Ontario

MORE THAN VOTING BOOTHS: ACCESSIBILITY OF ELECTORAL CAMPAIGNS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN ONTARIO is a long article from Ontario about the rather sorry state of accessibility at campaign offices.

The page, on the website of the 

ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (AODA) Note: This is NOT a Government run Site!!.

reminds everyone of the ineffectiveness of the Ontario Legislation:

The AODA Clock is Ticking
There are 9 years, 49 weeks, 1 day till a fully Accessible Ontario! Will you be compliant?

This timetable, seemingly based on the end of the world scenario, when asteroid Apophis collides with Earth in 2029, promises four years of accessibility before everyone is blown to smithereens.  

In the lengthy article, no reference is made to Nova Scotia's pioneering requirement that MLA offices be accessible (since 2013, mind you).

Nor do those Ford voters seem to grasp that not being able to get into such an office means a person with a wheelchair could never ever be employed there.  

Of course bodily functions are not a consideration in Ontario, but here in Nova Scotia we treasure our right to pee in constituency offices, where accessible washrooms are mandated.

If I lived in Ontario (shoot me!), the glacial pace of accessibility reform  would drive me crazy.  It's demeaning, counterproductive and just plain cowardly.

As we lead up to our own accessibility legislation in Nova Scotia, let's remind ourselves that the best example is right here at home.  MLA constituency offices must be accessible.

Gus Reed

ps for the not-faint-of-heart, here's more on the failure of The AODA:

PREMIER WYNNE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOP MINISTER DUGUID RESPOND TO AODA ALLIANCES DETAIL PROPOSALS TO GET ONTARIO BACK ON SCHEDULE FOR FULL DISABILITY ACCESSIBILITY BY 2025

and it just gets worse (sorry for the ads):