Ontarians with Disabilities Act Public Comment
Ontarians with Disabilities Act Public Comment
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| At the time of this comment, I worked in a Crown agency. The requests that I have made for devices and services have all been approved, but not all have been filled. Once again, there is not enough guaranteed demand to create the market forces to assure interpreters and real-time reporters that they will have customers if they set up business here. In my current position, people have been supremely kind and helpful with speaking habits and use of written notes and willingness to learn sign language, but that only goes so far. I can’t march into the office of Mr. Big at a major corporation, or into a Deputy Minister’s office, and say "excuse me, would you mind moving your fingers out of your mouth?" or, "may I sit in your chair with the back to the window and you can sit in the visitor’s chair?" I can’t interrupt a public consultation or think tank meeting and ask, "would you write that down for me?" and "for heaven’s sake, don’t speak until I am looking at you." When I request an interpreter, it is as much to accommodate the communication needs of the other people, and their need to communicate in their customary style rather than the stilted style required by lipreaders. I’m conservative about the use I make of interpreting, but when I request one, I need one. Too often, there just isn’t one to be had. They go where the work is. | ||
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Although agency staff and management have been well-meaning and willing, the need to retrofit to provide me with basic fire safety and telecommunications has delayed full access, makes me embarrassed of the burden I perceive myself causing, and makes me dependent on colleagues, which undermines my authority. Although we occupy a superior and modern facility, visible fire safety indicators were just not mandatory under Ontario law. People died at the Inn on the Park before Ontario was convinced to mandate voice communication for high-rise fire safety, to convey "stay where you are" or "evacuate now" information. Will deaf people have to die before the Ontario Fire Code provides the same kind of information to people who don’t hear? Differentiating between stand-by and evacuation states is just a dream for us: we don’t even have mandatory flashing fire alarm signals, but we would if our fire code adopted the ADA requirements. Believe it or not, deaf people don’t go everywhere with a keeper. We often go to the washroom unassisted. If we can get a job, we may work late alone. For some of us, the job is working late alone, doing custodial tasks. Voluntary standards and good intentions are not adequate. Ontario taxpayers support the TVO network, which provides one of the lowest rates of broadcast captioning. When I notified them that some of their broadcast programs were available with captions (i.e. they need only licence the existing copyrighted captions, not actually add them) they did not even reply to my correspondence. No change occurred, so I can’t even discuss Teletubbies with my preschooler. When the Premier was in opposition, I hand-delivered to his office a position paper on ‘print interpreting’, or real-time transcription, for deafened adults who are not adequately served by the sign language interpreting or amplification devices that customarily work with the better-understood deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers. Mr. Harris acknowledged my letter and thanked me for the input, making specific reference to the substance of the paper. Yet many of his commercials during the subsequent election campaign and his public service announcements since becoming Premier have not been captioned. Captioning a commercial costs less than $300 a spot. |
My request to address the public consultation panel was declined, causing me to wonder what is the use of my Ontario Medal for Good Citizenship. I wonder why paternalistic, patronizing "service" agency monopolies are invited to speak for us instead of distinguished members of the community. Testimony from "service" agencies must be viewed as self-serving, since their own ends are furthered by the assertion that the solution to the problem is merely more money to support their activities. In reality, many of their services would not be needed if the mainstream of Ontario business, government, health, education, and transportation were accessible—and accountable for access. As many disabled people can attest, service agencies spend as much time counselling people with disabilities how to have ‘reasonable’ and ‘realistic’ expectations. Too often, all we expect is access. "It’s an unkind world," they say, "and you have to learn how to get along". They counsel us that you catch more flies with honey. Frankly, life is too short to hunt flies. |
Last modified 28 July 2002