Mr. Chair, we'd like a bit more time since Mr. Salgado and I will take turns giving the presentation.
Good morning. My name is Paul Lupien. I am the chair of the board of directors of the Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec, or COPHAN. I am a person with a disability. I am also on the board of the Institut national pour l'équité, l'égalité et l'inclusion des personnes en situation de handicap.
I am joined today by Dominique Salgado, secretary of COPHAN's board of directors and executive director of the Comité d'action des personnes vivant des situations de handicap.
Incorporated in 1985, COPHAN is a non-profit organization working to make Quebec inclusive to ensure the full social participation of people with functional limitations and their families.
We are the voice of nearly 60 regional and national organizations representing people with functional limitations or disabilities of any kind, for a total of more than 1.4 million people with disabilities across Quebec.
We are active across Canada and on the international scene in all areas that have an impact on the living conditions and social participation of people with functional limitations and their families.
COPHAN is the only francophone umbrella organization in the country that brings together organizations dedicated to people with disabilities.
The principles that guide our work are full inclusion, the rule of law, the right to equality, universal accessibility, accommodation and compensation for the additional costs associated with functional limitations. We want a barrier-free country.
In 2019, the Government of Canada passed the Accessible Canada Act, legislation aimed at making Canada barrier-free by 2040. The act highlights the limits and barriers that people with disabilities experience in a range of areas, from employment, transportation and the built environment to communication and information technologies. The government committed to working with people with disabilities, the business community and organizations to establish accessibility standards. Measures to monitor progress have been provided for. The goal is to ensure that people with disabilities can participate fully in Canadian society by 2040.
Organizations such as Accessibility Standards Canada play a key role in implementing that goal. Stakeholder consultations are under way to ensure that the specific needs of disability communities are properly taken into account.
I do want to point out, however, that the act does not require provinces to comply with accessibility standards established under the act. It does not have the teeth to impose accessibility standards on organizations other than those under federal jurisdiction. Provincial organizations are not required to ensure accessibility, unfortunately. None of the accessibility standards provisions in the act can be imposed on provincial organizations.
As Mr. Mills mentioned, a barrier doesn't have to be big to make something inaccessible to a person with a disability like me. If you don't want me to come over, all it takes is a two or three-centimetre high step to keep me from coming inside.
I think it is important for the Government of Canada to understand why imposing this legislation is so necessary.
Now I'll pass the floor over to Mr. Salgado.