Thank you.

I am Bill Adair, executive director of Spinal Cord Injury Canada, a board member of Accessibility Standards Canada, a member of Minister Khera's disability advisory group and a Canadian citizen who has a disability. Spinal Cord Injury Canada is also a member of the Canadian Transportation Agency's accessibility advisory committee.

Believe me when I say that I have been paying close attention to the progress of the Accessible Canada Act. In October 2018, I presented to this committee as part of the Federal Accessibility Legislation Alliance. At that time, we made 12 recommendations. I have included these in my written report, but I will comment on some of them now.

The very first recommendation was to create a culture of inclusion and equity. We recommended that all people employed by the federal public sector engage in an intensive awareness and education program about disability, access and inclusion. Legislation alone is not enough to develop inclusive attitudes and equitable practices.

This recommendation was not included in the act. In the last five years, we have witnessed how Canadian culture and our federal government have not shifted to be inclusive of people with disabilities in Canada. For example, low COVID payments, the introduction of MAID for people with disabilities during COVID and a lacklustre Canada disability benefit all demonstrate this fact. Oh, ableism is strong and present.

Another recommendation back in 2018 was to ensure that people with disabilities are compensated for their expertise. We said that funding will make or break this legislation, so make it available to people with disabilities and organizations. Time after time, federally regulated entities approached people with disabilities and organizations, asking for advice on their accessibility plans or progress reports but offering no compensation. They can tick the box for reaching out to us, but entities that must comply with the act should have a yearly budget line to do the expected work.

On another point, we recommended expanding compliance. We felt that entities that receive funding from the Government of Canada should also comply with the act. New standards and regulations could clarify expectations. However, this point is moot as, sadly, only one standard from Accessibility Standards Canada has been released in five years. There has been no follow-up with a regulation. There is so much work to do.

Ironically, another one of our recommendations was not to delay and that all standards and regulations be implemented within five years.

We also recommended that people with disabilities be included in the fabric of the act. Inclusion honours the principle of “nothing about us without us” and provides employment opportunities. Generally, I think Accessibility Standards Canada has incorporated this principle. However, I am concerned that we not lose momentum with the turnover of the CEO, the chair of the board and several board directors all at the same time. These changes could reduce the board's effectiveness in providing governance and oversight. The board needs to be supported to fulfill this role, while the staff focuses on operations. Otherwise, a large part of the disability leadership of the act is lost.

Speaking of disability leadership, it is also fair to say that progress stalled because of the delay in hiring the accessibility commissioner and the chief accessibility officer. The government did not appoint them until the spring of 2022.

With regard to employment opportunities, the federal public service was to hire 5,000 people with disabilities. I don't know how close we are to this number. I do know that some people have been hired on contract, which is great. However, I know of several who do not have access to a pension because they are not full-time employees.

Currently, the public service is on track with its accessibility plans and progress reports, but large private sector organizations are only at 52%. Small entities are only at 12%. The disability community fought hard to ensure that the act had a mechanism to enforce compliance through fines of up to $250,000 per day. Why haven't the fines been used? What are we waiting for?

Ultimately, a significant barrier to our progress is the lack of coordination and collaboration among the act's primary roles. The Government of Canada should identify one role responsible for coordination, collaboration and communication among the major players responsible for implementing different areas of the act.

The person in this role should be ready to take charge. They should keep track of progress and report on it. They should ensure that when we reach 2040, we can look back and be proud of our success and our barrier-free Canada. If we keep going the way we have for the last five years, we will all look back with disappointment.

Thank you.

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