The Ontario Liberal Government kept its 2003 election promise by introducing the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2004. The Bill will make Ontario a better province by creating a society that is open and accessible to all, including people with disabilities.

It is a dramatic improvement on the weak, limited ODA 2001 passed by the previous Conservative Government. While we have not had a chance to closely study the bill, we can confirm the following important highlights:

* The bill sets long-term goals for a barrier-free Ontario by 2025, but it also requires that work begin immediately. Short and medium-term time goals required by the legislation will ensure that steady progress is made.

* The bill uses a broad, inclusive definition of disability and the barriers that will be covered by the Act. It isn't limited to only physical disabilities or physical barriers.

* The bill applies to the private as well as public sector

* Mandatory accessibility standards, developed through consultation with persons with disabilities as well as businesses or organizations in the affected sectors, will be developed.

* There is a fair and effective enforcement mechanism to ensure that progress is made.

With this development, the Government has kept its 2003 election commitments to introduce new legislation within one year of taking office, to clearly extend the bill to the private sector, to provide for effective enforcement, and to provide for time lines and mandatory standards on accessibility.

This is a major step forward.

"This bill is includes the key ingredients that the Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee chapters throughout Ontario have been advocating for: it will apply to all sectors, it will have enforcement and it sets realistic timelines in which it has to be done." says Barb Anello, founder and co-chair of ODA Committee North Bay.

"This is a major step forward. North Bay's disabled community has worked long and hard over the past 7 years since Liberal MPP Dwight Duncan drove up to North Bay from Windsor to address a crowd of 120 people with disAbilities at the newly opened DAAY Centre, when we first jumped on board to support the struggle for meaningful disability legislation in Ontario." said Alexis Bridges of the North Bay chapter of the ODA Committee.

Barb Anello, acting chair of DAWN Ontario, said that once they have analyzed the bill in detail, they will launch a grassroots initiative to organize and mobilize Ontarians with disabilities to lobby their local MPPs to support the legislation.

In the June federal election, the DAWN network ran an effective online voter education and awareness campaign for equality rights in Canada with an aim to move inequality onto the front burner of Canadian politics & public discourse by sharing knowledge, developing tools,
and building the momentum for a sustained campaign of popular education & grassroots advocacy.

To date, the site [http://dawn.thot.net/election2004/] has attracted over 3.8 million page views.

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