Presentation: Accessible BC Act – Municipal Requirements - Update

BACKGROUND:

March 14, 2023 CoW 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)

April 4, 2023 Council 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. (C-52-23)

BACKGROUND – cont’d:

• Corporate Officer attended April 20, 2023 IACDI meeting
• May 2, 2023 follow-up report to Council
• May 30, 2023 – smaller group from IACDI and Corporate Officers from the partner municipalities (Colwood, Esquimalt, Highlands, Langford, Metchosin, Sooke and View Royal) met
  • Decision to hold follow-up meeting
• June 5, 2023 IACDI letter with 4 requests
• June 20, 2023 Council meeting – motion tabled once options discussed

DISCUSSION:

Accessible BC Act requires organizations to consult with its with its accessibility committee in development of its accessibility plan

For pathway forward, reached out to:

• Dr. Mike Prescott, Project Manager for Disability Alliance BC and lead for the Province’s team (BC Accessibility Hub)
• Krissi Spinoza, Province’s Accessibility Directorate, Policy Director

K. Spinoza suggested joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee may be a good approach

DISCUSSION – cont’d:

Benefits?

• embeds concepts into “DNA” of the organization
• educate/inform staff
• build into local government’s work a foundational lens
  • day-to-day operations
  • capital project requests
  • core and non-core projects
  • RFPs, etc. Can all reflect language and accessibility requirements

Corporate Officers could be the joint intermunicipal accessibility committee and call upon the appropriate staff members for input and/or participation (topic dependent)

Committee membership can shift, if and as required, over time (not set in stone)

Terms of reference can be finalized in fall 2023 though much would remain as originally proposed in spring 2023

For the plan, K. Spinoza suggested municipalities mirror the Province by looking at service delivery and employment for the first three-year plan window

A joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee – by using the Disability Alliance BC template and the collegial working relationship amongst the partner municipalities’ Corporate Officers – may be able to write much or all of the first accessibility plan if it was kept to a manageable scope

Consultant funds could be re-directed to facilitated public engagement to drill down into the barriers faced when accessing partner municipalities – be these physical, policy, or communication related barriers, for example

Input from engagement could be included in the plan and help inform recommendations to partner municipalities for consideration through projects in the coming years

Some funds may still be necessary to complete some areas of the plan

If there are remaining funds, progress can be made on specific items such as assessments of the readability of municipal websites, the accessibility of municipal buildings, or HR related items

NEXT STEPS:

• Proceed with the Accessibility Directorate’s suggestion of a joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee at this time and have it be composed of Corporate Officers
• Undertake plan drafting by the Corporate Officers, using the template provided
• Establish a corporate email address to receive public comments
• Engage a consultant to facilitate public feedback on barriers faced in accessing partner municipalities’ services (consultant to assist with plan if required)
• Work with partner municipalities on webpage content to share information about this initiative

ALTERNATIVES:

• Each municipality form their own staff committee As with the recommended option, this alternative would:
  • develop a strong base to build the plan; provide increased understanding and capacity from staff for projects/initiatives;
  • allow a municipality to choose to be in alignment with the Provincial approach by starting with service delivery and employment reviews (and in so doing, ideally utilize/leverage Provincial research and tools to save resources);
  • see committee work focused on the requirements of the Act and direction from Council; and
  • over time, permit a municipality to shift the committee structure away from staff to a different structure if deemed desirable. Each muni. would have own plan and responsible solely for own cte.

ALTERNATIVES - cont’d:

• Each municipality form their own public committee As with the recommended option, this alternative would:

  • allow a municipality to choose to be in alignment with the Provincial approach by starting with service delivery and employment reviews (and in so doing, ideally utilize/leverage Provincial research and tools to save resources); and
  • see committee work focused on the requirements of the Act and direction from Council. Each municipality would have own plan and be responsible solely for own committee; committee mtgs, processes, and support/resourcing aligned with municipal practices.

• IACDI becomes the new committee With this option:

  • appointments to the committee would be made by Councils;
  • meeting processes and support/resourcing would be generally in alignment with municipal practices for all other committees;
  • the committee would be ineligible for grant in aid funds;
  • committee work would be focused on the requirements of the Act and direction from Councils – work would not include inspections, hosting of social events; and
  • Councils would direct staff work, for example, to create the plan and establish a process for receiving comments.

• A new joint intermunicipal committee be formed This is the original proposal from March/April. With this option:

  • appointments to the committee would be made by Councils;
  • an IACDI community committee member could be selected to be a Council’s representative, serving as a linkage between the 2 groups;
  • IACDI would continue its current approach, incl. hosting social events, etc.;
  • IACDI would retain ability to apply for grant in aid funding with most municipalities;
  • meeting processes and support/resourcing would be generally in alignment with municipal practices for all other committees;
  • committee work would be focused on the requirements of the Act and direction from Councils; and
  • Councils would direct staff work, for example, to create the plan and establish a process for receiving comments.

TIME CRITICAL:

September 1, 2023 – due date in Accessible BC Act to have accessibility plan, committee, and feedback tool in place

Province has indicated that, while not a firm date, municipalities are to at least “have a plan to have a plan” by that date and communicate out

It is becoming imperative that municipalities proceed

The next steps/recommendation aims to move forward with the development of an inaugural accessibility plan

RECOMMENDATION:

THAT the municipality participate in a joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee – the Capital West Accessibility Advisory Committee – with partners to include 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;

AND THAT terms of reference for this joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee be provided for consideration of approval in the fall of 2023;

AND THAT each member municipality of this joint intermunicipal staff accessibility advisory committee allocate nominal annual operating funds for committee expenses;

AND THAT the joint sub-regional staff accessibility advisory committee prepare the initial accessibility plan with a focus on service delivery and employment;

AND THAT the funding allocated in Year 1 of the 2023-2027 Financial Plan originally for development of the accessibility plan be used, as funds permit, instead for:

• assistance, as and if required, with development of the accessibility plan;
• facilitated engagement sessions on barriers faced by the public in accessing services of the partner municipalities; and
• a specific project or initiative to begin to identify accessibility barriers, for example, assessments of the partner municipalities’ websites, hiring practices, or main municipal hall buildings;

AND FURTHER THAT the Town of View Royal establish an email address to receive public comments as set out in the Accessible BC Act.