OBA Constitutional, Civil Liberties & Human Rights PROGRAM
Original Program Date: December 3, 2021

December 3rd marks the United Nations’ International Day of Persons with Disabilities, an opportunity for the legal community to both celebrate Ontario’s disability community, and to critically examine the barriers they continue to face in accessing legal services.

How can you help address these barriers, especially in the context of Ontario’s legal system?

Join us for this valuable event to hear about the first-hand experiences of Ontarians who have faced unique challenges navigating and obtaining professional services. Gain insights on how you can develop a more inclusive legal practice, and ensure that you are providing more effective, meaningful, and accessible legal services to your clients. Plus, learn how you can better support the human rights of clients and colleagues with disabilities, and how you can contribute to their full and equal participation in all aspects of Ontario life.

PROGRAM CHAIRS

J. Andrew Sprague, KPMG LLP
Massimo Orsini, Oziel Law

PROGRAM SPEAKERS

Andrew Gurza, Disability Awareness Consultant, and host of “Disability After Dark”
Laverne Jacobs, University of Windsor, Faculty of Law
Gift Tshuma, University Design Consultant, and Assistive Technology Specialist at March of Dimes Canada

Andrew Gurza is a disability awareness consultant and content creator who shares his lived experiences of disability, queerness, and body image in a "raw, vulnerable and unapologetic fashion".  In his work, he seeks to explore how the lived experience of disability as it interplays with intersectional communities. His written work has been highlighted in The Advocate, Huffington Post, and Out Magazine, and he has given presentations all across North America on a variety of topics concerning disability. He is also the creator and host of the award-winning podcast "Disability After Dark".

Laverne Jacobs is a Professor of Law at the University of Windsor and a person with disabilities. Dr. Laverne Jacobs is also Canada’s candidate for the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Dr. Jacobs researches, writes and teaches actively in the areas of law and disability rights, human rights, and administrative law and justice. Through her research and scholarship, she explores the lived experiences of people with disabilities in relation to the law and aims to ensure disability equality. Professor Jacobs has published and lectured widely in Canada and internationally. She is the lead author of several books and articles including the first law and disability textbook in Canada (Law and Disability in Canada (LexisNexis, 2021)) and the Annotated Accessible Canada Act (2021). Dr. Jacobs founded and directs The Law, Disability and Social Change Project, a research and public advocacy initiative housed at Windsor Law. She is also a Co-Director of the Disability Rights Working Group of the Berkeley Center on Comparative Equality & Anti-Discrimination Law. Dr. Jacobs has received awards for her scholarship and leadership on disability equality, including the Touchstone Award from the Canadian Bar Association in 2021.

Gift Tshuma is a universal design consultant, disability rights activist, composer and speech writer. A subject matter expert on assistive technology solutions on program design, Gift has provided accessibility consulting services to help communities, educational institutions, architects, designers, engineers, builders, managers, developers and government organizations implement Universal Design principles and accessible best practices.  Gift has been interviewed by a number of media channels for his roles as an activist as well as an artist, including CTV, The Walrus, and Le Devoir.

The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (the “AODA”) is important legislation in Ontario for persons with disabilities. As an organization with more than one employee, the OBA is required to provide training for all staff and volunteers acting in a leadership role who regularly have contact with other members, volunteers and clients. If you have never, or not recently, completed AODA training, please consider completing the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)’s free 5-part e-learning series which covers both AODA and the Human Rights Code (the “Code”). The OHRC’s series lets you learn about your rights and responsibilities under the Code and the AODA and how they affect you at work, in services and in housing. This series (20 minutes) is for public, private and not-for-profit sectors and, according to the OHRC, it completes the training requirements for section 7 of the Integrated Accessibility Standards under the AODA. The OHRC provides a certificate of completion. The series is available at http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/learning/working-together-code-and-aoda.