The concept of progressive realization, which is identified earlier on as one of the guiding principles of this bill, certainly reflects international practice at the UN, and thinking in other jurisdictions. I think what we need to do is flesh out what that actually means.
I'm of the school of thought that, as we have seen in some provincial laws on accessibility—whether that's Ontario, Manitoba, or Nova Scotia now—there be an aspirational statement. For example, in 2005, the Ontario act put out a 20-year time horizon for a barrier-free Ontario. That's working towards 2025, with five-year updates and reviews.
Another feature in some of the laws is what might be called “put your own house in order first”. That's the idea of the Government of Canada, the Parliament of Canada and the larger federal public service being a model employer and model organization, so that the obligations may be phased in first on timelines and deadlines that would pertain to federal public administration.
Some of the sectors I'm suggesting be included further out, such as some of the non-profits, foundations, even my own university. Perhaps that's the second phase. On private sector conversations, there would be a staggered wave of deadlines and timelines for different sectors that would cascade out. That would be another approach. You see that across a lot of countries and other jurisdictions.
Certainly the reviews then would be more timely than waiting until the first regulations and then five years after that. That probably suggests that we wouldn't have our first review until about 2025 or 2026. That's very troubling in terms of an age of accountability and transparency.
I hope that helps.