Disability Disclosure in the Digital Age: Why the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario Should Reform its Approach to Anonymized Decisions

This paper provides a critique of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s (HRTO) approach to the anonymization of applications brought on the ground of disability. First, I examine the test for obtaining an order for anonymity and the application of this test by the HRTO. The HRTO has consistently held that the importance of open justice outweighs an individual’s privacy concerns about disclosure of disability in a public decision unless there are unique or exceptional circumstances. I discuss social science evidence related to disclosure of disability and the potential deterring impact of the HRTO’s current approach to anonymization on applicants with disabilities. I argue that the HRTO should order anonymization in all cases advanced on the ground of disability when the applicant does not wish to disclose her/his disability in an HRTO decision. I outline why the HRTO’s current application of the open justice principle i

How the Myth Was Made: Time, Myth, and Narrative in the Work of William Faulkner

It is all too easy to dismiss myth as belonging to the realm of the abstract and theoretical, too removed from reality to constitute anything pragmatic. And yet myth makes up the very fabric of society, informing the way history is understood and the way people and things are remembered. William Faulkner’s works approach myth with a healthy skepticism, only gradually coming to find value in a process that is often destructive; his works demand of their readers the same perceptive criticism. This thesis approaches myth through the lens of Faulkner\u27s A Rose for Emily, Absalom, Absalom!, and The Bear. Faulkner\u27s texts ultimately ask readers to bear witness by thinking critically about the process of myth-making, not only in the realm of literature but in the world as a whole

Disability Disclosure in the Digital Age: Why the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario Should Reform its Approach to Anonymized Decisions

This paper provides a critique of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s (HRTO) approach to the anonymization of applications brought on the ground of disability. First, I examine the test for obtaining an order for anonymity and the application of this test by the HRTO. The HRTO has consistently held that the importance of open justice outweighs an individual’s privacy concerns about disclosure of disability in a public decision unless there are unique or exceptional circumstances. I discuss social science evidence related to disclosure of disability and the potential deterring impact of the HRTO’s current approach to anonymization on applicants with disabilities. I argue that the HRTO should order anonymization in all cases advanced on the ground of disability when the applicant does not wish to disclose her/his disability in an HRTO decision. I outline why the HRTO’s current application of the open justice principle i

Examining the Development of Positive Space in Health and Social Service Organizations: A Canadian Exploratory Study

All health care sectors are currently examining factors that influ- ence delivery of high-quality services for diverse groups with an understanding that minority populations experience barriers to service access that contribute to well-documented ill health and health inequities. with a goal of understanding dynamics that can improve access to care in the home care sector, this qual- itative exploratory study examined processes to create inclusive, positive space for diverse lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgen- der, and queer (lgbtq) people in community-based health and social service agencies. a purposeful sample of eight key infor- mants from agencies in toronto, ontario, canada, which offer programs and services to lgbtq communities, completed in-depth interviews. conventional content analysis and a critical lens were used. themes offered insight into the histories, challenges, and turn- ing points which shaped the development of lgbtq-positive spaces in these organizations. community engagement and leadership emerged as relevant, as did strategies to embed lgbtq voices and visibility within everyday organizational functioning. given the gap in literature addressing lgbtq access to home care and the unique dynamics that shape care in the home, implications address the application of these study findings for creating positive space in the home care sector

Gender, sexuality and the discursive representation of access and equity in health services literature: implications for LGBT communities

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This article considers how health services access and equity documents represent the problem of access to health services and what the effects of that representation might be for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) communities. We conducted a critical discourse analysis on selected access and equity documents using a gender-based diversity framework as determined by two objectives: 1) to identify dominant and counter discourses in health services access and equity literature; and 2) to develop understanding of how particular discourses impact the inclusion, or not, of LGBT communities in health services access and equity frameworks.The analysis was conducted in response to public health and clinical research that has documented barriers to health services access for LGBT communities including institutionalized heterosexism, biphobia, and transphobia, invisibility and lack of health provider knowledge and comfort. The analysis was also conducted as the first step of exploring LGBT access issues in home care services for LGBT populations in Ontario, Canada.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A critical discourse analysis of selected health services access and equity documents, using a gender-based diversity framework, was conducted to offer insight into dominant and counter discourses underlying health services access and equity initiatives.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A continuum of five discourses that characterize the health services access and equity literature were identified including two dominant discourses: 1) multicultural discourse, and 2) diversity discourse; and three counter discourses: 3) social determinants of health (SDOH) discourse; 4) anti-oppression (AOP) discourse; and 5) citizen/social rights discourse.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The analysis offers a continuum of dominant and counter discourses on health services access and equity as determined from a gender-based diversity perspective. The continuum of discourses offers a framework to identify and redress organizational assumptions about, and ideological commitments to, sexual and gender diversity and health services access and equity. Thus, the continuum of discourses may serve as an important element of a health care organization's access and equity framework for the evaluation of access to good quality care for diverse LGBT populations. More specfically, the analysis offers four important points of consideration in relation to the development of a health services access and equity framework.</p

Agricultural to urban water transfers in Colorado: an assessment of the issues and options

December 1993.This publication is a product of the Natural Resources Law Center, a research and public education center at the University of Colorado School of Law.With constrains on the additional development of water supplies and in the face of growing urban demands for water cites have increasingly been turning to the water transfer process as a means of expanding their supplies. Urban encroachment onto formerly irrigated croplands long has caused the use of irrigation water to change to urban use. To make the transfers economically warranted the size of the transfers tends to be large. This transfer of large quantities of water from often rural areas with little alternative economic opportunity is prompting many western states to revisit their water transfer laws. This report examines approaches taken in the western states to both better facilitate the water transfer process and better address so-called third party effects. The report focuses initially on water transfer law and procedure in Colorado and notes that Colorado emphasizes a single kind of transaction--one in which there is a permanent purchase of a water right and a consequent total cessation of the associated activity. The report then provides a detailed evaluation of a variety of approaches used in other western states involving (1) conditioning water transfers, (2) requiring reduced water use, (3) providing incentives to conserve, and (4) facilitating short-term transfers. Finally recommendations are made for changes in Colorado law and procedure providing incentives to save water, establishing water banks, and addressing third party effects.Financed in part by the U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, through the Colorado Water Resources Research Institute