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·	From Theory To Practice

1. Barriers are the major stumbling block to full participation for many people with disabilities, and legislation is needed to accelerate changes.

There is evidence from the Health and Activity Limitations Survey, as well as from a variety of studies and reviews, indicating that it is the presence of barriers, rather than characteristics of the disability itself, that is the major factor preventing people with disabilities from equitable access to employment, community services and participation in Canadian civil society. Consequently, identification and removal of these barriers will level the playing field for persons with disabilities to achieve greater equity.

However, those responsible for barriers may occasionally remove them out of goodwill or out of desire to expand market share, but there is no proof that awareness campaigns and public relations campaigns have had more than a marginal impact. As a result, there is a clear international trend in all industrial, and many developing countries, to enact barrier removal legislation.

2. Clear and precise standards have been identified as being far more effective in removing barriers than generalized criteria.

The evidence indicates that clear and precise standards, such as those provided under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which identify specifically what needs to be done or achieved in order to be in compliance, are effective in removing barriers.

The Canadian experience of human rights commissions and employment equity legislation have been limited in their effectiveness in addressing the barriers faced by people with disabilities. Because the standards are unclear, it relies upon litigation for enforcement and the costs have been high.

3. The Americans with Disabilities Act has been successful in enabling access for people with disabilities in a number of different areas.

A number of evaluations have indicated that ADA has succeeded in generating considerable support from the business sector, from the public at large, and among people with disabilities. The ADA experience indicates that support from the business community occurs after implementation of legislation, not before. Attitudes follow behaviour. In addition, the availability of technical assistance, such as provided in the United States to support implementation of the ADA, results in a constructive, rather than adversarial approach, and is important in generating support and facilitating compliance.

4. "Redistributive" or "grant-levy" approaches can permit stable participation of the significant minority of individuals with severe disabilities whose labour market attachment is marginal.

Such systems are used in Germany, France, Japan and a number of other countries, where incentives are provided for employers to hire individuals with disabilities, or taxes are levied on those who do not hire persons with disabilities. These approaches are "redistributive" in the sense that they shift resources from employers who are unable or unwilling to include employees with disabilities to those who are. This model places some responsibility for employment of people with disabilities on employers, but provides options for how this is to be done, as opposed to imposing direct quotas on employers.

Evaluation studies suggested that such a system provides permanent incentives of stable participation for individuals with severe disabilities whose labour market attachment is marginal. While the overall effectiveness of this particular method is still not clear, this policy approach is considered as an additional tool to improve employment opportunities for the disabled. In addition, this system is an improvement over the direct quota system, which socially stigmatizes the participants and is considered ineffective.