Item - 2020.EX15.16

The Executive Committee recommends that:

1.  City Council direct the City Manager and the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to ensure that people with disabilities are consulted and/or have opportunity to provide input prior to Fall 2020 on any decisions related to service cuts.

 
2.  City Council direct the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer to apply a disability policy lens to all City of Toronto budget processes to ensure that accessibility and inclusion become central to budget planning and that accommodation costs and resources are addressed organizationally as per human rights legislation and Ontario Human Rights Commission Policy on Ableism 9.3:

“…The costs of accommodation must be distributed as widely as possible within the organization so that no single department, employee, customer or subsidiary is burdened with the expense. The appropriate basis for evaluating the cost is based on the budget of the organization as a whole, not the branch or unit where the person with a disability works or has made an application…”

 
3.  City Council direct the City Manager and the City Clerk to review options that improve accessibility to decision-making and save costs such as allowing for remote participation in Committee and consultation meetings and investigating other digital inclusion strategies.

 
4.  City Council request the Mayor to champion and highlight the needs of people with disabilities when lobbying the Federal and Provincial Governments for financial assistance in addressing the budget shortfall expected this year.

At its meeting on July 3, 2020, the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee considered Item DI8.5: "Applying an Accessibility Lens to Improve Access and Inclusion in City Budget and Other Processes" and made recommendations to City Council through the Executive Committee.