Ontarians call for a barrier-free zone

The Ontarians with Disabilities Act (ODA) Committee has just launched a website on the Internet to document its fight to establish a more accessible Ontario at: http://www.odacommittee.net/.

This broad-based disability coalition is dedicated to the passage of a new law in Ontario which will create a barrier free society for persons with disabilities by the year 2000. Premier Harris promised in writing during the 1995 Ontario election that he would pass an Ontarians with Disabilities Act, and would work together with the ODA Committee to develop it. The website will provide complete, detailed news and background information on the ODA Committee's fight to hold Premier Mike Harris to his election promise.

"The website is the latest tool in our campaign to force the government to put its money where its mouth is on disability rights," says ODA Committee co-chair David Lepofsky, "we trusted the Harris government to live up to its solemn election promises to us. So far we have got nothing. We feel that the website will allow us to bring out message to more people with disabilities in Ontario, increasing the pressure on the government."

The new website will serve as a helpful resource for the news media, by providing instant access to a comprehensive, up-to-date collection of the major documents and information concerning this current provincial issue.

In January and February of this year, the coalition made presentations before the provincial legislature's Standing Committee on Social Development which was holding hearings on the impact on persons with disabilities of provincial budget cuts.

The coalition argued that the government should enact legislation protecting disability programs before implementing other legislative changes that would jeopardize the equality rights and services of persons with disabilities.

For a copy of its presentation, contact Steve Keane at (416) 979-5514.

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Bulletins from the Not Dead Yet Front

dick.sobsey@ualberta.ca

Disability Rights Activists Cautiously Celebrate Supreme Court Victory - Ready to Advocate Against State Measures

Not Dead Yet activists from around the country cautiously celebrated the Supreme Court ruling handed down today which states there is no constitutional right to physician assisted suicide.

Not Dead Yet is a national organization of people with disabilities and our allies who oppose the legalization of physician assisted suicide, because it singles out people with disabilities and health impairments for assistance to die.

According to Carol Gill, psychologist and Not Dead Yet activist, most people wrongly assume that the reason people with health impairments want to die is their health itself, but studies show that the real reasons are usually social circumstances that can be alleviated. Legalizing physician assisted suicide, according to Not Dead Yet, will create a double standard, based on health status, for how society responds to a person's expression of a desire to die. The group says that this is very dangerous, particularly in an environment where health care options are limited by managed care policies and budget cuts.

"The good news is that the Supreme Court has upheld state bans of physician assisted suicide in Washington and New York," said Diane Coleman, Not Dead Yet organizer. "The bad news is that other states may well do the opposite - - that is, legalize the practice -- and we'll have to fight this battle state by state."

Not Dead Yet filed a Friend of the Court brief opposing the legalization of physician assisted suicide, and held a rally in front of the Supreme Court on January 8 which drew over 500 disability rights activists. In its brief, Not Dead Yet argues that legalizing physician assisted suicide would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) because assisted suicide would only be legal for persons with disabilities and health impairments. "If it is simply an issue of autonomy, why not extend it to anyone who asks?" Coleman said. "Society would never accept that for nondisabled or healthy people -- but it's somehow acceptable for people who are socially devalued."

Steve Gold, an attorney for Not Dead Yet, stated, "Today, a legal blow, but not a lethal blow, was dealt to the discriminatory practice of inducing death for those with disabilities and health conditions. But unfortunately, this issue is not dead yet! We'll have to keep fighting to provide opportunities to live, rather than the right to be killed."

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W3C world wide web consortium launches an International Web Accessibility Initiative:

On April 7, 1997 the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) announced the launch of the Web Accessiblity Initiative to promote and achieve Web functionality for people with disabilities. Endorsed by the White House and W3C Members, the WAI will involve the establishment of an International program Office responsible for developing software protocols and technologies, creating guidelines for the use of the technologies, educating the industry, and conducting research and development.

The W3C will be working with government, industry leaders, Web developers, content providers, and non-profit organizations, to lead the devleopment efforts of the newly created initiative. (For more information on this intiative contact W3C at http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/)

Here in Canada the University of Toronto Adaptive Technology Resource Centre has been working with the federal government on a joint Universal Internet Access Project at: http://www.utoronto.ca/atrc/uiap/main.htm.

Other web pages dedicated to access issues include:

• The Public Service of Canada Web Site Self-Evaluation Test at http//:www.psc-cfc-cfp.gc.ca/dmd/access/welcome1.htm
• The Canadian National Institute for the Blind: http://www.cnib.ca/
• WebAble, accessed through the Yuri Rubinsky Insight Foundation at: http://www.yuri.org/webable/index.html
• Trace Research and Development Center - designing an accessible world: http://www.trace.wisc.edu/world/world.html
• The National Centre for Accessible Media (NCAM): http://www.boston.com/wgbh/pages/ncam/symbolwinner.html