HRM Election

To promote diversity, inclusion and access in HRM., we have asked the 52 candidates for Regional Council who have provided emails to agree to this statement.  Please share and encourage candidates to make this pledge.

Dear Council Candidate,

As advocates for people with disabilities, the Directors of the James McGregor Stewart Society ask you to pledge to accomplish 6 simple things in the first 100 days you are in office. None of them involve new public expense, and some may be underway.

1. Publish summary statistics about the HRM workforce, across job classifications and pay grades, and ensuring privacy rights, showing the breakdown by 
• gender
• age
• nature and severity of disability
• ethnic and racial categories
2. Name an access coordinator in each department who will signify that access has been considered in each report to Council
3. Begin a review of By-Laws to identify consequences for people with disabilities, to be completed in 2017
4. Begin to update Red-Book standards for accessible rights of way to commonly accepted levels.
5. Include this statement in the Special Events Task Force Special Event Application Form:
• "Event organizers welcome people with disabilities as observers and participants. If disability accommodations (e.g., communication access, alternate formats) are needed to participate fully in this event, please contact event organizers at [phone number and email address]. "
6. Endorse the concept of Halifax Ramp-Up
   

Any candidate from any district may make this pledge. Candidates are encouraged to advertise signing, and may say they have the endorsement of the James McGregor Stewart Society. We will keep track of pledges and Council activities on our website.

Please reply to wcreedh@gmail.com with your decision about supporting this effort.

On behalf of the Board of Directors, thanks for your consideration,

Warren Reed

HERE ARE RESPONSES AS OF OCTOBER 3, 1 PM

Response	Number
Yes	30
With Reservations	5
No	1
No Response	17
No Email	3
Last	District	Pledge
Adams	11	With Reservations
Beals	6	With Reservations
Blackburn	14	Yes
Bowes	5	Yes
Carvery	8	Yes
Castle	1	Yes
Cleary	9	Yes
Craig	15	Yes
Curran	10	Yes
Deagle-Gammon	1	With Reservations
Ehsan	10	Yes
Enxuga	5	Yes
Fashan	2	With Reservations
Guthrie	12	Yes
Hendsbee	2	Yes
Kawalski	8	Yes
Lawson	1	Yes
Lovelace	13	Yes
MacPherson	Mayor	Yes
Mason	7	Yes
McKay	2	No
Milburn	5	Yes
Mosher	9	Yes
Nicoll	4	Yes
Penney	11	Yes
Poole	8	Yes
Rissesco	5	Yes
Sinnott	1	Yes
Smith	12	With Reservations
Sommerhalder	8	Yes
Stoddard	12	Yes
Uteck	7	Yes
Walker	10	Yes
Watson	5	Yes
Whitman	13	Yes
Woodbury	9	Yes

FOR THE FULL LIST WITH COMMENTS, SEE SPREADSHEET

Response to Accessibility Coordination Update

The report submitted by John Traves, QC, Acting Chief Administrative Officer of Halifax Regional Municipality to Mayor Savage and Members of Council entitled Accessibility Coordination Update is poorly researched, derivative, incomplete, offensive, and trivial. It gets an F.

It is written in response to a motion requesting “a staff report on the status of the CAO’s Business unit Strategic Initiative related to Accessibility Coordination.”

“The Strategic Initiative related to accessibility coordination referenced in the above motion was the result of a motion of Regional Council of January 28th, 2014 that directed staff to include a statement “HRM is a leader in building inclusive and accessible community for everyone, including persons with disabilities and seniors” within the Healthy Communities Priority Outcome and develop a Business Plan to support this Outcome for consideration by Council in preparation for the 2015/2016 planning cycle.”

In the the section entitled Work to Date, not a single item of practical use has been accomplished in 922 days. There is shuffling of personnel, mention of a framework (but no  actual plan to do something), a poorly thought out and largely poached review of best practices, unspecified discussions with the Province about upcoming legislation (which people with disabilities have not yet been allowed to see). No ramps have been built, no employee data has been collected, no reports have been shared, and no progress has been made. Discriminatory hiring persists.

The section entitled Framework for Engagement including the Accessibility Advisory Committee is entirely in the future tense.

The section entitled Next Steps is a work of fiction.

There is no section on Community Engagement.

The report lists no Financial Implications because nothing concrete will be done.

The Best Practices Summary in Attachment A is mostly copied verbatim from Ontario Regulation 191/11 made under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005. In the excerpt below, from Theme area 2 of the the Accessibility Coordination Update, I have highlighted in yellow words taken without change or attribution from the Ontario regulation:

2.1 Notify municipal employees and the public that accommodation, for job applicants with disabilities, is available upon request (recruitment materials and recruitment process). 2.2 Consult with the person making an accommodation request in determining the suitability of an accessible format or communication support. 2.3 Upon request, provide, or arrange for the provision of, information in an accessible format that (a) is needed in order to perform the employee’s job; and (b) is generally available to employees in the workplace. 2.4 Notify municipal employees of policies that support employees with disabilities, including, but not limited to, job accommodation that takes into account an employee’s accessibility needs. 2.5 Provide individualized workplace emergency response information to employees who have a disability, if the disability is such that individualized information is necessary. 2.8 Develop and document in writing a return to work process for employees who have been absent from work due to a disability and require disability-related accommodations in order to return to work. 2.7 Develop and document in writing individual accommodation plans for persons with disabilities. 2.8 Take into account the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities, as well as individual accommodation plans, when using its performance management process in respect of employees with disabilities. 2.9 Take into account the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities as well as any individual accommodation plans, when redeploying employees with disabilities. 2.10 Take into account the accessibility needs of employees with disabilities as well as any individual accommodation plans, when providing career development and advancement to its employees with disabilities. 2.11 Ensure that all aspects of recruitment and selection of employees are accessible to the needs of persons with disabilities. 2.12 Provide any and all disability related equipment and renovations to facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities on an individual basis. 2.13 Ensure that any cost of accommodation for an employee with disability does not come from the individual budget of the department or business unit that would act as a barrier to employment or career development of an employee.

Item 2.11 makes no sense. There is no explanation of the source of items 2.12 and 2.13, nor any indication why they might be considered best practices.

A best practices review is more than copying from Ontario, which has made many missteps. It should include other jurisdictions:

• Disability Discrimination Act 1992, Australia
• Equality Act 2010, UK
• Americans with Disabilities Act, USA
• 2005 Disability Act, France
• And of course the oft cited but seldom observed UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to which Canada is a signatory

The report mentions none of these.

The report concludes with Attachment B, a list of 27 accomplishments in the area of inclusion.

They range from the ridiculous…

• Only accessible low floor buses are being purchased (you can’t buy an inaccessible transit bus)

To the offensive, inasmuch as Access-a-Bus is inherently discriminatory and ridiculously expensive...

• Service hours of Access a Bus the same hours of service as conventional transit.
• Fare structure for Access a Bus the same as conventional service.

To the obvious and trivial…

• New Transit Drivers hired have accessibility training
• Courtesy seating provided for persons with disabilities on conventional transit.
• Stop request system in place to disembark passengers in safer locations.

To taking credit for simply obeying the law…

• Service animal policy in place for Transit.

• Ongoing installation of audible pedestrian signals.
• More than 150 on-street accessible parking locations in place on HRM streets.
• More than 30 accessible taxis in service. (And declining)

• Web site currently being updated to have an accessibility section of information.
• Two new accessible transit terminals completed.
• Ferry service has audible terminal announcements.
• All ferry terminals accessible.
• Municipal buildings being built to CSA standard in terms of accessibility which is greater than the standards imposed by the Nova Scotia Building Code.

To extremely old news…

• Pilot project underway testing tactile making on curb cuts to improve accessibility for persons who are blind or visually impaired.  (First proposed in 2004)

• Regional Council has a sub-committee called the Accessibility Advisory Committee comprised of citizen stakeholders. (Since at least 2002)
• Call centre has TTY services. (Actually, it’s TDD, invented in 1964 and now largely obsolete)
• Sign language is provided upon request at Council meetings.
• CART (Captioning Access Real Time) is provided at Council meetings.
• Elevator upgraded in City Hall for larger pieces of mobility equipment.

To the ludicrously bureaucratic…

• Staff member from recreation regularly attends meetings of the meetings of the Accessibility Advisory Committee.
• Staff member from Corporate Facility Design & Construction regularly attends the meetings of the Accessibility Advisory Committee.
• Manager of Accessible Services at Transit regularly attends meetings of the Accessibility Advisory Committee.

And finally to the small handful of actual accomplishments…

• More than a hundred power door operators installed on HRM building as part of program to make HRM properties more accessible.
• Accessible picnic tables being introduced in parks and open spaces.
• Additional pool lifts being installed in both indoor and outside pool facilities.

It reflects poorly on the Acting CAO that he is willing to sign off on such a substandard piece of work. It reflects accurately the apathy of those who wrote it. It reflects poorly on Halifax, which aspires to be a leader in accessibility but continuously fails its citizens with disabilities.

Gus Reed

Woozles and Heffalumps

Yesterday on 'Ask Mayor Savage', Liz Crocker of Woozles, Canada's oldest children's book store, called in to inquire about tax relief for small business. She also wondered, by the way, why she had an encroachment fee on her tax bill for her spiffy ramp.

His Worship explained patiently that a ramp would impede wheelchairs from otherwise using the sidewalk, so HRM was encouraging the use of portable ramps and had partnered with Parker Street Skills Development Centre to offer ramps at cost to businesses.

Then the Mayor's trousers spontaneously combusted.  

He burned completely up, and the litter patrol swept up the pile of ashes and deposited it in the trash.

The Princess's tax bill was marked Paid and we all lived happily ever after!

The End

PS......

As you can see from the Google streetview, Woozle's ramp is a very attractive, harmonious and unobtrusive addition to the front of a rather lovely old Halifax building.  Since it intrudes no further upon the right-of-way than the steps, it's no surprise the Mayor's drawers were smoking even before they caught fire.

Furthermore, there is no partnership with Parker Street.

The ending isn't happy after all.  Woozles is one of a very few small Halifax businesses where a kid with a wheelchair could be part of the fun, or a slightly older wheelchair user could actually get in to work.  HRM is actively discouraging employment of people with disabilities, which is illegal.  Illegal.  Let me say it again.  Illegal.  The relevant section of the Human Rights act is included at the end.

By discouraging employment of people with disabilities, HRM is costing taxpayers money.  A wheelchair user trying to get by on social assistance costs you about $10,000/year.  Imagine if they had a job and paid taxes instead!  Yet the heavy handed Heffalumps at HRM take special pleasure in enforcing arcane and counterproductive rules.  Part of their job seems to be to keep people with disabilities isolated and unemployed - it must be in their job description.

A Heffalump making sure Piglet doesn't get a ramp

Tuesday, coincidentally, the un-ignited mayor announced  the Game Changers Action Plan, challenging thousands of Halifax business leaders to hire youth and become Game Changers.

As HalifaxExaminer says of Game Changers (cover your ears children)

"More likely, it’s just the same old bullshit wrapped in new packaging."

Pooh and Piglet, following woozle tracks that turn out to be their own are like the HRM leadership - always announcing something new that turns out to be where we've been before.

Oh Pooh, do you think it a G-G-G-G-Game Changer?

Here's  what must be done:

• Eeyore Butts needs to be instructed by Council to issue an order to Municipal Compliance rescinding most exceptions to the barrier-free requirements of the building code.
• No encroachment fees will be levied for accessibility amenities.
• All permit applications for accessibility amenities will be granted

Human Rights Act 

CHAPTER 214 OF THE REVISED STATUTES, 1989

Meaning of discrimination 

4 For the purpose of this Act, a person discriminates where the person makes a distinction, whether intentional or not, based on a characteristic, or perceived characteristic, referred to in clauses (h) to (v) of subsection (1) of Section 5 that has the effect of imposing burdens, obligations or disadvantages on an individual or a class of individuals not imposed upon others or which withholds or limits access to opportunities, benefits and advantages available to other individuals or classes of individuals in society. 1991, c. 12, s. 1. 

Prohibition of discrimination 

5 (1) No person shall in respect of
(a) the provision of or access to services or facilities;
...
(d) employment;

discriminate against an individual or class of individuals on account of
...
(o) physical disability or mental disability; 

Oh yeah, and 

Act binds Crown 

21 This Act binds Her Majesty in right of the Province and every servant and agent of Her Majesty.

A Tip o' the Hatlo Hat to PBD

Meanwhile, in the Big Apple

Here is a very positive story about how a fractious and entrenched bureaucracy can actually solve a problem.

A woman using a power wheelchair had a minor crash when getting off a bus in New York.  An ambulance was called and the EMTs wanted to take her to the hpospital.
What to do with the 250 pound wheelchair?  No one knew.  She went home instead, but took the time to write the mayor,  who referred it to something called Collaborative Policing.

As the Times reports (Ms. Herman is involved in interdepartmental affairs):

“A few days later, the mayor’s office writes to us in collaborative policing, saying, more or less, ‘This is a problem, fix this,’ ” Ms. Herman said.

Thus convened what is far too often the greatest sinkhole of government: the interagency conference. Typically — well, maybe not typically, but frequently — people from multiple agencies at such gatherings will do two things. They will admire a problem. Then they will creatively avoid dealing with it.

Ms. Herman did not detail any bureaucratic gore. “After a bunch of conversations, it appeared the best way to resolve this was that we would buy ramps that can hitch onto the back of E.S.U. trucks,” she said, referring to the Police Department’s Emergency Service Unit, which can do almost anything — hostage negotiations, rescuing children whose hands are trapped in a fence, riding Jet Skis to water emergencies and mounting SWAT teams.

The solution was a trailer with a ramp that can hold the wheelchair. Ten trucks are now equipped with them, at a cost of $200 each. The wheelchair can be moved to the next place that the person lands.

“You can just ride or guide the wheelchair up a ramp and it sits onto a cantilevered platform, out of the back of the truck,” Ms. Herman said. “For $2,000, this shouldn’t happen to anyone else.”

Can it happen in Halifax?  Can our city councilors pry themselves away from important culinary deliberations long enough to behave like adults?  Can Mr. Butts descend from the mountain long enough to deliver a $2000 cheque?  Can a SWAT team handle a wheelchair?

This is a test.

ps New York City doesn't seem to have an official food.........

How to Lie with Statistics

On Thursday, HalifaxExaminer published this announcement of a Government meeting:

Crosswalk safety advisory committee (10am, City Hall) — there’s been a welcome decline in the number of pedestrians struck:

I don't know if Tim is just pulling our leg, but nothing could be further from the truth. As I have said before on this subject, the police's insistence on viewing the complex world one variable at a time can lead to false conclusions and, most importantly, neglects important information. A simple example:

Rather than looking year-by-year, here is a graph of the complete 3 1/2 years, showing that 2015 has barely nudged off the moving average of 17.1 incidents per month (The lowest moving average, 14.7, occurred in August, 2013):

This can be confirmed by averaging the data by month and comparing it to the first seven months of 2015:
The downward trend of 2015 seems to occur in the first half of every year.

Better yet is a summary by season, which does provide a clue as to what's happening:

You don't suppose that pedestrian collisions are connected to lousy snow clearing? Sounds pretty far fetched......

I promise you that the number of collisions will soon rebound to the 15-20 range, peaking in the winter months.  As a wheelchair user, I take this personally because I'm not very agile in avoiding hurtling autos.  

The chart of Vehicle-Pedestrian Collisions is entirely inconclusive as to any trend and further demonstrates HRM Police’s confusion of ‘counting’ with ‘analysis’. The stubborn reliance on considering one variable at a time means that important questions go unanswered.

• Which intersections have accidents during peak commuter times?
• Are there intersections that are dangerous for under 25-year-olds on weekends?
• Do lighting conditions make a difference?
• How about the pattern of paint?

Intersections are complex, and the problem will persist until the complexities are accounted for.  Arithmetic just isn”t enough.