TOWN OF VIEW ROYAL COUNCIL REPORT: ACCESSIBLE BC ACT – MUNICIPAL REQUIREMENTS - UPDATE

ACCESSIBLE BC ACT – MUNICIPAL REQUIREMENTS - UPDATE

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the April 27, 2023 report entitled “Accessible BC Act – Municipal Requirements – Update” be received.

CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER’S COMMENTS:

I concur with the recommendation.

PURPOSE OF REPORT:

To provide an update to Council after the April 20, 2023 Intermunicipal Advisory Committee on Disability Issues (IACDI).

BACKGROUND:

At the March 14, 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting, the Committee considered a report detailing the three requirements of municipalities with respect to the new Accessible BC Act – to establish a committee, to develop an accessibility plan, and to establish a process for receiving public comments.

At that meeting, the Committee passed the following resolution:

THAT the Committee recommend to Council that the report dated March 6, 2023 from the Corporate Officer titled “Accessible BC Act – Municipal Requirements” be tabled to the May 2023 Committee of the Whole meeting. (COW-22-23/C-46-23)

Due to the tight timeline to prepare an accessibility plan (a September 1, 2023 legislated compliance date), staff brought forward a second report to the April 4, 2023 Council meeting summarizing what other municipalities in the partnership had supported to date and again sought confirmation to proceed on the three requirements.

At that meeting, Council passed the following resolution:

THAT View Royal provide an equal share of the costs (of up to $10,000) to retain a consultant to prepare an accessibility plan which member municipalities will apply to their own accessibility initiatives. (C52-23)

As discussed at both the March Committee of the Whole meeting and the April Council meeting, the Corporate Officer did attend the April 20, 2023 Intermunicipal Advisory Committee on Disability Issues (IACDI).

DISCUSSION:

The IACDI meeting opened with comments from guest, Dr. Mike Prescott, Project Manager for Disability Alliance BC and lead for the Province’s team (BC Accessibility Hub) working to implement the new legislation. Dr. Prescott discussed work that the Province has recently funded to advance initiatives; capacity building over time – starting out with a simple approach given that accessibility plans are new and will evolve; and engagement with the disability community. He reminded the group that the Act does not require physical upgrades and instead focusses on process.

Meeting attendees discussed committee membership/non-identification of a disability and the sample application form that addresses this concern. Other comments referenced the great work done by IACDI, the sense of that work being unrecognized, IACDI’s advocacy work not being within the new legislation’s scope and therefore a separate matter, the benefits from the breadth of the IACDI mandate, and the potential to separate out the social components of IACDI’s work if that would be helpful to move forward.

It was decided that a smaller group from IACDI would meet with the Corporate Officers of the partner municipalities from the City of Colwood, the Township of Esquimalt, the District of Highlands, the City of Langford, the District of Metchosin, the District of Sooke, and the Town of View Royal to work together on a revised committee terms of reference near the end of May 2023. IACDI will then hold a special meeting on June 15, 2023 to review the working group’s proposal and subsequently, the partner municipal councils can then consider the proposal with a view to endorsement of the revised terms of reference and move forward with legislative compliance.

While this approach will not see an accessibility plan in place by September 1, 2023, Dr. Prescott indicated, when asked, that it would be important to show that at least good progress towards that end was being made.

At the IACDI meeting, there was discussion that resolutions made by the partner municipalities could be held in abeyance though with accessibility plan funding in place for the year, no concern for a legislated deadline as noted by Dr. Prescott, no timeline included in the April 4, 2023 Council resolution for the consultant’s accessibility plan preparation, and the intent to engage in a working group process on revised committee terms of reference prior to proceeding to the plan component, the normal course of action is to receive this report.

A subsequent report will be provided once the working group has met and a revised committee terms of reference is available for Council’s endorsement.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:

While this province-wide legislation will incur costs for prescribed organizations, the seven partner municipalities in this initiative have all expressed a willingness to participate jointly. The additional time required to revise committee terms of reference will result in a strong base on which the partner municipalities can work together on this important issue.

TIME CRITICAL:

Provincial legislation has set a deadline of September 1, 2023 for compliance. As noted above, a review of the terms of reference means this timeline will not be met though progress towards this goal will be evident.

ALTERNATIVE:

THAT the April 4, 2023 motion, C-52-23, which states:

“That View Royal provide an equal share of the costs (of up to $10,000) to retain a consultant to prepare an accessibility plan which member municipalities will apply to their own accessibility initiatives.”

be held in abeyance to facilitate working group time on a revised accessibility committee terms of reference in response to section 9 of the Accessible BC Act and which will come forward for Council consideration of approval at a later date.

As noted above, this alternative recommendation stems from the April 20, 2023 IACDI meeting. As there is no time limit stipulated in Council’s April 4, 2023 resolution, accessibility plan funding is in place for the year, staff will participate in the working group terms of reference revision, and the representative for the Province indicated that evidence of progress towards the September 1, 2023 deadline is sufficient as long as progress is being made, there is no urgency to hold the Council motion in abeyance.

The current motion can simply remain on the “Action List” and be undertaken at the appropriate time – that is, once the revised accessibility committee terms of reference have been approved by the partner municipalities.

Receipt of the report is the approach in keeping with the Town’s standard operating procedures.

CONCLUSION:

It is anticipated that this working group review of the terms of reference with some members of IACDI will result in a governance structure that works well for all seven communities as it further explores the good question raised by a participant at the April 20th IACDI meeting: “What are the local governments’ priorities with this new legislation and how can IACDI help the local governments achieve this?”

To this point, the Accessible BC Act requires local governments, as prescribed organizations, to focus on identifying barriers to individuals in (that is employees) or interacting with the organization and on how to remove and prevent barriers. For local governments, this means priorities will include employment, service delivery, built environments, aspects of transportation under the authority of the local government, information/communication, parks/trails, and procurement. Committee terms of reference will be developed with these priorities in mind.

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the April 27, 2023 report entitled “Accessible BC Act – Municipal Requirements – Update” be received.

SUBMITTED BY: Sarah Jones, Corporate Officer

REVIEWED BY: Kim Anema, Chief Administrative Officer