NINTH MEETING OF THE

MARKHAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ACCESSIBILITY IN 2008

ONTARIO ROOM

NOVEMBER 19, 2008 – 3:30 P.M.

MINUTES

PRESENT:

Robert Hunn, Chair

Regional Councillor G. Landon

Carl Bodnar

Councillor V. Burke

Prescott Harrison

Sidney Polak

Carole Robertson

REGRETS:

Ted Chivers, Chair

Bill Broger

Joan Jenkyn

STAFF:

Atiq Rahman, Project Manager, Asset Management

Warren Rupnarain, Accessibility Coordinator

Chris Raynor, Committee Clerk

The Ninth Meeting of the Advisory Committee on Accessibility convened at 3:30 p.m. with Mr. Bob Hunn in the Chair.

1. MINUTES OF THE MARKHAM ACCESSIBILITY COMMITTEE
MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 15, 2008

THE MARKHAM ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON ACCESSIBILITY RECOMMENDS:

That the minutes of the Town of Markham Accessibility Committee meeting held on October 15, 2008 be adopted.

CARRIED

2. VIVA UPDATE

Mr. T. Middlebrook, McCormick Rankin, and Mr. D. Albers, Chief Communications Officer, York Region, provided an extensive update on VIVA and other transit initiatives in the GTA. Committee was shown VIVA design proposals, accessibility features, plans for the Yonge subway extension and design features of the associated subway stations. It was noted that there will be Public Consultation Centres on November 26, 2008 and December 3, 2008.

Committee sought clarification on matters such as noise mitigation features of the planned Don River subway crossing, the use of electric trains, accessibility features in stations, and the planned retrofitting of existing TTC stations.

3. OUTREACH TO ORGANIZATIONS RE ACCESSIBILITY

It was briefly noted that this is a proposal to invite accessibility-oriented organizations to an information sharing session but further discussion was deferred to the next meeting.

AP 9.1 Committee Clerk to place item on January 21 meeting agenda for discussion.

4. BUSINESS OUTREACH PROGRAM

Mr. W. Rupnarain, Accessibility Coordinator, presented a proposal to recognize businesses for their commitment to accessibility. It is proposed that businesses be presented with a plaque that is valid for three years. Subsequently, businesses may reapply for recognition. It was noted that the Markham Board of Trade is supportive of the initiative and that presentation of the accessibility award could coincide with their Business Excellence Award.

Committee noted that accessibility criteria should look at issues beyond wheelchair access such as Braille, high contrast signage and other features.

Mr. Rupnarain advised that details of this initiative will be made available to the province for publication as an example of an accessibility good news story.

5. NEXT MEETING

Committee agreed to cancel the December meeting of Accessibility Committee therefore the next scheduled meeting will be January 19, 2008.

6. ENHANCED DRIVERS LICENCE

It was noted that the new enhanced drivers licence will be made available to non-drivers for use as an identity card. This is particularly useful for the visually-impaired as they were previously unable to obtain drivers licences and had difficulty providing required proof of identity.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:55 p.m.