HUMA Committee Report

Accessibility of Jobs in the Federal Public Service

Statistics on the representation of persons with disabilities in the federal Public Service are very encouraging. They show a representation of 5.7%, while workforce availability, which serves as a standard of comparison, is only 3.6% ^[18]. The members of the Subcommittee are delighted by this progress.

However, certain concerns were raised about the hiring of persons with disabilities. Only 3.1% of new hires are persons with disabilities, which is considerably below workforce availability. More disturbing still, this proportion has not improved in the past four years ^[19].

It is difficult to understand how the statistics on representation of persons with disabilities have been able to improve while the statistics on hiring have not improved, and indeed are below the representation level. In the opinion of the Subcommittee’s members, the necessary condition for maintaining and increasing the representation of persons with disabilities in the Public Service is increased new hiring.

RECOMMENDATION 8

The Subcommittee recommends that, without neglecting representation statistics, the performance of the federal Public Service with respect to the employment of persons with disabilities from now on be measured on the basis of hiring statistics. This change should be reflected explicitly in the next employment equity report tabled by the Public Service Human Resources Management Agency of Canada.

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Accessibility to the Parliamentary Precinct

I think just as we’re moving forward as a society, it’s really important that Parliament Hill, as the centre of power and the symbol or our great country, is accessible. It sends a signal to all Canadians that Parliament is accessible to anyone who is elected to Parliament. (Steven Fletcher, MP, Testimony before the Subcommittee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, 16 February 2005)

Mr. William Corbett, Clerk of the House of Commons, appeared before the Subcommittee on 16 February 2005 to “share some of the progress that has been made over recent years to make the Parliamentary Precinct more accessible, to remove barriers for persons with disabilities, and to integrate workplace accommodation” ^[20] in the day to day operations of the House of Commons.

With regard to physical access to the Parliamentary Precinct and workplace accommodation, the Clerk of the House of Commons informed the Subcommittee that some retrofits were recently made to committee and meeting rooms to increase accessibility and meet the special needs of a newly elected member of Parliament. The Subcommittee also heard that the House Administration offers work accommodation to new and existing employees and to members of Parliament, and that it is developing a policy on workplace accommodation that will provide the framework for all related programs and initiatives in the future. The House of Commons has also developed its own employment equity program to increase workforce diversity.

Members of the Subcommittee appreciate the progress that has recently been made to increase accessibility to the Parliamentary Precinct and to facilitate the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the parliamentary workforce. However, we believe that further modifications are needed to ensure that the needs of members of Parliament and employees with disabilities are accommodated and that visitors with special needs have access to facilities in the Parliamentary Precinct.

In this regard, members suggested simple modifications in the course of its study, such as adapting the design of office furniture to accommodate employees who use wheelchairs (e.g., lower worktable heights). We also asked that signage (e.g., the international symbol of accessibility) directing people to the location of barrier-free entrances be posted at all main entrances that are not accessible to people with disabilities. Some of our suggestions such as adequate signage have already been implemented. Other suggestions related to workplace accommodation are being implemented but only in response to specific requests for such accommodation by employees with disabilities. Some offices as well as committee and meeting rooms still present barriers to persons with disabilities that must be addressed immediately.

RECOMMENDATION 9

The Committee recommends:



• that the Speaker of the House of Commons take immediate steps to develop a communications strategy to promote a greater awareness of and sensitivity toward the abilities of persons with disabilities and the services available to accommodate people with disabilities within the Parliamentary Precinct; and
  
  
• that the strategy provide separate emphasis for managers, health and safety personnel, and employees with disabilities.

RECOMMENDATION 10

The Committee recommends:



• that the Speaker of the House of Commons, in collaboration with the Senate, undertake a thorough accessibility audit of all facilities in the Parliamentary Precinct to ensure that barrier free design principles included in the CSA Standard CAN/CSA B651 04 are respected, except where this standard will significantly reduce the heritage quality of the facility;
  
  
• that, based on the results of this audit, a Parliamentary Precinct accessibility plan be developed highlighting what needs to be done to eliminate remaining barriers;
  
  
• that an accountability framework be developed, approved and implemented to assign responsibility for ensuring that the Parliamentary Precinct is fully accessible to people with disabilities (including sensory or mobility disabilities); and
  
  
• that the framework set out performance indicators and reporting mechanisms; and that its ongoing implementation be reported yearly in the performance report of the House of Commons.

RECOMMENDATION 11

The Committee recommends:



• that the House Administration, under the responsibility of the Speaker of the House of Commons, collect information and conduct an analysis of its workforce in order to determine the degree of underrepresentation of persons with disabilities in that workforce, as defined in the Employment Equity Act and regulations;
  
  
• that based on this analysis, the House Administration, under the responsibility of the Speaker of the House of Commons, be encouraged to continue to develop, approve, implement and monitor employment equity initiatives with clear and measurable outcomes in the areas of recruitment, retention, accommodation, and career progression of persons with disabilities; and
  
  
• that the progress made in the implementation of employment equity initiatives be reported yearly in the performance report of the House of Commons.

RECOMMENDATION 12

The Committee recommends:



• that the Board of Internal Economy create an accessibility fund to pay for modifications or retrofits needed to make constituency and House of Commons offices of Members of Parliament fully accessible to persons with disabilities;
  
  
• that the Board of Internal Economy determine the amount of this fund and establish the rules and limitations regarding its use;
  
  
• that the Board of Internal Economy provide guidance to MPs when selecting office space;
  
  
• that, on approval of this recommendation, the Board of Internal Economy amend the Members’ Offices By-Law (By Law 301) to include the newly created accessibility fund and approved expenditures; and amend the Manual of Allowances and Services for the Members of the House of Commons to reflect such changes. Listing these expenditures separately will increase awareness of the importance of access, and make it easier to assess the commitment of the House Administration to improving accessibility for persons with disabilities.

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With regard to emergency and evacuation procedures, the Subcommittee was informed that a specific emergency response protocol has been developed for physically challenged members of Parliament and employees. As well, the Subcommittee heard that “the security services are trained to react to all emergencies within the Parliament Buildings and to assist in evacuating mobility-impaired persons.” ^[21] However, some members of the Subcommittee raised concerns over the lack of information provided to members of Parliament and employees on emergency preparedness and on the lack of emergency drills. In response to these concerns, the Clerk of the House of Commons, in a letter to the Clerk of the Subcommittee, indicated that Parliament buildings occupied by members of Parliament are exempt from fire drills. This policy has been implemented to avoid any disruption of parliamentary operations.

RECOMMENDATION 13

The Committee recommends:



• that the Speaker of the House of Commons take immediate steps to ensure that the protocol for the emergency evacuation of persons with disabilities is up to date and widely disseminated; and
  
  
• that emergency fire drills and information sessions on emergency preparedness be held at least once a year.

The issue of accessibility to parliamentary information was also discussed. Members of the Subcommittee were concerned to hear that the parliamentary Web site “does not currently fully comply with the World Wide Web Consortium guidelines on accessibility established for Government of Canada Web Sites.” ^[22] The Web sites of the committees of the House of Commons have however been redesigned in consideration of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) accessibility guidelines. The Subcommittee was also informed that closed captioning for Question Period is not provided in French, thus preventing many hard of hearing persons from following it live. Members of the Subcommittee believe that immediate action is needed to ensure that Canadians with disabilities have access to parliamentary information and proceedings and can fully participate in the democratic process.

RECOMMENDATION 14

The Committee recommends:



• that the Speaker of the House of Commons take the necessary measures to develop and adopt a policy requiring the application of an “access and inclusion lens” to the design, retrofit and procurement of all information services and information technology infrastructure, including, but not limited to network services, Web sites, printing services, electronic publications and Chamber technology infrastructure; and particularly,
  
  
• that all parliamentary Web sites fully comply with the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Priority 1 and Priority 2 requirements within a year; and
  
  
• that closed captioning and sign language of House of Commons proceedings and committees’ broadcast be provided in both official languages, and that this issue be referred to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Official Languages.

Members of the Subcommittee raised questions related to transportation for employees and members of Parliament with disabilities within the Parliamentary Precinct. We were informed that one shuttle bus has been modified to allow for wheelchair accessibility but that this service is not available to all institutions (e.g., La Promenade building, Victoria building and Wellington building). In addition to this bus, a van specifically equipped to accommodate wheelchairs is available on request. Members of the Subcommittee suggested that the service of this van should be available to all employees and members of Parliament with disabilities and to all parliamentary institutions. We are pleased to report that the Subcommittee’s suggestion was accepted by the House Administration and that the service is now available.

The Subcommittee also heard that major construction and renovation projects are underway in the Parliamentary Precinct. As the custodian department of the Parliament buildings, Public Works and Government Services Canada will oversee these projects. Members of the Subcommittee will continue to monitor the progress of these projects to ensure that barrier-free design principles will be fully implemented and to guarantee continued access to the Parliamentary Precinct for members of Parliament, employees and visitors.

RECOMMENDATION 15

The Committee recommends that Public Works and Government Services Canada ensure that all authorities undertaking renovation or construction projects in the Parliamentary Precinct consult with experts in addressing accessibility issues and persons with disabilities to make certain that their needs will be well integrated into all projects.

RECOMMENDATION 16

The Committee recommends:



• that, on approval of the recommendations, an implementation team, led by the Clerk of the House of Commons, be established to begin work on recommendations 9 to 15 of the report;
  
  
• that the names of people assigned to this implementation team be forwarded to the Subcommittee for its review within the next 120 sitting days; and
  
  
• that the implementation team report back to the Subcommittee on its progress within a year.

CONCLUSION

Overall, based on the themes it covered, the Subcommittee can say that the Government of Canada takes the integration of persons with disabilities seriously. However, the situation varies greatly from one department to the next because of priorities and objectives that are hard to reconcile, the absence of a consensus definition of what a person with a disability is, and the multiplicity of eligibility criteria for federal programs. Up to a certain point, this situation is understandable given the complexity of an organization as large as the Government of Canada. Improving the situation must however remain a constant concern and the Subcommittee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities is there to keep watch. In addition to the recommendations contained in this report, there are certain avenues that should be explored during the transition period that the Subcommittee wishes to undertake.

First, it may prove very difficult for the Department of Social Development to ensure the horizontal coordination of all Government of Canada programs and policies affecting persons with disabilities. The Office for Disability Issues, within that department, makes every possible effort, but seems to have limited influence on the deliberations of the other departments involved ^[23].

It is also possible that the vertical dimension of these responsibilities is deficient, that is, there is no policy that would serve as a common reference, a beacon to guide the activities of the various departments in their relations with persons with disabilities.

The Subcommittee is not currently in a position to state that a Canadian Persons with Disabilities Act would be the most effective solution to this lack of coordination. It is certainly one possibility that the Subcommittee could consider during its future work. The openness shown in this respect by the Minister of Social Development, the Hon. Ken Dryden, and by the President of the Treasury Board, the Hon. Reg Alcock, sends a very positive message. The Subcommittee will also more closely monitor the state of accessible transportation.

We thus foresee a promising future for the advancement of full and complete access to all services, programs and public property over which the government of Canada or the Parliament of Canada exercise jurisdiction. The Subcommittee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities will continue to do everything in its power to quickly make this promising future a lasting reality.