About this Event
In 2005, the Ontario government made a bold declaration: under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Ontario would be fully accessible by 2025. Twenty years later, after legislating five accessibility standards with inconsistent implementation across sectors, disabled Ontarians have witnessed small steps, rather than leaps, forward in accessibility. Unfortunately, as 2024 comes to an end, it is now clear that we have failed to achieve the AODA’s ambitious goal of a fully accessible province. Heading into 2025, several key questions are now emerging: What lessons can be taken from the failures of the AODA? How might we chart a better path forward over the next two decades? Is a fully accessible Ontario even possible?
To celebrate this year’s International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD), King’s University College is proud to bring local and provincial thought leaders into conversation on two vital questions: what could an accessible Ontario look like in 2050 and what steps do we need to take now, and in the future, to make our province more inclusive?
Panelists include:
- Patrick Case - former Assistant Deputy Minister for the Ontario Ministry of Education
- Tracy MacCharles - former Member of Provincial Parliament of Ontario as the Minister responsible for Accessibility
- Frances Elizabeth Moore - Program Manager, Consultant, and Facilitator for Local Indigenous Issues. Storyteller, Community Advocate, Educator, and Non-profit Leader
- Melanie Stone - Accessibility and Inclusion Advisor for the City of London
- Maayan Ziv - CEO of AccessNow
Facilitated by Dr. Jeffrey Preston, Associate Professor and Chair of Disability Studies at King's University College.
Reception will follow.
Registration for the in-person panel discussion is encouraged.
This event is hybrid. You can register online: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gDx_kilOQCWtESasJRJvFw
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is observed annually on December 3rd. The theme for this year is "Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future." This theme recognizes the important role that persons with disabilities play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for all. It also emphasizes the importance of the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes that affect their lives.
The theme this year reflects the current international political and policy context, in particular the Pact for the Future and the upcoming 2025 World Summit for Social Development, and the need to create momentum for achieving the 2030 Agenda. The theme seeks to amplify the centrality of the leadership role of persons with disabilities, in all of these efforts - from the global to the local.
Source: The United Nations.
Agenda
Panel discussion - 2:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Reception - 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
About the Panelists
Patrick Case, LSM, LL.B. LL.M., was an Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ministry of Education and a former assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at the University of Guelph. Case has been chair of the board of Ontario's Human Rights Legal Support Centre and a long-time adjunct professor at Osgoode Hall Law School. Case is the current director of the Osgoode Hall Law School Certificate Program in Human Rights Theory and Practice. Case is a past member of the board of Facing History and Ourselves.
From 1979 to 1985, Case was a school trustee with the former Toronto Board of Education, and from 1989 to 1999, he was an equity advisor with the same board. From 1999 to 2009, Case was the director of the Human Rights and Equity Office of the University of Guelph. From 2006 to 2010, he held an appointment as a Commissioner at the Ontario Human Rights Commission. He has been a trade unionist, a school trustee and a practitioner whose chief focus was serving women who were victims of male violence. Case has served as a staff lawyer in the family law division at Parkdale Community Legal Services. He is a past chair of the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which was created as a part of the federal government's redress agreement with Japanese Canadians. He has been a co-chair of the equality rights panel of the Court Challenges Program of Canada. He was a member of the Minister of Education's TDSB Governance Advisory Panel in 2015 and one of two individuals appointed by the Minister of Education to review the governance and human rights compliance of the York Region District School Board. In his most recent position at the Ministry of Education, Case provided guidance and leadership to the Ministry review of the Peel District School Board.
Tracy MacCharles was a Member of the Ontario Executive Council (Cabinet) and Member of Provincial Parliament for Pickering-Scarborough East up until 2018. During this time she was the Minister Responsible for Accessibility and was a member of numerous Cabinet Committees including Legislation & Regulations, Mental Health & Wellness, Transportation & Infrastructure, Poverty Reduction & Social Inclusion. Today she is an independent consultant in strategic human resources, operational and business effectiveness support to private, public, and not-for-profit organizations.
Frances Elizabeth Moore is an Anishinaabe Kwe from Timiskaming First Nations, Quebec residing in London, Ontario. She is a storyteller, community advocate, facilitator/educator, non-profit leader, and mother who is invested in promoting awareness for and healing in First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities. Frances Elizabeth holds a Legal Administration Diploma from Georgian College; Building Abundance in Indigenous Communities (BAIC), Advancing Women’s Conflict Transformation and Peacebuilding for Community Development and Indigenous Women in Community Leadership certificates from the COADY Institute at St. Francis Xavier University; and an Indigenous Peoples Certificate in Indigegogy and a Wholistic Healing Practices and Colonial Trauma Certificate both from Wilfred Laurier University.
Frances Elizabeth currently works in the philanthropic sector as Program Manager supporting marginalized youth and parents, guardians, and caregivers’ grassroots groups during the lifecycle of their grants; consults and facilitates locally on Indigenous issues; sits as co-chair on the board at LIFE*SPIN, on the board at Nii'kinaagana foundation; and mentors youth from Brescia University College and Kings University College.
Melanie Stone is the Accessibility and Inclusion Advisor for the City of London. She is also a lecturer at King's in Disability Studies and Sociology.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Joanne and Peter Kenny Theatre, Epworth Avenue, London, Canada
CAD 0.00
