Disability

October 1, 2012 - Ontario Human Rights Commission Submission Regarding Ministry of Community and Social Services Proposed regulation amending Ontario Regulation 191/11 (Integrated Accessibility Standards) under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. The OHRC welcomes the introduction of new accessibility standards for outdoor space including the requirement for organizations to consult with persons with disabilities. The OHRC, however, has a number of concerns and recommendations...

Here are some key steps the OHRC took in the largest consultation in its history.

Discriminatory opposition to affordable housing for groups protected under the Code (“Not-in-my-backyard” syndrome or “NIMBYism”) makes it much harder to develop affordable social and supportive housing for people with mental health issues or addictions.

Stereotyping involves making assumptions about individuals based on the presumed qualities of the group they belong to. When people stereotype others, they do not see the real person. Throughout the consultation, we heard how people faced a large amount of negative stereotyping, which can lead to discrimination.

Toronto – The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) today released Minds that matter: Report on the consultation on human rights, mental health and addictions. This report outlines what the OHRC heard in its largest-ever policy consultation across Ontario, and sets out a number of key recommendations and OHRC commitments to address human rights issues that affect people with mental health disabilities or addictions.

September 2012 - Minds that Matter reports the findings from the Ontario Human Rights Commission’s (OHRC) province-wide consultation on the human rights issues experienced by people with mental health disabilities or addictions. It provides a summary of what we heard from more than 1,500 individuals and organizations across Ontario and sets out a number of key recommendations and OHRC commitments.

August 22, 2012 - We understand that the city passed by law number Z-1-122090 regulating methadone clinics in March 2012. As noted in our letter of February 24, 2012, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (“the OHRC”) has concerns that this type of regulation may discriminate against people with addictions - who are protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code (“the Code”).

Moving forward with transit In 2011, the OHRC reached settlements with the cities of Hamilton, Greater Sudbury and Thunder Bay in three transit-based cases at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. We filed the complaints in 2009 to increase accessibility for riders with vision disabilities by ensuring the transit services called out all transit stops.

June 28, 2012 - We’ve spent the past several months looking at the findings from our province-wide policy consultation on the human rights issues experienced by people with mental health disabilities and addictions. The report is scheduled for release in September 2012. (Volume no.2 No. 1.)

Your Worship, I am writing to comment on By-Law Number 3636, which establishes “interim control provisions for the town of Tillsonburg to prohibit the establishment of new methadone clinics and methadone dispensaries for an interim period of up to one year in order to permit the completion of a planning study on the potential regulation of these uses.”