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CCD denounces unamended MAiD bill

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD), a national disability rights organization, shared a press release vehemently denouncing the Trudeau government’s re-introduction of Bill C-7, a bill which extends access to Medical Aid in Dying to people who are experiencing intolerable suffering as a result of illness or disability, but whose death is not reasonably foreseeable. The bill was first introduced in early February before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Canada.
 
“With…evidence of systemic discrimination against people with disabilities mounting daily, the Trudeau government’s decision to move forward with this bill without adding safeguards to prevent marginalized Canadians from being driven to seek assistance to die because they cannot get assistance to live is evidence of a head-in-the-sand mentality that endangers the lives of Canadians with disabilities,” said Dr. Heidi Janz, Chair of the CCD’s Ending-of-Life Ethics Committee.
 
For further information, contact: Dr. Heidi Janz [email protected]

The Third Annual Council of Canadians with Disabilities (CCD) Conference canvasses best practices for case management, high quality service, and client guidance in cases involving disability accommodations in both educational and workplace settings. The Conference Fundraiser is hosted by the CCD in partnership with the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law & Gillespie's.

This conference is accredited by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

This event will be webcast for online access. Please see the webcast ticket options and stay tuned for more information about how to connect.

Catering will be provided.

This event will be in English only. Cet évènement se déroulera seulement en anglais.

Featured Panelists

Peter Engelmann, Goldblatt Partners

Morgan Rowe, Raven Law

Erin Moores, Goldblatt Partners

Caterina Galati, The Law Society of Upper Canada

PETER ENGELMANN AND ERIN MOORES

Peter Engelmann is a labour and human rights lawyer, and founding partner of Engelmann Gottheil, a firm that merged its practice with Goldblatt Partners in 2005. Peter’s practice focuses on all aspects of labour law, human rights, pay and employment equity law and Charter litigation. He has appeared at all levels of court, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and appears regularly before arbitrators, human rights tribunals, and other administrative tribunals. Peter has also served as Commission counsel to a public inquiry. Peter is the co-author of Trade Union Law in Canada and speaks regularly at legal seminars on labour and human rights topics.

Presentation topic: This presentation will discuss disability discrimination and the duty to accommodate in the workplace. The speakers will outline disability-related accommodation concepts, and highlight specific issues that employees with disabilities face when making requests for accommodation in an employment setting. It will address whether an employer can claim undue hardship when an adjustment to a policy, practice, by-law or building is too costly, or if it creates risks to health or safety. The presentation will also include cases of non-evident disabilities, where the employer may not be aware of an employee's substance addiction, for example, but perceives that a disability might exist. Lastly, it will provide guidance on how to individually assess each unique accommodation situation.

MORGAN ROWE

Morgan Rowe is an associate lawyer at the Ottawa-based law firm of Raven, Cameron, Ballantyne & Yazbeck LLP. She practices mainly in the areas of union/employee-side labour and employment law and in human rights law before both the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal and Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Morgan also has extensive experience working with community groups advocating on behalf of individuals with intellectual disabilities and injured workers. She is a co-author of Exploring Disability Identity and Disability Rights through Narratives: Finding a Voice of Their Own, a book examining the connections between law and disability in the lives of Canadians with disabilities.

Presentation topic: This presentation will discuss the duty to accommodate and disability discrimination in educational settings. It will outline disability-related accommodation concepts and highlight specific issues that students with disabilities face when making requests for accommodation in elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. It will address whether an education provider can claim undue hardship when an adjustment to a policy, practice, by-law, or building is too costly, or if it creates risks to health or safety. It will also outline the process for identifying and accommodating disability-related needs in the publicly-funded elementary and secondary school systems, and the responsibilities of educators participating in the accommodation process. This includes the provision of specific accommodations, being knowledgeable about and sensitive to disability issues, and maintaining student confidentiality.

CATERINA GALATI

Ms. Galati joined the Law Society of Upper Canada in 2000 after practicing law in Toronto since 1983. She is involved in a number of policy and law practice management projects at the Law Society. She has participated in the Ministry of Government Services Real Estate Fraud Committee, the LSUC/OBA Joint Committee on Electronic Registration of Title Documents, and the Solicitor Group developing competencies for the Law Society’s Licensing Process. She is a frequent presenter on ethical and law practice management topics at continuing legal education programs. She received her Honours B.A. from the University of Toronto in 1978 and her LL.B. from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1981. Ms. Galati was called to the Bar in 1983.

Presentation topic: This presentation will include discussion on how to support and deliver professional, ethical and compassionate client service in the private practice context for clients with disabilities. In balancing obligations to equity seeking groups with competency requirements within the law, lawyers have a duty of loyalty to service clients with competence while always remaining sensitive to the particular needs of the individual. This presentation will also include suggestions for best practices for counsel involved with solicitor-client relationships where diminished capacity is at issue or has been established.