Government of Canada Response to Accessibility for All

• Summary of recommendations
• Synopsis of Government response
• Leadership and instruments: the foundations of accessibility

Summary of recommendations

The Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills Development, Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disabilities makes 16 recommendations related to accessibility in its June 2005 report, Accessibility for All. The recommendations can be grouped under five themes:

1. Instruments and leadership that promote accessibility
   (Recommendations 1 and 7)
   
   
2. Accessibility of Government of Canada buildings
   (Recommendations 2, 3 and 15)
   
   
3. Access to programs and services
   (Recommendations 4, 5 and 6)
   
   
4. Access to employment within the public service
   (Recommendation 8)
   
   
5. Measures to ensure accessibility within the Parliamentary Precinct
   (Recommendations 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 16)

Detailed responses to these recommendations are provided later in this document, with the exception of those beyond the Government's scope. While the Government fully supports the right of all Canadians to access to public buildings and is determined to lead by example, it does not have authority over Parliament's facilities and administration and cannot respond to recommendations 9 to 14 and 16.

Synopsis of Government response

The Government's response to the Committee's report is organized around the following broad themes:

1. Leadership and instruments that build a foundation of accessibility
   
   
2. Access to services
   
   
3. Access to programs
   
   
4. Government as a model of accessibility
   
   
5. The way forward

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Leadership and instruments: the foundations of accessibility

Canadians' commitment to equality is a defining feature of our country. Canadian society is firmly anchored in the principle that every man, woman and child can expect dignity, justice, fairness and equality of opportunity in every aspect of their lives. Canadians are aware that the playing field is not level for people with disabilities. Three quarters of Canadians believe it is either very difficult or somewhat difficult for people with disabilities to participate in certain aspects of life.

They are aware of the barriers and inequities that prevent them from achieving financial security, having access to reliable transportation, or maintaining stable employment. Only 10 percent of Canadians believe that people with disabilities are fully included in society. Most Canadians support removing obstacles to full inclusion and they recognize that the social benefit is worth the cost⁴.

Recognizing, as the Committee has noted, that accessibility issues are complex and wide-ranging, the Government of Canada will continue to work in unison with its long-standing partners and will develop new allies across society. With the disability community, other orders of government, the voluntary and private sectors, and individual Canadians, it will continue to build on its strategies to fully include Canadians with disabilities in all facets of society. One of the important vehicles to enable ongoing progress is a new department focussed on social policy development.

Given the national scope of social issues, including disability issues, and the important federal leadership role in addressing them, the Government created Social Development Canada in December 2003. The department is dedicated solely to social development and designed to bring greater coherence to federal social policy. Its mission is to strengthen Canada's social foundations by supporting the well-being of individuals, families and communities and their participation through citizen-focused policies, programs and services. Social Development Canada has made the full participation of Canadians with disabilities a priority in promoting social well-being for all Canadians.

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The Department's Office for Disability Issues serves as a focal point for the Government of Canada and for key partners working to promote the full participation of people with disabilities in learning, work and community life. The Office provides leadership to foster policy and program coherence, contributes to the capacity of the voluntary sector, creates networks, provides knowledge, and supports awareness.

Social Development Canada also works with other federal departments to ensure a coordinated horizontal approach to disability issues. Following recommendations of the Standing Committee in 1999, the Government formed an Assistant Deputy Ministers' Steering Committee to provide leadership on cross-cutting disability issues now led by Social Development Canada. The Steering Committee includes representatives of Veterans Affairs Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, and Health Canada, all of which provide supports to people with disabilities that ensure income security, accessible housing and health services.

In addition to Social Development Canada's work on disabilities across the federal family, many departments employ other mechanisms that deal with specific disability issues. The Public Health Agency of Canada leads interdepartmental committees related to HIV/AIDS, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder and mental health. Cross-departmental work on a United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is led by Foreign Affairs Canada. Recently, Canadian Heritage created a 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Federal Secretariat with goals that include improved access to the Games and the provision of leadership and coordination to build a strong legacy for Canada as a result.

Established in 2003, the National Committee of Federal Public Servants with Disabilities is a group of federal employees who advance the internal federal government agenda concerning employees with disabilities. It has partnered with the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada and other departments and agencies to improve recruitment, retention, career progression, and accommodation for employees with disabilities in the federal workplace.

Progress across the spectrum of services, programs and public goods over which Government exercises jurisdiction is encouraging but admittedly uneven. Even though the Government of Canada is committed to continued work on interdepartmental initiatives, it recognizes that more must be done.

The complex array of federal legislation, regulations, policies and programs affecting Canadians with disabilities reduces the capacity for transparency and for achieving measurable progress. The Committee's work highlights the need to reconcile priorities and objectives inherent in an organization as large as the Government of Canada. The Government agrees with the Committee that avenues beyond the Committee's recommendations which could support greater coherence, transparency and accountability merit further exploration.

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Achieving coherence could be realized through a number of mechanisms. The Committee's report noted the possibility that it might at some point conduct a study on the advisability of adopting legislation that could "…better express Canadians' vision than the confusing multiplicity of acts, standards, policies and programs that currently prevails." The Government is also committed to exploring a range of options to provide policy and program coherence in the interest of advancing accessibility and equality, and welcomes the Committee's views on possible options.

Another opportunity for achieving coherence is the annual federal disability report, Advancing the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities, which the Government uses to disseminate information and research, and to raise public awareness among Canadians of the inequities faced by people with disabilities and the progress made in levelling the playing field. The Government's investment in the collection and dissemination of research into disability issues provides valuable empirical evidence for decision-making and a means to report to Canadians about progress, or the lack of, in building a more inclusive society.

The federal disability report is an evolving tool, and the Government will explore ways in which it can become a stronger instrument in providing consistent measures and monitoring of progress to Canadians and to Parliament. The Government would welcome the Committee's advice on this and on other mechanisms that could provide further support toward continued progress, transparency and measurable outcomes.

⁴ Environics Research Group, 2004, Canadian Attitudes Towards Disability Issues.

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