Arithmetic Discrimination

I once had a Math Professor who said "If you can't measure it, it doesn't exist."  I take that advice with a dose of skepticism, but numbers can be revealing.  In the case of the Systemic Discrimination agreement. there is the constant buzz of prose and a whole lot of numbers, but they are opaque and without clarity.

In a post in May, 2023, I tried to count the issues to be addressed in the provisional settlement agreement between the province and the Disability Rights Coalition on the subject of Systemic Discrimination.  My inexpert eye came up with this summary: 

and a more detailed timeline:

I thought I'd take another look in 2026.  Turning  to the province's "Annual Progress Report - Targets and Compliance Year 3: 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026" you will find a 40 page multi-column table like this:

which is doubtless accurate but so detailed as to defy summary.  The Province uses vague terms like Slight Progress, Sufficient Progress, Subtantial Progess, and Exact Compliance to categorize its results.  DRC has its own version, 8 pages with yellow highlights, but still difficult to hold in your brain.  It looks like this:

The last two pages of the DRC summary carry a good suggestion:  Let's have an accurate index that's a bit easier to grasp.   DRC identifies the goal, the progress and the legal requirement for eight tasks.  I had to guess at a 2023 Base for a couple of numbers.  But the numbers seem accurate enough so that a "percent finished" can be calculated for each and a weighted summary produced:

CATEGORY	2023 BASELINE	CREATED/REDUCED	GOAL 3/31	COMPLETED	SHORTFALL	PER-CENT FINISHED
LARGE INSTUTIONS	870	311	653	311	-559	47.6%
IPSC	0	42	80	42	-38	47.5%
NO SUPPORT	589	231	0	231	-358	39.2%
LOCAL COORDINATORS	0	55	80	55	-25	31.3%
FLEX, ILS+	0	159	600	159	-441	26.5%
<65 MOVED OUT	10	0	200	0	-200	5.0%
HOMESHARE	0	0	200	0	-200	0.0%
TSA	83	-87	40	0	-40	SEE NOTE

Weighted Percent Finished 38.9%

Put that in a graph and you get  an understandable picture of where in the agreement we stand.  Only a little over a third to where we should be!

REMEDY INDEX=WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF COMPLETED/2023 BASE 

Now we have a sensible presentation that will be a foundation for good questions and better answers.

• Does this reflect a plan?
• What is the main reason for each shortfall?
• What is the catchup plan?
• Should taxpayer dollars fund a go-slow project? 

Now my general objection is backed by Dr. Prince's year 3 monitoring report - a 4 alarm fire to be sure.  He says:

"At this stage of the Remedy’s timeframe, too many items are incomplete, too many are not meeting the targets for compliance. While the Province reported that most Year 3 requirements were in compliance, I conclude that more than half made only slight progress." 

Gus Reed

wcreedh@gmail.com