Star Editorial Board, The Star, August 6, 2019 As accessibility advocates constantly warn, we’re all just one illness or accident away from becoming disabled. And with 1,000 Ontario baby boomers turning 65 every day, more of us will be dealing with aging vision, hearing, hips and knees that will impact our quality of life and…
Kalev Leetaru, Contributor, Forbes, July 6, 2019 Silicon Valley has become obsessed with addressing AI bias. As deep learning algorithms have graduated from the academic research lab into the real world, there has become a growing awareness of the implications of their innate biases as their limited Western training data has collided spectacularly with a…
Starting in 2015, rather than using a fixed date, we invite you to help us mark GAAD on the third Thursday of May Join us on Thursday, May 16, 2019, and mark the eighth Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD). The purpose of GAAD is to get everyone talking, thinking and learning about digital (web, software,…
Erica Johnson, British Columbia CBC News, April 29, 2019 Stearn Hodge says he’s had enough of airport security agents and airlines trying to take away the batteries for his portable scooter; a disability violation. He’s fighting to take United Airlines, WestJet and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority to the Canadian Human Rights Commission. Stearn…
Greg Thomson, AODA Alliance’s Commentary on the Minister’s Key Answers, April 23, 2019 In our comments, set out below, we respectfully disagree with some of the minister’s statements, and explain why. In other cases, we identify key comments she has made which support the narrow package of amendments to Bill C-81 that we placed before…
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,…
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…
Victoria Bibson, The Globe and Mail, January 30, 2019 Both the Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC) and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance (AODA) called on Education Minister Lisa Thompson to hold a summit of key stakeholders – including parents, teachers, principals, school boards and students – where they can discuss possible legislation and…
