persons with physical disabilities. Enforcement of the rights of those who use
attendant services is also covered in this chapter.
Accessibility legislation is covered in Chapter Nine, Accessibility Legislation:
A Primer on the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, Accessible
Customer Service Standards, and Integrated Accessibility Standards. The
Chapter provides an overview of accessibility legislation, including regulations
which set out accessibility standards. It also covers enforcement of the
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act and its regulations and discusses
the interplay of the Act with human rights laws and other legislation.
The Primer ends with Chapter 10 on the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities. The development and negotiation of this historical
treaty is covered in this chapter along with the salient themes and articles for the
community of people with disabilities that ARCH serves. The chapter covers
Canada’s legal obligations under the Convention and provides assistance in the
use of the treaty in interpreting Canadian and provincial laws.
The release of this Primer could not have been possible without the commitment
and dedicated work of the authors of each of the chapters. The authors are
current or recent staff lawyers at ARCH: Kerri Joffe, Ed Montigny, Tess Sheldon,
Karen Spector, Robert Lattanzio, Laurie Letheren and Dianne Wintermute. They
each have my sincerest gratitude for their efforts in writing the Primer while
continuing to provide legal services that did not abate during these past several
months. I extend a special note of thanks to Yedida Zalik, ARCH’s Outreach
Coordinator, who was instrumental in successful execution of the outreach
components of the Primer, particularly with members of the private bar and the
Francophone community. We are also greatly indebted to Legal Aid Ontario, and
especially Chantal Gagnon, for the financial support that has allowed us to have
this Primer translated into French.