screen, so you have
privacy.

868
00:52:49,830 --> 00:52:52,980
When we presented this to the public.

869
00:52:52,980 --> 00:52:57,520
And by the way the the, the answer that
the government initially said is.

870
00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:01,130
A, we have a commitment to make it
accessible.

871
00:53:01,130 --> 00:53:03,190
Well that's great but you're not doing it.

872
00:53:03,190 --> 00:53:07,450
And B, they said we've consulted with
people with disabilities on the design.

873
00:53:07,450 --> 00:53:09,940
Well, the day after that hit the, the
public

874
00:53:09,940 --> 00:53:12,489
arena, one of the people they consulted
who is blind.

875
00:53:13,640 --> 00:53:17,750
Called me and sent me documentation to
show, that they had

876
00:53:17,750 --> 00:53:23,720
been alerted months before that they had
barriers in the system.

877
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:26,380
So they committed to accessibility,
consulted, and ignored

878
00:53:28,640 --> 00:53:29,050
it.

879
00:53:29,050 --> 00:53:33,380
And as a result, we get complaint feedback
from people with disabilities.

880
00:53:33,380 --> 00:53:36,600
Facing new barriers created with your
money in

881
00:53:36,600 --> 00:53:38,970
the public transit system with the Presto
smart card.

882
00:53:40,020 --> 00:53:41,600
Totally avoidable by the way.

883
00:53:41,600 --> 00:53:44,240
It wasn't that they you know, you might
think, oh, did they just go

884
00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:47,430
out and buy an off-the-shelf system, and
no, it didn't provide for these needs?

885
00:53:47,430 --> 00:53:49,790
And the answer is, no.

886
00:53:49,790 --> 00:53:51,889
They had it custom-designed with these
barriers.

887
00:53:53,510 --> 00:53:56,370
Now we raised this a couple years ago and
they said oh we're gonna work

888
00:53:56,370 --> 00:53:59,850
on fixing it and we look forward to

889
00:53:59,850 --> 00:54:03,850
seeing the unveiling of a fully accessible
solution.

890
00:54:03,850 --> 00:54:08,420
But I will tell you that I at the same
time some years ago, I think it

891
00:54:08,420 --> 00:54:10,760
was 2010, I was on the Chicago subway

892
00:54:10,760 --> 00:54:13,330
and I, a friend of mine who's blind
demonstrated.

893
00:54:13,330 --> 00:54:15,376
That, the, the smart card system that

894
00:54:15,376 --> 00:54:18,690
have, it's been talking and accessible for
years.

895
00:54:18,690 --> 00:54:19,760
So, this can be done.

896
00:54:21,020 --> 00:54:27,290
Let me conclude by telling you that this
is a huge and ongoing issue.

897
00:54:27,290 --> 00:54:30,470
That there is a pressing need to fix this
system.

898
00:54:31,790 --> 00:54:33,700
It goes without saying.

899
00:54:33,700 --> 00:54:35,080
That there's a pressing need to

900
00:54:35,080 --> 00:54:39,770
effectively enforce these standards goes
without saying.

901
00:54:39,770 --> 00:54:44,170
It is hugely troubling as I will address
in another lecture in this series.

902
00:54:44,170 --> 00:54:46,310
That the government though it promised
effective

903
00:54:46,310 --> 00:54:49,190
enforcement of this law, in all it's
areas.

904
00:54:49,190 --> 00:54:51,950
Not just transportation but across the
border.

905
00:54:51,950 --> 00:54:53,030
[SOUND] And even though it gave

906
00:54:53,030 --> 00:54:55,960
itself enforcement power under the
Disabilitys' Act.

907
00:54:55,960 --> 00:54:58,390
Last fall was revealed by us not to be

908
00:54:58,390 --> 00:55:01,520
doing really anything, use those
enforcement powers at all.

909
00:55:03,400 --> 00:55:07,390
And in a terms of the customer service
standard, not the transit one.

910
00:55:07,390 --> 00:55:09,610
I'm gonna update on that.

911
00:55:09,610 --> 00:55:11,270
But in terms of the customer service went,
as

912
00:55:11,270 --> 00:55:15,279
of last fall, fully 70% of private sector
employers.

913
00:55:17,030 --> 00:55:20,920
With over, with 20 or more employees,
we're in demonstrated

914
00:55:20,920 --> 00:55:22,620
violation of the Customer Service

915
00:55:22,620 --> 00:55:25,150
Accessibility Standard Public Reporting
requirement.

916
00:55:25,150 --> 00:55:29,170
And the government knew it and hadn't
taken any

917
00:55:29,170 --> 00:55:32,700
enforcement proceedings against any of
them as of last fall.

918
00:55:32,700 --> 00:55:35,490
So, we got some uphill battles to fight.

919
00:55:35,490 --> 00:55:36,950
Am I pessimistic?

920
00:55:36,950 --> 00:55:38,190
I'm an eternal optimist.

921
00:55:39,570 --> 00:55:41,190
I'm totally an eternal optimist.

922
00:55:41,190 --> 00:55:42,640
We'll get there.

923
00:55:42,640 --> 00:55:47,620
But transportation will be a good
illustration of the potential for gains,

924
00:55:47,620 --> 00:55:50,120
but the kinds of battles we have to fight
to get there.

925
00:55:50,120 --> 00:55:51,035
Thank you very much.

926
00:55:51,035 --> 00:55:56,754
[SOUND] Okay, so I gave the lecture for an
hour, and I

927
00:55:56,754 --> 00:56:03,560
promised I would cover one thing, but I
didn't get to it.

928
00:56:03,560 --> 00:56:08,490
So now, after the fact, I can tag on a
little P.S., or post script, to

929
00:56:08,490 --> 00:56:10,650
cover what I shoulda covered, but time
didn't

930
00:56:10,650 --> 00:56:13,740
let me cover, and that I promised I'd
cover.

931
00:56:13,740 --> 00:56:16,839
I said I would talk about, some of the
requirements.

932
00:56:17,890 --> 00:56:23,900
That were imposed in the area of public
transportation on municipalities.

933
00:56:23,900 --> 00:56:28,420
By the Integrated Accessibility Standards
Regulation that was passed in, in 2014.

934
00:56:28,420 --> 00:56:34,130
These deal with two areas accessible bus
stops and accessible taxis.

935
00:56:34,130 --> 00:56:35,520
They're both really important.

936
00:56:35,520 --> 00:56:37,740
If bus stops aren't accessible.

937
00:56:37,740 --> 00:56:40,540
Then what's the point riding a bus and
getting on it if,

938
00:56:40,540 --> 00:56:43,410
if, if you can't get off alo, it stops
along the way.

939
00:56:43,410 --> 00:56:46,360
You could only get off at the station at
one end or the other end of the route.

940
00:56:47,560 --> 00:56:52,570
So, to that end the integrated
accessibility

941
00:56:52,570 --> 00:56:57,840
standard regulation requires
municipalities to each consult.

942
00:56:57,840 --> 00:56:59,650
With their accessibility adviser
committee.

943
00:56:59,650 --> 00:57:02,460
If they've got 10000 or more people in
their community they have to

944
00:57:02,460 --> 00:57:07,360
have, such a committee and to do it they
need a disability consultation.

945
00:57:07,360 --> 00:57:12,350
On standards and ways to address

946
00:57:13,580 --> 00:57:18,640
the need to ensure that bus stops and bus
shelters are accessible.

947
00:57:18,640 --> 00:57:22,030
That essentially requires each
municipality to reinvent the wheel

948
00:57:22,030 --> 00:57:25,380
rather than doing what we felt the
standard should do.

949
00:57:25,380 --> 00:57:31,440
Which is to require all municipalities to
simply do an inventory of those stops

950
00:57:31,440 --> 00:57:36,650
and fix them and to set standards for what
would be needed to make a stop accessible.

951
00:57:36,650 --> 00:57:37,760
It's better than nothing, but it's

952
00:57:37,760 --> 00:57:40,460
unfortunate that it requires each
municipality to

953
00:57:40,460 --> 00:57:43,900
keep reinventing the wheel, rather than
showing them what they've got to do.

954
00:57:45,490 --> 00:57:48,290
The other area relates to accessible taxi
cabs.

955
00:57:48,290 --> 00:57:52,890
Now, taxi cabs are hugely important
because one can't always get on

956
00:57:52,890 --> 00:57:55,440
public transit, or it may not be running
at the appropriate time.

957
00:57:57,230 --> 00:57:58,400
Or for a number of other reasons.

958
00:57:58,400 --> 00:58:01,100
Now the taxi industry presents a problem.

959
00:58:01,100 --> 00:58:04,740
Because so many taxis on the road are

960
00:58:04,740 --> 00:58:08,280
are not accessible to people with mobility
needs.

961
00:58:09,480 --> 00:58:12,560
By making them accessible they, they can
accommodate a wide

962
00:58:12,560 --> 00:58:16,229
range of, of spectrum of, of people and
and different needs.

963
00:58:18,550 --> 00:58:20,900
The taxi industry will argue that cars are
owned

964
00:58:20,900 --> 00:58:24,660
by individuals, often not by the, by the
taxi company.

965
00:58:24,660 --> 00:58:25,940
Sometimes they are owned by, or the

966
00:58:25,940 --> 00:58:27,760
license plate is owned by the taxi
company.

967
00:58:27,760 --> 00:58:31,420
And they'll also argue that the cost of
accessible vehicles is,

968
00:58:31,420 --> 00:58:35,080
is, can be considerably higher than that
of the, of the actual.

969
00:58:36,490 --> 00:58:39,460
Of a car that you buy that is not
accessible.

970
00:58:39,460 --> 00:58:40,850
We have felt for a long time that

971
00:58:40,850 --> 00:58:44,100
this requires a more concerted strategy at
the center.

972
00:58:44,100 --> 00:58:45,950
We felt that if the Government, which
bailed

973
00:58:45,950 --> 00:58:48,050
out the auto industry some years ago, had
gone

974
00:58:48,050 --> 00:58:50,180
to the auto industry and, and said, can we

975
00:58:50,180 --> 00:58:52,880
come up with a design for an accessible
cab.

976
00:58:52,880 --> 00:58:54,570
Have the province.

977
00:58:54,570 --> 00:58:58,010
Secure purchases of a large number that
weigh less than

978
00:58:58,010 --> 00:59:02,470
that are annually actually purchased, but
get a bulk discount price.

979
00:59:03,730 --> 00:59:08,270
That we could drive down the costs of the
the per unit cost of

980
00:59:08,270 --> 00:59:13,770
an accessible car and take that concern
away from cab owners and cab companies.

981
00:59:13,770 --> 00:59:15,080
That's not to say the province actually
has

982
00:59:15,080 --> 00:59:17,190
to go buy them and then go resell them.

983
00:59:17,190 --> 00:59:21,270
If the province could ascertain that, that
I'm gonna make

984
00:59:21,270 --> 00:59:24,430
up a number, a 1000 new cabs are bought
every

985
00:59:24,430 --> 00:59:28,060
year, then how about going to the auto
industry, and

986
00:59:28,060 --> 00:59:30,880
coming up with a rate of, only 500 are
bought?

987
00:59:30,880 --> 00:59:33,000
And any more that's just gravy.

988
00:59:33,000 --> 00:59:36,190
but, but pick a number that is, that's
even less than we know

989
00:59:36,190 --> 00:59:39,840
the demand to be and that can help drive
down the per-unit cost.

990
00:59:39,840 --> 00:59:41,380
Now that would be a strategy potentially

991
00:59:41,380 --> 00:59:43,290
in parallel with the AODA, unfortunately
we

992
00:59:43,290 --> 00:59:46,870
haven't seen that even though we did see
that the government is prepared to.

993
00:59:46,870 --> 00:59:49,770
Bail out the auto industry and often or I

994
00:59:49,770 --> 00:59:53,140
should say at times do, do, take measures
to help.

995
00:59:53,140 --> 00:59:54,460
Ensure it stays in Canada.

996
00:59:55,890 --> 01:00:00,820
What we another thing that should make it
easier to solve

997
01:00:00,820 --> 01:00:04,620
this problem is that every few years cars
are traded in.

998
01:00:05,900 --> 01:00:12,080
And every year in one community or another
new taxi licenses are

999
01:00:12,080 --> 01:00:14,460
being given out by people who don't have a
taxi license now.

1000
01:00:14,460 --> 01:00:15,450
And they're scarce commodities.

1001
01:00:15,450 --> 01:00:16,360
People.

1002
01:00:16,360 --> 01:00:19,550
Want to get a new cab license, to put a
new cab on the road.

1003
01:00:19,550 --> 01:00:23,962
Our solution, was the standards should
have specified what an accessible cab,

1004
01:00:23,962 --> 01:00:31,050
must include, and it should require that
every new taxi license go to.

1005
01:00:31,050 --> 01:00:34,310
Only go to a person who is gonna put an
accessible car on the road.

1006
01:00:34,310 --> 01:00:38,920
Therefore, it's not putting a burden on
the, on the existing cab owners.

1007
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:40,840
But it's gonna get more accessible ones on
the road.

1008
01:00:40,840 --> 01:00:43,720
And if anything, the pressure will be on,

1009
01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:45,710
existing cab owners to eventually wanna
get an

1010
01:00:45,710 --> 01:00:48,460
accessible car, in many contexts, so that
they

1011
01:00:48,460 --> 01:00:51,540
have access to a wider range of customers.

1012
01:00:51,540 --> 01:00:53,710
Also, a number of municipalities.

1013
01:00:53,710 --> 01:00:57,400
Use successful cabs to help develop,
deliver a pair of transit.

1014
01:00:57,400 --> 01:00:59,960
The more that, that happens, and there's
some debate in the wisdom

1015
01:00:59,960 --> 01:01:02,870
of doing that, but the more that, that
happens, the more at

1016
01:01:02,870 --> 01:01:07,310
a the owner of a successful cab will have
an assured and

1017
01:01:07,310 --> 01:01:13,520
potentially steady supply of customers to
make the purchase worthwhile and so on.

1018
01:01:13,520 --> 01:01:15,090
Anyway, what did we get.

1019
01:01:15,090 --> 01:01:16,740
We didn't get any of these broad
requirements.

1020
01:01:16,740 --> 01:01:17,880
We got a series of requirements on

1021
01:01:17,880 --> 01:01:21,460
municipalities, municipalities usually are
licensing cabs and

1022
01:01:21,460 --> 01:01:23,990
it provides a municipality to consult
where

1023
01:01:23,990 --> 01:01:26,140
they've got one with the accessibility
advisory committee.

1024
01:01:26,140 --> 01:01:31,800
On the number of accessible that they
should that they need in their community.

1025
01:01:31,800 --> 01:01:35,350
And then it requires the municipality
with, with the usual consultation

1026
01:01:35,350 --> 01:01:39,220
kind of requirements that are built into
the, the, with the standard.

1027
01:01:39,220 --> 01:01:44,880
It requires them the municipality to
include in their accessibility plan

1028
01:01:44,880 --> 01:01:49,980
plans for increasing the number of
accessible cabs on the road.

1029
01:01:49,980 --> 01:01:52,880
So it's, it's, and it also requires them
to

1030
01:01:56,210 --> 01:02:00,230
to take certain other measures like
dealing with the

1031
01:02:00,230 --> 01:02:05,290
displaying of the the registration
information on the rear bumper.

1032
01:02:05,290 --> 01:02:07,660
That's so the person won't take it, a
passenger that

1033
01:02:07,660 --> 01:02:10,380
you can and if you're sighted you can
track them.

1034
01:02:10,380 --> 01:02:14,370
And so the cab also provides on request
accessible information about.

1035
01:02:14,370 --> 01:02:17,530
Their identity and registration
information.

1036
01:02:17,530 --> 01:02:20,310
The burden for all of this is placed on
municipalities.

1037
01:02:21,320 --> 01:02:24,500
We therefore are left as disability
advocates to have to lobby one

1038
01:02:24,500 --> 01:02:30,710
municipality at a time and that's an un-,
unnecessary and excessive burden.

1039
01:02:30,710 --> 01:02:34,300
We thought the standards should have set
standards across the province.

1040
01:02:36,160 --> 01:02:40,720
Rather than leaving it to the sweeping
discretion in each municipality.

1041
01:02:40,720 --> 01:02:41,660
We got something.

1042
01:02:41,660 --> 01:02:45,050
We just didn't get anywhere near as much
as we would have liked.

1043
01:02:45,050 --> 01:02:47,200
Anyway, that's the end of the PS.

1044
01:02:48,240 --> 01:02:53,900
And and the saga, of the campaign for
accessible public transit continues.