ECRoB Project Legal Outreach for the Disability of MCS
ECRoB Project Legal Outreach for the Disability of MCS
Training eligibility has been confirmed by the Québec Bar (Barreau du Québec) for the purposes of mandatory continuing education, for a duration of 2 ½ hours.
Workshop: Accessible justice and human rights for persons with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS)
Date: February 29, 2024
Time: 5:00 PM – 7:30 PM EST
Link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpdeivpzotE9YaZS3FsWZFXPP6MjIHz_ut
SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION & LSQ INTERPRETATION AVAILABLE
Click on the button below to watch the interview with our esteemed panelist:
Please click on the link below to learn more about our legal project, speakers, partners, and upcoming legal events across Canada: https://aseq-ehaq.ca/en/legal-events-across-canada/
DESCRIPTION
Who is this event for?
Given the increasing prevalence of MCS and the barriers people with MCS experience accessing legal support, this event is for all legal professionals to assist in removing barriers, providing appropriate support, and improving access to justice and human rights.
About the event:
People with MCS face many barriers to accessing justice because the disability is not well known. They are our family members, colleagues, neighbors, and friends. Each one is entitled to the same rights and protections as everyone else. However, many individuals with disabilities continue to face stigma, exclusion and barriers that hold them back from succeeding in our society. The event reflects ongoing efforts to become a better, more accessible, and inclusive society, and offers the possibility to discuss legal aspects related to access to justice, in order to advance equity, diversity, and inclusion within the legal profession. The presentation will cover both the medical and legal aspects of MCS, including lived experience of the condition and human rights specific to each province across Canada.
We have requested the participation of the Canadian Law Societies in these events. The project’s first partnership with a regulating body of legal practitioners began with the Law Society of Ontario in delivering an event on May 31st, 2023, titled National AccessAbility Week 2023. The recording of that program is available here: Law Society of Ontario – ARCH Archived Webcast. The event reached over 1000 participants, including legal professionals.
Hosted by the Environmental Health Association of Quebec (EHAQ), the Environmental Health Association of Canada (EHAC), in partnership with the ARCH Disability Law Centre, La Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec (COPHAN), Indigenous Disability Canada/British Columbia Aboriginal Network on Disability Society (BCANDS), NB Lung, the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and Spinal Cord Injury Canada, this event will focus on providing insights into the current state of the law regarding MCS, with an emphasis on human rights issues and legal resources available for people with the disability of MCS.
WORKSHOP AGENDA
5:00 PM – 5:15 PM INTRODUCTION
Michel Gaudet, Executive Director, Environmental Health Associations of Québec and Canada (EHAQ, EHAC).
André Prévost, Strategic Counselor and Coordinator, La Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec (COPHAN).
Lawyer Philippe André Tessier – President, Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse Québec (Human Rights Commission Québec).
Group 1
5:15 PM – 5:45 PM
Lawyer Julius Grey, Grey Casgrain Avocats
Respecting individual rights and freedoms
Lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard, Ménard, Martin, Avocats
Promoting and respecting people’s health rights
Lawyer Pierre-Luc Fréchette, Réseau québécois des OSBL d’habitation
The normative framework of housing policies and its impact on the inclusion of people with MCS and on indoor air quality in residential living environments.
5:45 PM – 5:55 PM LIVED EXPERIENCE
- Pre-recorded video presentation from a speaker with lived experience
Group 2
5:55 PM – 6:15 PM MEDICO-LEGAL ASPECTS OF MCS
Dr. John Molot – Environmental Health Clinic, Women’s College Hospital
- Biological aspects
- Prevalence
- Type/examples of appropriate accommodations
- Harm/Effects of lack of accommodations
- Questions lawyers should ask to better understand client’s accommodation needs
6:15 PM – 6:25 PM ACCOMMODATION MEASURES FOR PEOPLE WITH MCS
Michel Gaudet, Executive Director, Environmental Health Associations of Québec and Canada (EHAQ, EHAC)
6:25 PM – 6:35 PM
Lawyer Robert Lattanzio – Executive Director, ARCH Disability Law Centre
- Access to justice issues facing MCS communities drawn from ARCH Disability Law Centre’s legal practice
- The duty to accommodate in the delivery of legal services
- Effective strategies for an accessible practice as it relates to MCS
- About the ECRoB project (Empowering Community and Removal of Barriers)
- And the creation of a legal advisory committee for the project ECRoB
6:35 PM – 6:50 PM
Sébastien Otis, Education and Cooperation Counselor, Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse Québec (Human Rights Commission Québec)
- Québec legal-specific rights for people who experience the disability of MCS
The right to equality and the resulting duty of reasonable accommodation for people with disabilities. Whether in the provision of services or in employment, organizations have a duty of reasonable accommodation, which requires them to assess requests for accommodation in accordance with certain principles and in the light of undue hardship criteria.
6:55 PM – 7:25 PM PANEL DISCUSSIONS
The state of legal knowledge regarding MCS in Quebec.
Lawyer Philippe-André Tessier – President, Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse Québec (Human Rights Commission Québec)
Lawyer Julius Grey, Grey Casgrain Avocats
Lawyer Patrick Martin-Ménard, Ménard, Martin, Avocats
Lawyer Pierre-Luc Fréchette, Réseau québécois des OSBL d’habitation
Lawyer Robert Lattanzio – Executive Director, ARCH Disability Law Centre
Dr. John Molot – Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa
André Prévost, Strategic Counselor and Coordinator, La Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec (COPHAN)
Michel Gaudet, Executive Director, Environmental Health Associations of Québec and Canada (EAHQ, EHAC)
7:25 PM – 7:30 PM CLOSING
André Prévost, Strategic Counselor and Coordinator, La Confédération des organismes de personnes handicapées du Québec (COPHAN)
Michel Gaudet, Executive Director, Environmental Health Associations of Québec and Canada (EHAQ, EHAC)