Media
March 30, 2000
The St. Thomas Times Journal
Act should be all-inclusive
The Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office (PPAO) is a quasi-independent program of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. We do not speak on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. We work for the rights of inpatients.
MPP Steve Peters has been visiting communities holding public consultations in order to learn more about what an Ontarians with Disabilities Act should include. It is great to see so many people turning out at these consultations.
The PPAO supports the introduction of legislation that will move Ontario forward to becoming a more inclusive society where people with special needs are fully contributing members. In order to be effective, legislation must be developed with the full participation of those with physical and mental disabilities so that it reflects and addresses their self-identified needs. Sharing the responsibility of creating a barrier-free environment will ensure that legislation is both responsive to, and supportive of, the needs of those whom it is to assist.
We suggest that any Ontarians with disabilities legislation adopt the principles and values of existing legislation and contain the same definition of disability as that of the Ontario Human Rights Code that "every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities, without discrimination because of race, ancestry, place of origin, color, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, sex, sexual orientation, age, marital status, family status or handicap."
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms also states that "every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability." The definition in any new legislation must not be weakened or eroded and should remain both broad and inclusive.
The Act must adequately address barriers to full participation by Ontarians with mental health disabilities. Most of these barriers are not physical ones but are those related to: stigma, lack of services, barriers to accessing services, lack of service options and choices and ineffective avenues of complaint or remedy when discrimination occurs.
The removal of such barriers is of great concern to the PPAO. The impending closure or divestment of provincial psychiatric hospitals will lead to many clients being discharged to the community. Community supports are of vital importance to the patients currently receiving care and treatment provided in provincial psychiatric hospitals. These resources must be accessible to individuals who require them most.
In addition to the support provided by community programs, individuals with mental disabilities also require access to the broad range of services and opportunities available to all Ontarians, including, but not limited to, income support, housing, retraining, employment, recreation, education, start-up funds for small business development and supplementary health and insurance benefits. We are concerned that individuals with disabilities are not receiving adequate funds through social assistance, increasing the personal needs and shelter allowance portions of the Ontario Disability Support Program would begin to address the poverty that most individuals with disabilities are forced to accept.
An Ontarians with Disabilities Act which moves Ontario towards becoming a more inclusive society benefits everyone in this province, including those individuals who have a physical or mental disability.
Sincerely,
David Simpson
Patient Advocate
St. Thomas Psychiatric Hospital
