Access Awareness
ARCH is grateful for its long-standing partnership with the Law Society of Ontario, Equity Initiatives Department, in co-organizing and co-hosting the Access Awareness event on an annual basis.
Access Awareness 2023
Accessible justice for persons with environmental sensitivities
Wednesday May 31, 2023 – 5:30-7:15 pm ET (Online)
Register: Here
Please join ARCH Disability Law Centre and the Law Society of Ontario, for our annual National AccessAbility Week program on May 31.
This annual program offers an important space each year for the legal professions and disability communities to learn and discuss legal issues that impact persons with disabilities. This year, we will explore the particular barriers and access to justice issues that persons with environmental sensitivities face. The event will offer two panels of speakers.
The first panel will include a medical expert who will explore the nature, prevalence, and particular considerations regarding this disability. We will also learn from someone with lived experience who will share their insight regarding barriers to accessing justice, legal representation, and legal processes.
The second panel will explore accommodation and practice issues for legal practitioners in representing clients with environmental sensitivities, including the duty to accommodate in the delivery of legal services and effective strategies for an accessible practice as it relates to environmental sensitivities. Attendees will also learn about a new project called Empowering Community and Removal of Barriers and how lawyers can get involved, as well as some preliminary research findings from that project.
Featured speakers
- Jacqueline Horvat, Treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario
- Robert Lattanzio, Executive Director, ARCH Disability Law Centre
- Jason Mitschele, Team leader, Toronto Superior Court team, Public Prosecution Service of Canada (PPSC), and Board Chair, ARCH Disability Law Centre
- Dr. John Molot, Environmental Health Clinic, Women’s College Hospital, Toronto
- Leanne Goldstein, Founder, Senior Lawyer, Leanne Goldstein Law Professional Corporation
- Rohini Peris, President and CEO, Environmental Health Association of Canada
- Amélie Lauzon, Project Coordinator and Legal Assistant, Empowering Community and Removal of Barriers
Please note: This program is eligible for 1 hr 45 mins of EDI professionalism hours..
ASL and CART will be available. Contact the Law Society of Ontario for any other accessibility request at [email protected]
Access Awareness 2022
Advancing Accessibility Through Legislation and Litigation
National Access Awareness from June 1, 2022 is now available for viewing.
To watch or download the webcast with captions, go to: https://lso.freestonelms.com/viewer/eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJjaGFwdGVySUQiOjQyNzU4NSwiY3VzdG9tZXJJRCI6MTExMTg1OTl9.jaash8s8fhJjhrprO9UVnxk1FUzozQNR4BNhhpsBy8w
At this event, ARCH Lawyers and panelists discussed critical issues in advancing accessibility, including discussion of the Accessible Canada Act and considered developments in the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) in the context of the fourth legislative review that is currently underway. They concluded by exploring the landmark judicial review decision for equal access in Hejka v. the Regional Municipality of Durham – a case centred around access to accessible transit. They discussed the case in relation to two key issues: Failure to properly interpret the AODA and relevant regulation, as well as failure to provide sufficient reasons for a decision that had such a significant impact on the applicant.
Access Awareness 2021
Advocacy strategies for persons with disabilities during COVID-19
National Access Awareness Program from June 6, 2021, is available for online viewing below.
To watch or download the webcast with captions, go to: https://bit.ly/32Qaj4j
At this event, ARCH lawyers will discuss advocacy strategies for persons with disabilities during the pandemic and how they continued to include persons with disabilities in discussions that affect them. ARCH lawyers will also examine changes to their practice of law and offer reflections on how those changes will influence the future practice of law.
Access Awareness 2019
Accessibility at Administrative Tribunals
National Access Awareness Program from June 5, 2019, is available for online viewing below.
To watch or download the webcast with captions, go to: https://bit.ly/2HAIRcW
This year’s discussion was about accessibility at administrative tribunals. With a focus on the Human Rights Tribunal and the Landlord and Tenant Board, speakers talked about procedural accommodations for persons with disabilities as a way to ensure equal access to administrative tribunals. They’ve also addressed recent case law related to procedural accommodations and explored creative strategies to address barriers faced by persons with disabilities in accessing this system.
Access Awareness 2018
Privacy as it Relates to Persons with Disabilities
National Access Awareness Program from June 5, 2018, is available for online viewing below.
ARCH co-hosted its annual Access Awareness event with the Law Society of Ontario on June 5, 2018. The theme of this year’s event was privacy as it relates to persons with disabilities. The panel consisted of: Sunil Gurmukh from the Ontario Human Rights Commission, Mariam Shanouda, Staff Lawyer at ARCH, Maureen Haan, President & CEO of The Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work, and moderated by Marian MacGregor, Law Society of Ontario
The panelists shared their expertise and provided practice tips for lawyers on how to respect the privacy rights of clients and colleagues with disabilities. Also discussed were developments in the case law relating to the privacy rights of persons with disabilities. Over 100 people attended the event and over 650 web streamed it live.
Access Awareness 2017
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: The View from Canada
National Access Awareness Program from June 6, 2017, is available for online viewing below.
The theme for this year’s Access Awareness event was the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ first review of Canada. The UN Committee heard not only from representatives of the Canadian government, but also from delegates representing a number of disability rights organizations in Canada. Several members of that delegation participated in our Access Awareness panel discussion. The panelists discussed the UN Committee’s process and how the Committee’s Concluding Observations can be used to advance disability rights in Canada. The event was well attended, with 140 participants registered to attend in person and over 400 via webcast.
The theme for this year’s Access Awareness event was the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ first review of Canada. The UN Committee heard not only from representatives of the Canadian government, but also from delegates representing a number of disability rights organizations in Canada. Several members of that delegation participated in our Access Awareness panel discussion. The panelists discussed the UN Committee’s process and how the Committee’s Concluding Observations can be used to advance disability rights in Canada. The event was well attended, with 140 participants registered to attend in person and over 400 via webcast.
Access Awareness 2016
Celebrating Action: Developmental Services and Legal Rights
National Access Awareness Program from May 31, 2016, is available for online viewing below.
This event, provided in partnership by ARCH and The Law Society of Upper Canada, highlighted the history of activism by persons labelled with intellectual disabilities and discussed present day concerns, including issues related to reproductive rights. Community leaders spoke about their current advocacy efforts and how this work should inform law and policy.
Access Awareness 2015
The Carter decision on physician- assisted dying: where do people with disabilities go from here?
National Access Awareness Program from June 4, 2015, is available for online viewing below.
On Access Awareness Event (June 4, 2015), ARCH Disability Law Centre and the Law Society of Upper Canada present Law Society Public Education Equality Series: The Carter decision on physician- assisted dying: where do people with disabilities go from here?