City of Powell River will be teaming up with qathet Regional District (qRD) and Powell River Public Library to establish a joint accessibility and inclusion advisory committee.
At the April 20 city council meeting, councillor Earl Almeida said formation of the committee was provincially mandated and all communities need to follow through.
“Our city staff are working together with the regional district staff and public library staff that also have to follow through with a committee,” said Almeida. “It will be as a joint committee, so costs will be saved amongst all and they will be able to comply with all the requirements of the Accessible British Columbia Act.”
According to a report from city deputy corporate officer Jessica Lefort, the Accessible British Columbia Act was passed in June 2021 and aims to identify, remove and prevent barriers to the full and equal participation of people with disabilities in BC. The staff report stated that the act enables development of accessibility standards and introduces new accessibility requirements for governments and prescribed organizations, including public libraries.
All the organizations involved must establish an accessibility committee, an accessibility plan, and a tool to receive feedback on accessibility. The city has until September 2023 to comply with the new requirements, according to the report.
The feedback mechanism is designed to receive comments from the public on the accessibility plan and on barriers to individuals in or interacting with the organizations.
The report stated that in anticipation of the additional workload, $20,000 was included in the city budget to account for costs related to administering the committee.
Composition of the committee, according to provincial terms of reference, will involve at least five and up to nine voting members, with at least half of the membership made up of people with disabilities, individuals who support or are from organizations that support persons with disabilities, and at least one person who identifies as Indigenous.
Non-voting members will include a minimum of one staff member from each partner organization and a recording clerk.
