• Monitoring Policy and Law Factsheet (PDF Version)

How does Monitoring Policy and Law work within the D.R.P.I. Canada project?

Monitoring Policy and Law is one of four interrelated themes of a Disability Rights Promotion International Canada (D.R.P.I. Canada) project that promotes a holistic view of the human rights situation of people with disabilities. The other three themes include Monitoring Individual Experiences, Monitoring Media, and Monitoring Survey Datasets. D.R.P.I. Canada, funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council, is a collaborative effort between universities and human rights and disability organizations that works to establish a sustainable and comprehensive monitoring system to address disability discrimination in Canada.

What does it mean to Monitor Policy and Law?

Monitoring Policy and Law involves research that uses a systemic framework to document and verify whether or not Canadian laws and policies respect the human rights of persons with disabilities.

Research Questions:

• How are the federal and provincial responsibilities for disability allocated, and what mechanisms are in place to further investigate efforts across these jurisdictions?
• What are the approaches to disability employed by policy makers and how do these approaches impact on the realization of rights for people with disabilities?
• How have Canadian courts and statutory human rights bodies addressed disability issues?

How do we Monitor Policy and Law?

Monitoring Policy and Law involves research that uses a systemic framework to document and verify whether or not Canadian laws and policies respect the human rights of persons with disabilities.

Why is Monitoring Policy and Law important?

This research is essential to determine the extent to which existing legal and policy frameworks help or hinder the exercise of rights by Canadians with disabilities. Required changes to the existing frameworks can be identified to improve the lives of people with disabilities in Canada.

Monitoring Policy and Law – Team Members

• Marcia Rioux, Project Director, York University
• Roxanne Mykitiuk, Osgoode Hall Law School
• Yvonne Peters, Disability rights legal expert
• Michael Prince, University of Victoria
• Mihaela Dinca, D.R.P.I. Canada Project Coordinator, 416-736-2100 ext. 20883

Organizational Partners

• A.R.C.H. Disability Law Centre
• Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies (C.A.S.H.R.A.)
• Canadian Human Rights Commission (C.H.R.C.)
• Centre Interdisciplinaire de Recherche en Réadaptation et Intégration sociale (C.I.R.R.I.S.)
• Office for Disability Issues (O.D.I.), Government of Canada
• Office des Personnes Handicapées de Québec (O.P.H.Q.)
• Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law (R.W.I.), Sweden