Ms. Catalina Devandas-Aguilar, OHCHR, Ottawa, April 12, 2019 In my capacity as United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities, I conclude today my first official visit to Canada, which took place from 2 to 12 April 2019. I am an independent expert who reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council…
Keynote: The Business Value of Accessibility, with David Best This forum will explore greater opportunities to support the alignment and delivery of City services. An opportunity for IT senior leaders and subject matter experts for a half-day session that will explore greater opportunities to drive the delivery of a digital government and excellence in IT…
Caroline Alphonso, Education reporter, The Globe and Mail, March 13, 2019 The Ontario government will examine the issue of students with complex needs being excluded from school after demands from disability advocates that the practice be halted. The issue of indefinite exclusions from school has been top-of-mind for many parents as Doug Ford’s government implements…
Star Editorial Board, The Star, March 12, 2019 Fourteen years ago Ontarians with disabilities might have been hopeful that the barriers that prevent them from fully participating in daily activities, from getting to work to eating in a restaurant, would be dismantled. Indeed, Ontario’s former lieutenant governor David Onley found that for most disabled persons,…
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC), Ottawa, March 11, 2019 The Commission calls for comments on an application by Bell Media Inc., Corus Entertainment Inc. and Rogers Media Inc., on behalf of their licensees (the Licensees), requesting that the Commission amend their condition of licence that requires prime time programming (7 p.m. to 11 p.m.)…
Francine Kopun, The Star, City Hall Bureau, March 10, 2019 Jessica Geboers steps off a busy subway car at College station, a cane in each hand, and confronts her first obstacle: two flights of stairs, 10 stairs each. The stairwell is narrow and passengers headed down the stairs stop to give her the room she…
Canadian Transportation Agency, Canada Gazette, Part 1, Volume 153, Number 10, March 9, 2019 Persons with disabilities in Canada face barriers that affect their ability to fully participate in activities of everyday living, such as travel. Members of the disability community widely report that they face attitudinal barriers, as well as indirect barriers to participation…
Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press, CBC News, March 8, 2019 The accessibility law that took effect in Ontario 14 years ago and has served as a blueprint for similar legislation in other parts of Canada has fallen well short of its goals and continues to leave disabled residents facing daily, “soul-crushing” barriers, a former lieutenant…
Rosa Marchitelli, Edmonton, CBC news, February 24, 2019 A woman with disabilities is fighting back after she was told not to return to a popular No Frills grocery store unless she brought help – because she couldn’t pack her groceries fast enough. When Linda Rolston complained to head office, Loblaw offered the Alberta woman $100…
Manitoba Disabilities Issues Office, February 20, 2019 In January 2018, The Manitoba Government appointed Theresa Harvey Pruden to conduct a mandatory review of the effectiveness of The Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA). The independent review focused on the processes, structures and activities undertaken in carrying out the purposes of the AMA, such as the accessibility…
