Important events that impact people with disabilities in the news
Richard Raycraft, CBC News, March 7, 2021 $4 million cut comes as shock to those who rely on services to curb isolation during pandemic. Advocates for Canadians with disabilities related to reading printed text have launched a protest campaign after the federal government abruptly announced it would cut their funding, a surprise move they say…
Kristy Kirkup, Ottawa, The Globe and Mail, March 3, 2021 An advocacy group for blind Canadians is accusing the federal government of negligence after the organization applied for a funding program to support people living with disabilities through an online process it says was not accessible to those with visual impairments. The Alliance for Equality…
Peter Slatin, NFB Braille Monitor, March 2021 Crowded sidewalks and roadways have a few benefits to the blind: motion provides clues to what is happening. Before the pandemic, when I approached a corner I could hear whether other pedestrians were walking in the same direction, stopping, slowing or hurrying. I could hear cars traveling in…
Greg Thomson, Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act Alliance, January 28, 2021 A Victory Disability Advocates Now Invoke to Prevent Disability Discrimination in Access to Life-Saving Critical Care if Hospitals Start to Triage Critical Care. Weeks earlier, in October 1980, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced a bill into Parliament to add a new Charter of…
Olivia Bowden, Staff Reporter, The Star, January 18, 2021 While the rest of the province is hunkering down under new, stricter stay-at-home orders, Jim Rossiter is his usual place, with students in his classroom. Rossiter is a special-education teacher at Maxwell Heights Secondary School in Oshawa and, even with most schools shuttered amid surging COVID-19…
Dorianne Pollack, Guest Writer, Huffington Post, January 16, 2021 The COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone, but those of us who are blind or visually impaired have been compromised in ways that the sighted community may not realize. People who are blind or visually impaired already experience loneliness and isolation at much higher levels than the…
United States government Department of Transportation, Press Release, December 2, 2020 The U.S. Department of Transportation Announces Final Rule on Traveling by Air with Service Animals. The U.S. Department of Transportation today announced that it is revising its Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA) regulation on the transportation of service animals by air to ensure a…
Brendan Kennedy, Social Justice Reporter, The Star, December 2, 2020 A coalition of disability rights groups is calling on Doug Ford’s government to make public the directions they plan to give hospitals about how to decide who should be prioritized for life-saving treatment if intensive care units become overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. The call comes…
World Blind Union, November 2, 2020 The World Blind Union (WBU) and CBM Global Disability Inclusion have launched the new Accessibility GO! A Guide to Action. With 10 years to realise the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, accessibility is the foundation to building a more inclusive, equitable world where no-one is left behind in line…
Pragya Sehgal, ItBusiness.ca, November 2, 2020 Canadian businesses face a January 1, 2021 deadline to make all internet websites and web content more accessible, and experts are urging Canadian businesses to take a hard look at their web presence and take the deadline seriously. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) requires organizations with…
