The James McGregor Stewart Society

What's under your tree?

2011-12-25T09:44:00.001-04:00

Judge George Daniels has ruled that meaningful access to the NYC taxi system is required.

Plaintiffs Christopher Noel, Simi Linton, United Spinal, The Taxis for All Campaign, Disabled in Action brought a civil rights class action suit against The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission, and Commissioner David Yassky. Disability Rights Advocates represented the plaintiffs.

Judge Daniels ruling calls for "meaningful access" to taxis for people who are disabled. Though he does not define precisely what that means, he writes:

"It is clear, however, that less than 2% of the city's fleet being wheelchair accessible, resulting in the unavailability of taxi transportation and significantly increased waiting times for disabled persons who require wheelchairs, is not meaningful access. In fact, during oral argument, the TLC conceded that its regulations do not provide meaningful access to individual who require wheelchairs. It must do so."

In a footnote, he also writes:

"...meaningful access for the disabled to public transportation services is not a utopian goal or political promise, it is a basic civil right. Title II requires immediate and full compliance."

Presidential Proclamation -- International Day of Persons with Disabilities

2011-12-03T10:37:00.001-04:00

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release December 02, 2011

Presidential Proclamation -- International Day of Persons with Disabilities
By the President of the United States of America
A Proclamation

On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we recommit to ensuring people living with disabilities enjoy full equality and unhindered participation in all facets of our national life. We recognize the myriad contributions that persons with disabilities make at home and abroad, and we remember that disability rights are universal rights to be recognized and promoted around the world.

For decades, America has been a global leader in advancing the rights of people with disabilities. From the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 to the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which I signed last year, we have striven to bring the American dream and comprehensive opportunities in education, health care, and employment within reach for every individual. These actions --made possible only through the tireless and ongoing efforts of the disability community -- affirm our commitment to an equitable and just society where every American can play a part in securing a prosperous future for our Nation.

To fulfill this promise not only in America, but around the world, my Administration is putting disability rights at the heart of our Nation's foreign policy. With leadership from the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development, we are collaborating across governments and in close consultation with the global disability community to expand access to education, health care, HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, and other development programs. In 2009, we signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which seeks to ensure persons with disabilities enjoy the same rights and opportunities as all people. If ratified, the Convention would provide a platform to encourage other countries to join and implement the Convention, laying a foundation for enhanced benefits and greater protections for the millions of Americans with disabilities who spend time abroad.

We know from the historic struggle for disability rights in the United States that disability inclusion is an ongoing effort, and many challenges remain in securing fundamental human rights for all persons with disabilities around the world. On International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we press forward, renewing our dedication to embrace diversity, end discrimination, remove barriers, and uphold the rights, dignity, and equal opportunity of all people.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim December 3, 2011, as International Day of Persons with Disabilities. I call on all Americans to observe this day with appropriate ceremonies, activities, and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of December, in the year of our Lord two thousand eleven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-sixth.

BARACK OBAMA

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A Canadian Disability Endowment

2011-10-18T22:14:00.001-03:00

This should not be taken as authoritative tax advice. Please consult a professional.

Fitzgerald: The rich are different than you and me.
Hemingway: Yes, they have more money.

Being disabled in Canada really sucks. Accessibility is a very distant dream. Governments have excuses but no standards. The medical profession wants to cure you but not improve the quality of your life. Charter rights are a vague promise. By educational attainment, employment and income measures disabled folk lag well behind.

But there is exciting news. Canadians who meet the guidelines for a disability tax credit (itself a very generous program) are also eligible to have a Registered Disability Savings Plan, which can be funded through contributions, matching grants and outright government gifts.

The terms are extremely generous. By saving as little as $500 each year (there is no real minimum), matching grants and gifts will total an additional $2500 or more. With the power of compound interest, a modest 5% annual return produces $100,000 in 20 years.

To get full forgiveness of the government contributions, you need to wait 10 years after their last contribution before withdrawing.

Timed like aretirement plan, the money could be withdrawn starting at age 60 and ending at83. With modest 5% growth, totalpayments will exceed $311,000. Not badfor a $15,000 investment!. The rules arecomplex and include an option for accelerated end-of-life payout. The grants and bonds generate taxabledistributions, but distributions are excluded from calculating manymeans-tested government benefits. Readthe information sheet from Canada Revenueto understand the details for your situation.

RDSP distributions do not count as income for the purposes of the Guaranteed Income Supplement. The GIS is itself not taxable.

So a person with zero income at age 65 gets an Old Age Security payment of $15,208.92 nontaxable OAS+GIS. Our hypothetical saver would then get $7,000 to $21,000 from their RDSP, depending on the year, making for a maximum tax liability in Nova Scotia of just $2700 on a total income of as much as $36000. This is easily covered by the $7239 disability tax credit, making zero tax. In Nova Scotia, $30,000 tax-free is roughly the same as $37,000 taxable income.

What's this about? Wealth. The median Canadian family unit has about $69,000 in financial assets. The RDSP potentially puts disabled folks on an equal footing with their fellow citizens. Call me an optimist, but if word gets out, merchants will be installing ramps to attract your business, banks will see you as a preferred customer, restaurants will have Braille menus, extended care facilities will pay attention to their clients.

Most importantly, disabled folks will be assets, not liabilities.

We call on advocacy groups, educational institutions at all levels and financial institutions to encourage full use of RDSPs from the earliest opportunity. Hemingway had it right.

Gus Reed

PDF version

The evolving symbol of accessibility

2011-09-06T07:57:00.006-03:00

This post appeared in the blog 'Contrarian' - from our friend Parker Donham. Parker is a straight-shooter if there ever was one, and has dealt openmindedly with many access-related issues.

Posted by Parker on 5 September 2011 at 18:55 · Email a comment · Report a tpyo

The International Symbol of Accessibility (ISA), more widely but less correctly known as the handicapped sign, is evolving. The original symbol (far left), designed by Susanne Koefoed in 1968, was pretty much just a stylized wheelchair. The International Commission on Technology and Accessibility (ICTA), a committee of Rehabilitation International, humanized the it by adding a head (second from left). This is the icon we are most familiar with.

Critics complain that its static nature stigmatizes the wheelchairs as instruments of helplessness and passivity. In 2005, VSA, an international organization on arts and disability, produced a more active icon implying self-propulsion (third from left). At least one store, in Cambridge, MA., strengthened this impression by adding cartoon-like motion arcs to the wheel. To date, I haven’t seen these last two in wide use, but I sure like them better.

I was led through this history by Sara Hendren, an artist whose work focuses on disability issues, and who blogs at ablersite.org. For the last year, Hendren has kept tabs on human icons in everyday signage, and found herself “astonished to see how animated and evocative these signs can be.”

Hendren was initially tempted to recreate the ISA from scratch, but instead decided to “edit” it by adding color and motion. Using a mini-grant from the Awesome Foundation (a story in themselves), Hendren and a collaborator, philosopher Brian Glenney, created clear plastic decals that can be overlaid upon existing, old-style accessibility signs, jazzing them up in the process.

“I felt strongly that our decision to edit the image should make its own process visible, resulting in this clear-backed icon that fits over a number of standard, traditional signs,” Hendren wrote recently. “The juxtaposition of old and new draws attention to the comparison, and to the unconscious ways we consume images that drive our ideas about one another.”

If you would like some of these stickers, Hendren will send them free, as long as you promise to document their use. Email her at sarahendren @ gmail dot com.

H/T: Christina Agapakis, Scientific American

Was that a wheelchair that passed me?

2011-08-10T12:36:00.001-03:00

There is a developing trend where 'disabled' folks get well-deserved publicity for superlative accomplishments that are world class, even among the 'able-bodied'. Oscar Pistorius (he of the carbon fiber feet) is in the qualifying round for the 2012 Olympics. Canadian Paul Tingley, the gold medalist in the 1-Person Keelboat sailing event at the 2008 Paralympic Games happens to also be the Open World Champion. In other realms we are learning that a 'handicap' sometimes goes hand-in-hand with greatness.

Because convention blinds (see the problem?) us to appreciating achievement on it's own merits, we often don't hear about remarkable exploits. Prejudices about disability run incredibly deep, even among medical professionals.

One circumstance grabbed my attention, so I wrote an article for the Journal of Medical Ethics which appears below. Click on the JME link for a larger version.

Please share your favorite story by commenting.

JME

How charities work against the disabled

2011-07-12T07:43:00.001-03:00

In the wake of recent revelations about Canadian charities, here is a reminder that the exploitation of disabled people for the purpose of lucrative fundraising is not new. Ben Mattlin, who is the moderator of a disabilities SIG I belong to, wrote this terrific letter about the Jerry Lewis Telethon. 2010 was the final appearance of Jerry. This letter is 20 years old. So little has changed, yet there are glimmers of hope.

The letter appeared in the Los Angeles Times on September 1, 1991, on page 3

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE An Open Letter to Jerry Lewis: The Disabled Need Dignity, Not Pity
by Ben Mattlin

Dear Jerry Lewis:

I was born with a muscular-dystrophy-related disease, and your Labor Day telethons have always turned my stomach. I actually appeared on one in the late 1960s, as the Muscular Dystrophy Assn. poster child for the New York metropolitan area.

Now I am 28, a Harvard graduate, a self-employed writer, married, still in a wheelchair. I can finally formulate what I felt as a child: Despite your undoubtedly honorable intentions, you are sadly misinformed about disabilities. Moreover, you are misleading the able-bodied population while offending the rest of us.

You and your organization have done much good, to be sure, and I myself have benefited from your financial resources. But people with disabilities do not need or want to be characterized as objects of pity. Last year's Americans With Disabilities Act mandates our equal participation in society, including employment. What we need is to stress competence-not outmoded notions of charity.

Speaking of "the dystrophic child's plight," or calling disability a "curse" reinforces the offensive stereotype that we are victims. Wheelchairs are not "steel imprisonment," nor are we who use them "confined" or "bound"; they are liberating aluminum and vinyl vehicles. Similarly, phrases like "dealt a bad hand" and "got in the wrong line" are unfair. Disability is not "bad" or "wrong."

Other examples abound: Being dressed or fed by others is a hassle, but not an "indignity." There is no shame in needing others, no loss of dignity. Our needs are more personal and continuing than other people's-nothing to be ashamed of.

Saying that they are is to say our lives are somehow inferior. Is this how you feel? You have said our lives are "half"-we must learn to "do things halfway," be good at being "half a person." Even slaves in the Old South counted for three-fifths of a person.

Perhaps more disturbing is your use of the archaic word "cripple." While some of us have recently taken it on as a kind of hip slang among ourselves or for political purposes-much like the gay-rights group Queer Nation-this does not mean you should.

Worse still may be your ubiquitous "Jerry's Kids"-never more absurd than when followed by "of all ages." Yes, a lot of MDA's clients (not necessarily "patients") are kids, but do you know how hard it is to become, and be treated as, a self-respecting disabled adult in this society? You may argue it is a term of affection, but you wouldn't refer to your late friend Sammy Davis Jr. as your "boy."

What's really surprising are your inaccuracies. Your tales of disabled kids being taunted by other kids, for example, do not ring true. Most able-bodied kids whom I knew growing up couldn't wait to push my chair. They would even compete to be "chief wheeler."

You further allege that wheelchairs don't fit under restaurant tables, when for years they have come with "desk armrests." And what's this about their not going through metal detectors at airports? Big deal-they're metal! They go around them and are searched separately.

At times, you seem to understand. You talk about our right to live with dignity. What that means is access to schools and jobs, equipment like computers and vans, attendants and respect. The MDA can't be responsible for all this. But misleading people-potential employers, potential spouses, and even newly disabled people who don't know any better-only works against these goals.

When I was about 6 years old, I was in a full-page magazine ad for the MDA: big blue eyes peeking through blond curls. The caption read, "If I grow up, I want to be a fireman." I didn't want to be a fireman, and knew then my diagnosis called for a normal life expectancy. Confused, I decided that I wasn't really one of "them" and denied a part of my identity, my connection to the only community where I could learn to feel good about my disability. I didn't know the word "exploitation" yet.

I realize pity works-last year's telethon raised more money than ever before. And I know some folks think you're a saint. But I also know there were protests at last year's telethon-and will be more-asking why it has taken so long to find a cure and demanding a financial accounting.

Perhaps people would not be so upset if the association spoke less about finding a cure and did more to improve our lives as they are. I know MDA does buy wheelchairs and such. But what does it do to make our world more accessible and to promote employment? How many people with disabilities are employed by the organization and its corporate sponsors?

Don't get me wrong. Muscular dystrophy can be a killer, and we mourn our brothers and sisters who have died. Yet, despite the impression that one may get watching the telethon, we are not all terminal. And even if you whip MD, you will not end disability. It is here to stay; so are we.

Why not, this year, present active, well-adjusted disabled people-not superheroes but normal people-who nonetheless have used or could use financial assistance to achieve their goals of independent living?

The harm being done is considerable. A dynamic, young, educated, professional woman I know, who grew up with a disability similar to mine, says she cannot watch your telethon because it makes her want to kill herself. "Is that what people think of us?" she asks.

Your pity campaign is so dispiriting, so destructive, that no matter how many millions you raise, the ends do not justify the means. Why not wield your sizable influence to fight our real enemies? What truly handicaps us most are the obstacles-architectural, financial and attitudinal-erected by others.

(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 1991All Rights reserved)

W.H.O. Report on disability

2011-06-10T16:49:00.003-03:00

Readers will be interested to read the World Health Organization's just released report on disability which

"provides the best available evidence about what works to overcome barriers to health care, rehabilitation, education, employment, and support services, and to create the environments which will enable people with disabilities to flourish"

Here is the eloquent introduction by Stephen Hawking:

Disability need not be an obstacle to success. I have had motor neurone disease for practically all my adult life. Yet it has not prevented me from having a prominent career in astrophysics and a happy family life.

Reading the World report on disability, I find much of relevance to my own experience. I have benefited from access to first class medical care. I rely on a team of personal assistants who make it possible for me to live and work in comfort and dignity. My house and my workplace have been made accessible for me. Computer experts have supported me with an assisted communication system and a speech synthesizer which allow me to compose lectures and papers, and to communicate with different audiences. But I realize that I am very lucky, in many ways. My success in theoretical physics has ensured that I am supported to live a worthwhile life. It is very clear that the majority of people with disabilities in the world have an extremely difficult time with everyday survival, let alone productive employment and personal fulfillment.

I welcome this first World report on disability. This report makes a major contribution to our understanding of disability and its impact on individuals and society. It highlights the different barriers that people with disabilities face – attitudinal, physical, and financial. Addressing these barriers is within our reach.

In fact we have a moral duty to remove the barriers to participation, and to invest sufficient funding and expertise to unlock the vast potential of people with disabilities. Governments throughout the world can no longer overlook the hundreds of millions of people with disabilities who are denied access to health, rehabilitation, support, education and employment, and never get the chance to shine.

The report makes recommendations for action at the local, national and international levels. It will thus be an invaluable tool for policy-makers, researchers, practitioners, advocates and volunteers involved in disability. It is my hope that, beginning with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and now with the publication of the World report on disability, this century will mark a turning point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their societies.

Professor Stephen W Hawking

Feds in penalty box again

2010-12-24T16:41:00.001-04:00

Federal Court of Canada

I get a charge when a judge takes the government to the woodshed. Similar minded folks will enjoy reading the judgment of The Honourable Mr. Justice Kelen of the Federal court. He finds that 146 Federal Government departments have to make their websites accessible. It is baffling that the Feds tried to defend the indefensible. Section 15 of the Charter is crystal clear and the rule about website accessibility is their own rule.

The bottom line:

JUDGMENT
THIS COURT ORDERS AND ADJUDGES that:
1. This application for judicial review is allowed and the applicant is entitled to a declaration under section 18.1 of the Federal Courts Act that she has been denied equal access to, and benefit from, government information and services provided online to the public on the Internet, and that this constitutes discrimination against her on the basis of her physical disability, namely that she is blind. Accordingly, she has not received the equal benefit of the law without discrimination based on her physical disability and that this is a violation of section 15(1) of the Charter;
2. It is also declared that the applicant’s inability to access online certain departmental websites is representative of a system wide failure by many of the 146 government departments and agencies to make their websites accessible. The failure of the government to monitor and ensure compliance with the government’s 2001 accessibility standards is an infringement of section 15(1) of the Charter since it discriminates against the applicant and other visually impaired persons;
3. It is also declared that the government has a constitutional obligation to bring itself into compliance with the Charter within a reasonable time period, such as 15 months;
4. This Court will retain jurisdiction over the implementation of this declaration and the Court will resume its proceedings on the application of either party if necessary to ensure the effect of this declaration is properly implemented; and

5. The applicant is a public interest litigant and is entitled to her legal costs including disbursements in the fixed amount of $150,000.

Gus Reed

ps Those heraldic beasts in the court's coat of arms are "Flying Sea Caribou". They swim, they fly, they probably walk on their forelegs. But even they can't get upstairs at The Five Fishermen.

New Central Library

2010-12-15T00:03:00.001-04:00

Page 6 of the architect's final presentation of November 4 promises a fully accessible building.

So pardon our skepticism when we looked carefully at all 74 pages of the presentation and did not find a single wheelchair, stroller or person with a cane. In fact, amid all those healthy Haligonians, there is virtually no visible minority.

Pshaw! you say. This is merely an oversight, an artifact of the available selection of images for dreamy architectural renderings.

Well, architects who make oversights commit errors we have to live with for years. And pay for!

On page 38 we are treated to a panoramic view of the first floor interior. The information desk at lower left (information being what a library is meant to dispense) is in the form of a high counter, way taller than a person in a wheelchair, or a child for that matter. There are loads of specifications for including low sections in counters, but the very idea of a counter runs, well, counter to the precepts of barrier-free design:

The Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University identifies the following principles:

Equitable use
Flexibility in use
Simple and intuitive
Perceptible information
Tolerance for error
Low physical effort
Size and space for approach and use

So a tall counter for regular people and a short counter for kids and wheelchairs offends principle 1, 2 & 7

On page 40 we have an image of what is surely the main index to the collections. What used to be a card catalogue is now a bunch of computers. The architect has outdone himself by putting the computers way out of reach atop those self-conscious bar tables you find in trendy restaurants. Likely, wheelchair users and other non-gymnasts will be off in a corner at an ordinary temporary desk.

Principles 1,2 & 7 again.

On page 39 we seem to be looking into the cafe, which presents a long counter too high for a wheelchair user. Doubtless the cashier will be elevated at some distance above a customer, and wheelchair users will have to fumble with the credit card machine and won't be allowed to see the register screen.

1,2 & 7........

Finally. on page 42, is what we hope architects learn in architect school. A seamless blending of a ramp for accessibility and stairs for seating. Wheelchairs can get to the lower level and virtually any seating level. Bravo!

For this one act of inclusion, all is not forgiven. Don't you believe the "oversight" excuse. Disabled folk are invisible in Halifax, just as they're omitted in these 74 pages. Clearly, this architect doesn't know from accessible.

Gus Reed

A matter of respect

2010-11-06T21:04:00.000-03:00

Dear Wheelchair Users,

At the Department of Social Services website you will find that the government of Nova Scotia thinks your wheelchair limits you. You will find that attitude reflected in countless ways, including an October 25 article in the Chronicle Herald, about Bob Sheeny's transportation difficulties while attempting to visit his hospitalized friend. The reporter managed to add insult to injury by using these two sentences:

The driver even called his supervisor, who confirmed that wheelchair-bound passengers are not allowed on the 60.

However, Sunday morning the driver said that he could get in a lot of trouble for letting wheelchair-bound passengers onto non-wheelchair routes.

On the previous Friday, Gordon Delaney of the Chronicle's Valley Bureau wrote:

Amy Paradis, 16, is quadriplegic and confined to a wheelchair

Evidently, the style manual in use at the Chronicle Herald requires the modification of wheelchair either with confined or bound. This must be in the chapter on Gratuitous 19th Century Misconceptions. At DSS, they can't say wheelchair without saying limited. Bob Sheeny's wheelchair doesn't seem to restrain him in any way. In fact, what prevents him from visiting his friend is not his disability, but the intransigence of Metro Transit. Without the discriminatory foot-dragging of Metro Transit, Mr. Sheeny would be able to get on any bus in HRM - just like he could in London or New York.

It's not that Mr. Sheeny can't do things, he's prevented from doing them.

It is discouraging, 10 years into the 21st century, to find a government department so mired in the distant past that the word wheelchair must be modified by 'limited'. Tempting as it is, I try not to reflexively use 'dinosaur' as the modifier of 'government minister'. You'd think a government department charged with serving people would take the trouble to understand their circumstances.

Not in Nova Scotia, where the 19th century has a firm grip. Public servants and journalists should train themselves to use the much more accurate phrase wheelchair user. Wheelchairs are enabling and liberating.

Gus Reed

Halifax Inaccessible? Nah!

2010-09-15T14:51:00.001-03:00

READER’S CORNER
Not open for business?

Chronicle-Herald Wed, Sep 15 - 4:53 AM

My wife Emily and I, both of whom are disabled (my wife has spina bifida and has been in a wheelchair for the past decade, and I have had both of my legs amputated as a result of flesh-eating disease), have been planning a vacation to Nova Scotia for the past year.
Since February, we have been working diligently, along with our friends who are with us, to find accessible accommodation for two power wheelchairs. What we have discovered is that there is nearly nothing that is accessible in Halifax.
Since we have been in the metro area, people have been extremely friendly, including hotel and tourism staff in trying to be very accommodating. However, we think the people of Halifax need to understand more clearly what accessibility really means (for example, there was only one restaurant that was completely accessible close to the world-famous site of Peggy’s Cove). The principles of "universal design" need to be applied to the design of any building to make it usable for everyone, including people with disabilities.
Halifax is known as a famous tourist destination, with many beautiful sights to see. It would be a tragic loss if more people with disabilities were not able to enjoy this part of the country because of lack of accessibility.

Nick Ternette, Winnipeg, Man.

Disabled Canadians allowed to Vote

2010-03-12T13:55:00.000-04:00

Here is the article from CBC news. The full text of the decision of Matthew Garfield of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is worth reading. Garfield does not suffer the fools of Elections Canada gladly.

13/02/2010 5:03:18 PM

CBC News
Elections Canada must make its polling sites accessible to people with disabilities, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal says.

The tribunal issued its ruling Friday, in response to a complaint from a physically disabled Toronto man who argued that voting sites should be accessible to everybody.
In March 2008, Peter Hughes arrived at a polling station at a church in the Toronto Centre riding to vote in a byelection. Hughes, who uses a walker to get around, told CBC News he was shocked to discover that the polling station was at the bottom of a long flight of stairs.
"I sat down on the edge of the stairs and I went down on the seat of my pants down to the bottom of the stairs while somebody carried my walker," he said.
When he complained to Elections Canada staff, they advised him to exit from a different door and walk up a snow-covered ramp.
"There was no way that a disabled person could easily get up that ramp," he said. "It was very difficult for me to struggle up the ramp in the middle of the snow."
The church was chosen as a polling station again for the general election in October 2008. After filing another complaint with Elections Canada, Hughes decided to go to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
In its ruling, the tribunal said Elections Canada must improve accessibility at voting sites across Canada, adding that Elections Canada should also try to improve its complaint system.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal holds hearings and makes legal decisions on whether a person or organization has engaged in a discriminatory practice. If one of the parties doesn't agree with the tribunal's ruling, they can file an appeal with the Federal Court of Canada.
On Friday, Elections Canada said it is reviewing the decision.

Got an access problem? Let us help!

2009-08-19T16:47:00.006-03:00

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What others have said

Map of accessibility problems

View Accessible Nova Scotia in a larger map

The End of the Beginning?

2009-08-14T17:20:00.003-03:00

The world is round and the place which may seem like the end, may also be the beginning.
- Ivy Baker Priest

Many people breathed a sigh of relief when HRM Council voted Tuesday to continue free Metro Transit passes for blind Haligonians. I attended the meeting, and it was remarkable how eager Councilors were to put this issue behind them. Councilor Blumenthal made a brief and emotional comparison of heroic blind bus passengers and Sidney Crosby before moving to ignore the staff recommendation to terminate the passes. The rush to second the motion, the lack of discussion and the near-unanimous vote in favor made it clear that Council was anxious to put this episode in the rear view mirror. It was gratifying nonetheless.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the first floor washrooms in City Hall are being renovated to make them accessible. This has been on my list for years - citizens ought to be able to pee after they pay their taxes.

Wheelchair users will be impressed with the spiffy new ramp at MLA Leonard Preyra's constituency office at the corner of Young Ave. and Inglis St. He is apparently doing more renovation inside so that a disabled person can actually see his or her democratically elected representative. A disabled person could apply for a job in Leonard's office. Good for Leonard.

These are good signs, but the problem is that they are isolated, voluntary events. There is no overarching policy or even a promise to include people with disabilities in everyday life. We have repeatedly had the lesson that HRM staff is not required to consider accessibility as it plans and executes the business of the city. MLAs can maintain offices upstairs or behind narrow doors, and do it at your expense.

Problems faced by people with disabilities, such as unemployment and isolation are not the inevitable consequences of the limitations imposed by the disability itself. That crazy argument about recalling the bus passes because of "informal complaints" from other groups with disabilities is like "Obama Death Panels" - untrue, cynical and specious. People with disabilities know that it is the system that is stacked against them, and do not begrudge the few benefits received by other people with disabilities.

Just before the council meeting was called to order, I overheard a Councilor lamenting the presence of dogs accompanying blind audience members. She said "What are all these dogs doing here? I hope I don't end up in the hospital", thereby confirming the impression that, for her, being a Council member has nothing to do with you and me, and everything to do with her.

Be vigilant and carry on!

Gus Reed

Language Matters

2009-04-01T11:52:00.001-03:00

A modest success regarding The Future of Nova Scotia’s Natural Resources

2008-11-01T18:15:00.006-03:00

Our submission to Voluntary Planning on the subject of accessible Provincial Parks found a receptive audience. Find our submission here and the interim report of Voluntary Planning here. This is the relevant section:

Specific recommendations were made regarding accessibility or equitable treatment of persons with disabilities:

To raise the level of accessibility to international standards, the parks divisions in the Department of Natural Resources should formally commit to standards for parks and outdoor recreation as set out in Britian’s accessibility regulations and Proposed Architectural Barriers Act Accessibility Guidelines for Outdoor Developed Areas. It should also institute formal and binding accessibility review and approval procedure for all capital projects and programs and commit to remediation of non-complying facilities.

This begs the question about what the Disabled Person's Commission is doing. Shouldn't they be looking after this sort of thing?

Until November 14, comments can be submitted to Voluntary Planning by e-mail at volplan@gov.ns.ca , fax at (902) 424‑0580, or by mail to:

Voluntary Planning
Suite 600, 1690 Hollis St.
Halifax, N.S.
B3J 3J9

In support of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

2008-10-25T23:22:00.007-03:00

In August 2007, I wrote a critique of Canada’s signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is short and found at http://jmcgs.blogspot.com/2007/09/opinion.html .

In September 2007, I wrote to Steve Estey and Dave Shannon, Nova Scotians who were involved in negotiating the document, asking for comments, but did not hear back. On September 24, 2008 - a year later - I made reference to the lack of a response from Estey and Shannon in response to an email urging me to write to my MP in support of ratification of the treaty:

Last September, I asked for comments from Steve Estey and Dave Shannon, neither of whom has seen fit to respond in any way.

......I am disappointed that neither Steve nor Dave will discuss the implications of this treaty. They take credit for it and they should explain it.

and received this reply on October 1. I believe it is in the best interest of people with disabilities to be familiar with this Convention and to engage in thoughtful debate.

Gus Reed

********************************************************

Gus

I did not receive your earlier email, so I did not reply. You know you can call me respecting these issues any time, so don`t get pissy about me with third parties. If anyone should be disappointed it is Steve and I for not being given a second chance by you with the courtesy of a message confirmation.

Respecting the CRPD, I would agree with Steve that it is not a panacea. The Canadian Charter is not either. The few words of section 15 highlight its great limitation for persons with a disability because it does not guarantee economic, social or cultural rights. The CRPD says on a global stage to Canada that it is limited in its application of disability rights because the new paradigm fuses both individual and group rights. Also, Chief Justice Dickson (as he then was) stated that Canada must interpret domestic law in a manner consistent with its international legal obligations to the full extent possible. These are powerful points of leverage for future promotion of disability rights using the CRPD.

I believe that a Canadians With Disabilities Act would be a further valuable tool in individual and systemic advocacy. It remains policy for the three major frderal parties, but notwithstanding the fact that several NGOs continue to push for a CDA, it has not yet come to fruition.

As you know, in Nova Scotia persons with a disability are discriminated against on a daily basis, and often face barriers that were removed in other jurisdictions a generation ago. Clearly governmental processes and programmes in place to promote equal participation of Nova Scotians with a disability are failing.

One in eight Canadians has a disability (3.6 million people). For Canada’s Aboriginal population, the rate of disability is more than one and a half times the rate for the non-Aboriginal population. Women are more likely than men to have a disability, regardless of age. Within Canada the potential market of persons with a disability is valued at over 25 billion dollars.

Statistics do not reveal the emotional and financial effect that barriers facing persons with a disability has on this community, and their family members, loved ones, neighbors and co-workers.

Among the daily obstructions experienced by disabled Nova Scotians are: &#

Manageable transportation
Available housing
Accessible educational opportunities
Attention to personal needs
Admission to leisure and entertainment facilities
An unemployment rate greater than 55%

Sadly, while for many years Canada was accounted an international leader in the promotion of rights and opportunities for the disabled. More recently, this position has slipped as disability advocacy groups have been forced to jockey against each other for government funding and support. In Nova Scotia the situation may be the poorest for persons with a disability throughout all other provincial jurisdictions. It is almost impossible to get a wheelchair accessible taxi, city buses often do not have accessible routes, many Nova Scotians with a disability do not have secondary education, and poverty among this group is at a level equal to third world proportions.

Of greater concern for persons with a disability are the condescending attitudes of `pity’ and ‘sympathy’ and the belief that the disabled must be ‘looked after for their own good’. This not only engenders forms of marginalization for the disabled but, moreover, in a cruel reversal, serves to internalize the message of exclusion to the disabled themselves. By minimizing their own expectations for equality and dignity, contemporary society effectively underlines the inequity and discrimination people with disabilities are trying to overcome.

In Ontario and throughout the world, governments have increasingly turned to the development of Disability Acts to address the needs of persons with a disability. On the whole this approach draws on existing bodies within a particular jurisdiction such as human rights acts or disability secretariats. The legislation then provides a holistic and comprehensive human rights approach to creating a fully inclusive community. Essentially, this legislation creates disability rights and policy by doing the following:

Involving all stakeholders in discussions to make policy and programme changes
Acknowledging that equality begins with understanding that discrimination exists
Making dignity for persons with a disability part of organizational values and a standard to measure people against
Encouraging a respectful and inclusive province. No one wants to be excluded.

In The Accessibility for Ontarians with a Disability Act (AODA) the government of Ontario was the first Canadian jurisdiction to adopt a Disability Act. They chose to enforce the Act with a series of voluntary measures, bureaucracy, Advisory Council and Tribunals. The Ontario Government has stated that it is committed to a fully accessible Ontario by 2025. The recent appointment of a well known disabled person who actively supports the AODA as Lieutenant Governor may suggest that the Ontario Government is sincere in its efforts.

In March 2007 Canada became a signatory to The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons With A Disability. Each Province supported the Federal Government in its decision to sign the Convention. The stated purpose of the Convention is “to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity”. The Convention is both a development and a human rights instrument. It is also a legally binding policy instrument which is cross-disability and cross-sectoral.

The Convention marks a ‘paradigm shift’ in attitudes and approaches to persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities are not viewed as "objects" of charity, medical treatment and social protection; rather as "subjects" with rights, who are capable of claiming those rights and making decisions for their lives based on their free and informed consent as well as being active members of society. The Convention gives universal recognition to the dignity of persons with disabilities.

As you have noted, in Nova Scotia the time has come to remove the barriers faced by persons with a disability. A paradigm shift is needed, and a Nova Scotians With Disabilities Act will be central to change for an equal and inclusive province. I believe the CRPD will add significantly to the discourse on disability rights here at home. The dilemma always remains effective enforcement of the rights.

The most significant advantages of the CRPD include:

(i) providing an immediate statement of legal accountability regarding disability rights;

(ii) clarifying the content of human rights principles and their application to people with disabilities;

(iii) providing an authoritative and global reference point for domestic law and policy initiatives;

(iv) providing mechanisms for more effective monitoring, including reporting on enforcement, supervision by a body of experts mandated by the CRPD, and the consideration of individual or group complaints under the Optional Protocol;

(v) establishing a useful framework for multi-sectoral cooperation;

(vi) providing a fair and common standard of assessment and achievement across regions; and

(vii) creating a broad forward looking rights based consensus providing transformative educative benefits.

Inequality for persons with a disability has everything to do with the denial of dignity, and that dignity cannot be reclaimed without several supports in place to promote inclusion. z The general principles of the CRPD also create a powerful framework for the development of future Canadian disability policy. They include the following:

• Respect for inherent dignity, individual autonomy including the freedom to make one’s own choices, and independence of persons

• Non-discrimination

• Full and effective participation and inclusion in society

• Respect for difference and acceptance of persons with disabilities as part of human diversity and humanity

• Equality of opportunity

• Equality between men and women

• Respect for the evolving capacities of children with disabilities and respect for the right of children with disabilities to preserve their identities

• Reasonable accommodation for persons with disability

• Awareness-raising of the great potential of persons with a disability

• Provision of habilitation and rehabilitation

• Collection of statistics and data

• Federal and inter-provincial cooperation

• Provincial implementation and monitoring

• Right to life, liberty and security of the person

• Equal recognition before the law and legal capacity

• Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse

• Right to respect physical and mental integrity

• Freedom of movement

• Right to live independently in the community

• Freedom of expression and opinion

• Respect for privacy

• Respect for home and the family

• Right to education

• Right to health

• Right to work

• Right to adequate standard of living

• Right to participate in political and public life

• Right to participation in cultural life

• Access must be ensured to:

· Justice

· Living independently and being included in the community

· Information and communication services

· Education

· Health

· Habilitation and rehabilitation

· Work and employment- human resource policies and practices

· Adequate standard of living and social protection

· Participation in political and social life

· Participation in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport

The CRPD makes it clear that limitations on resources is not an excuse to deny equality unless it causes undue financial hardship. Limited resources have to be prioritized according to reasonable and objective criteria and funding must be proportional. The UN suggests that these strategies for effective use of limited resources be used:

Target low-cost programmes
Target people in the most marginalized situations
Be non-discriminatory
Draw on national cooperation
Include persons with disabilities in all stage

Success of the CRPD will also require mainstreaming disability in existing processes, programmes and policies. No Ministry, department or entity can achieve the goal of equality for persons with disabilities on its own. An interconnected network of actors is required to reach this goal. Therefore, different entities need to ensure that their respective spheres of responsibility provide the necessary opportunities and access to persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. If any one element of the network fails in this obligation, persons are not able to reap the benefit from the other elements. Both the AODA and CRPD use this strategy.

The CRPD also has established a Committee of Experts to meet in order to consider any matter with regard to the implementation of the Act. Furthermore, there is a Secretariat tasked with reviewing implementation of the Act. This provides new resources for the promotion of disability rights globally. The UN notes that together the Committee of Experts and Secretariat undertake the following:

Advocate the equalization of opportunities for, the full enjoyment of all human rights by, and the well-being of persons with disabilities in all respects;
Create awareness of the CRPD
Act as a catalyst to promote international, and technical cooperation on disability issues, including by identifying strategic areas for the exchange and sharing of expertise, best practices, knowledge, information and relevant technologies in order to enhance the capacity-building of all relevant bodies
Collaborate in the fulfillment of the above tasks with all relevant stakeholders, including organizations of persons with disabilities

In light of the above, even with the CRPD the challenges remain enormous for persons with a disability in Nova and throughout the world. While work should continue in earnest to implement the CRPD, there should be no diminution of the energy exerted for parallel initiatives. This includes test case litigation, data retrieval, policy research, disabled persons organizational capacity building, and awareness raising to name a few. These efforts should not be seen as mutually exclusive, but be part of a synchronized spectrum of activities aimed at guaranteeing dignity for persons with a disability. Finally, at all stages in their creation and implementation persons with disabilities must be included.

I look forward to your further thoughts,

Dave

Vote for an accessible HRM

2008-10-15T12:50:00.001-03:00

October 15, 2008

For Immediate Release

PDF version

Starting September 24, The James McGregor Stewart Society asked HRM Council candidates to acknowledge the importance of an accessible HRM by endorsing an Agenda for Access. The Agenda covers simple considerations of access to Government Functions, Infrastructure and Municipal Services. As of October 14, 35 of the 57 candidates have endorsed the agenda. Check the latest tally below.

The Agenda is such an uncontroversial program, easily accomplished by routine fairness and courtesy, that failure to endorse it raises questions of judgment and commitment to good government. The James McGregor Stewart Society recommends voting only for candidates who endorse the Agenda for Access.

Here are the comments of those who have replied (no one who replied withheld support)

Agenda for Access in HRM

2008-10-15T12:31:00.003-03:00

It is estimated that 20% of Nova Scotians live with a disability. In order to achieve a fully accessible and barrier free HRM, the James McGregor Stewart Society seeks your support for some important measures. Most of these measures require only common sense and consideration of the needs of disabled Haligonians.

Fair Government

All public meetings must be held in accessible locations, with appropriate amenities (signers, accessible washrooms) served by scheduled and accessible public transportation.
There will be continuing emphasis on HRM website accessibility
There will be an accessibility section in the Annual Report, detailing accomplishments
HRM sponsored or funded events will be accessible to everyone
A higher profile will be given to the HRM Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities

Barrier Free Infrastructure

The HRM Municipal Service System Guidelines (Redbook) will be continually monitored to include modern standards of accessible design for infrastructure
Heritage properties which are public accommodations will have a plan for accessibility
HRM will develop plans to eliminate barriers in currently Inaccessible public facilities and budget accordingly

Effective Municipal Services

A fully accessible public transportation system, including taxis, remains one of HRM's highest priorities
Public Safety and services must pay special attention to the needs of people with disabilities – for example:
Include disability considerations in snow removal standards (curb cut clearing, bus platforms, tactile clues)
zero tolerance for crimes against disabled people
Emergency measures should address planning and protection for disabled people.

Have a say in the HRM Council election

2008-09-17T14:06:00.044-03:00

Your Society is asking candidates for the HRM Council election on October 18 to endorse our Agenda for an Accessible Halifax. If you are in agreement with this initiative, you can send a message to the candidates urging their participation by clicking the link at the bottom or using the list of candidates to compose your own email.

Dear HRM Council Candidate,

It is estimated that 20% of Nova Scotians live with a disability. In order to achieve a fully accessible and barrier free HRM, the James McGregor Stewart Society seeks your support for some important measures. Most of these measures require only common sense and consideration of the needs of disabled Haligonians.

The names of candidates, their indication or absence of support and their comments are posted on our website http://jmcgs.blogspot.com/ Thank you in advance for supporting this initiative.

If elected to the HRM Regional Council, during my term I will support the following measures to ensure a more accessible Halifax:

Government

-All public meetings must be held in accessible locations, with appropriate amenities (signers, accessible washrooms) served by scheduled and accessible public transportation.
-There will be continuing emphasis on HRM website accessibility
-There will be an accessibility section in the Annual Report, detailing accomplishments
-HRM sponsored or funded events will be accessible to everyone
-I will encourage and pay attention to the HRM Advisory Committee on Persons with Disabilities

Infrastructure

-The HRM Municipal Service System Guidelines (Redbook) will be continually monitored to include modern standards of accessible design for infrastructure
-Heritage properties which are public accommodations will have a plan for accessibility
-HRM will develop plans to eliminate barriers in currently Inaccessible public facilities and budget accordingly

Municipal Services

-A fully accessible public transportation system, including taxis, remains one of HRM's highest priorities
-Public Safety and services must pay special attention to the needs of people with disabilities – for example:
-Include disability considerations in snow removal standards (curb cut clearing, bus platforms, tactile clues)
-zero tolerance for crimes against disabled people
-Emergency measures should address planning and protection for disabled people.

Thank you for your support.

Members of the James McGregor Stewart Society are asked to send emails encouraging candidates to support the Agenda for an Accessible Halifax.

Click to start an email to all candidates who have yet to respond

Or if your browser does not support mailto tags, cut and paste from this list:

and their replies:

Disabled not welcome in Constituency Offices

2008-08-27T12:40:00.008-03:00

Constituency Matters do matter

A PDF of this document is available here .
Some PowerPoint slides of MLA offices are available here .
PowerPoint handouts are available here.

The regulations of the Legislature Internal Economy Board pursuant to
the House of Assembly Act set out the expenses Nova Scotia MLAs can be reimbursed for maintaining an office in their riding and other constituency matters as follows

Admittedly, this is not a lavish sum. A secretary or administrator would cost $1,500 maybe, the rent on the office in the stripmall another $1500. Heat, light, stamps, copying – it adds up.

There are no strings to this allowance, so MLAs are free to have offices wherever they want.

We surveyed the 52 Constituency Offices maintained by MLAs. We visited a few, but most were telephoned. We were polite, and on the whole, respondents were polite. It is fair to say that the idea of accessibility does not figure prominently in the choice of location.

We asked about 6 categories of accessibility

Parking
Barrier Free approach
Doors and entrance – power doors or doors with a 2kg opening force
Washrooms
Information – Braille, visible alarms, etc.
Meeting Space

Each category got a “1” if present in any way, and a “0” if absent.
We were generous.
The ratings were totaled for each office
38 surveys were completed by phone or visit – 73%

This chart shows the frequency of accessible services

So most offices represented that meeting rooms were accessible, although we did not press this question in detail
Few offices could meet the commonly accepted standard of door pressure
9 offices had accessible washrooms

This chart represents the distribution of the totals for all offices surveyed

For example, 17 offices had 2 accessible services
The average number of services is 2.47
One person made the case that access wasn’t needed because the MLA made home visits, forgetting that a person with a disability might be qualified for a job at the office

It is indefensible to use taxpayer money in a way that physically excludes a large proportion of voters. Disabled employees are, as in all locations with poor accessibility, openly disqualified.

Therefore, the James McGregor Stewart Society proposes that the legislature institute a few simple requirements for constituency office accessibility:

Parking

Paved Lot
One van accessible space with signage

Barrier Free approach

Curb cut
Ramp
Sidewalk

Doors and entrance

Level threshold
1000mm width
Sized and spaced for accessibility
2 kg door opening pressure or power door

Washrooms

Raised toilet
Accessible sink
Sized and spaced for accessibility
Grab bars
Appropriate dispensers
Installed at correct height
Braille signs

Meeting Space and general accessibility

Braille signs
Sized and spaced for accessibility
TTY access
One computer optimized for access
Audible and visible alarms

The government is in the enviable position of being a desirable and reliable tenant. Accessibility can be accomplished by giving landlords the list and saying “make it so”, or by shopping for suitable space.

It may cost a bit more, so we propose that the constituency allowance be increased by an appropriate amount per month, provided the MLA files a declaration of compliance. Without the declaration, none of the stipend is allowed. The new regulations are in force as of January 1, 2009.

This small effort will be a symbol of government’s commitment to meaningful access for all Nova Scotians.

How Nova Scotia fails people with disabilities

2008-08-06T17:35:00.019-03:00

This editorial is available in PDF format.

"......you got to have handicapped parking stalls", an HRM planner said, speaking to a Chronicle-Herald reporter about the design for a refurbished Spring Garden Road.

The thought of HRM buying the last few "Handicapped Parking" signs on Planet Earth would be laughable, if it wasn't reminiscent of VIA Rail buying inaccessible rail cars on the cheap. Good 21st century signs often say "Accessible Parking", but the best say nothing at all and just display the universal access symbol.

Stalls are for horses.

It’s hard to keep track of the many government task forces, stakeholder engagement processes, sustainable frameworks and visioning conversations. A cynic might think the government is trying to confuse its citizens by seeking opinions on a dizzying array of topics, and yet our governments at all levels seem, well, paralyzed when it comes to persons with disabilities.

For all the talk about inclusiveness, these government committees consistently omit the participation of persons with disabilities. Since the concerns of people with disabilities are seldom voiced, here are a few important issues affecting us.

Equality

Government is supposed to make sure it does the same thing for everyone. Take Province House for example. The front door is how most people enter, but the back basement door is how wheelchair users get in. For the heritage-minded folks who designed this system, all is 19th century perfection. But is democracy an idea, or just a pile of limestone? Government should be proud to build a ramp at the front entrance as a symbol of equality.

“The Manitoba Legislative Building has become the first legislative building in Canada to provide full access at its front doors with the completion of a universal access ramp at the front entrance, Premier Gary Doer announced today.” November 19, 2007 Press Release

So what are we doing for Democracy’s 250th?

This idea of “separate but equal” is insidious, pervasive and demeaning. It didn’t work in the southern United States because people grew tired of being second class citizens Yet it persists in Nova Scotia for people with disabilities regarding where kids go to school, where you can go on a bus, even whether you can go to your MLA’s constituency office.

Access

Building codes and licensing standards are antiques and even the ones we have are poorly enforced. They selectively exclude and punish persons with disabilities and favor businesses.

Although there are evolving and ever better standards of accessible design, they are shunned and ignored by our civil servants. They throw up their hands and hide behind statements like “There is no changing the grade…..” when referring to steep streets. They think that bulldozers are the only way to change access. How about a public elevator trail? A funicular like Quebec City? Shuttle buses? Switchbacks? Nobody seems aware that design for accessibility is good for everyone.

As you can see from this table about disability in Canada from the 2006 post-census survey:

nearly three quarters of disabilities in Canada (hearing plus mobility) can be addressed in part by removing physical barriers or providing useful technical assistance. And then people aren’t disabled, are they? How can governments fail to try to better the lives of 4.2 million people?

“Isn’t access a human right?” you ask. Not to the NS Human Rights Commission, which, by refusing to consider complaints about the effect of discriminatory regulations, has failed to advance the interests of people with disabilities.

Advocacy

The province funds at least two organizations that purport to advocate for persons with disabilities.

The Disabled Persons Commission, an agency of the provincial government, lists 7 publications on its website:

• 3 from 2004
• 2 from 2003
• the 2005 Canada-Nova Scotia Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities.
• the 2006 Canada-Nova Scotia Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities.

The words Disabled Persons Commission only appear once each in the last two documents, which they did not author.

The League for Equal Opportunities (LEO) is a twenty-seven year old charity which received over 99% of its 2007 funding from government. Its self proclaimed mandate is to “advocate for legislative changes”. Their most recent position paper, which covers a mix of programs, acknowledges that they “do not have the resource capacity to carry out the research and share the knowledge that can lead to policy changes”

Other charities are problematic because they administer government programs which help their bottom line. The Abilities Foundation runs a wheelchair recycling (really distribution) program which gave out 66 wheelchairs through the end of 2007. They were bought with $407,000 of taxpayer money, and given to financially needy wheelchair users. Sounds pretty worthy, until you consider that MSI will give anybody (after a bit of a wait) a new hip for free.

Wheelchairs and hips do the same thing – they give access to jobs, recreation, movement. Life. So why do you beg for a wheelchair and get a hip for free? Why doesn’t the province just distribute wheelchairs directly? Is this effective advocacy by the Abilities Foundation?

According to Revenue Canada’s Consultation on proposed policy on fundraising by Registered Charities it is “rarely acceptable” (the worst category), for charities to spend more than 70 cents to raise one dollar. The 2007 Registered Charity Information Return of the Abilities Foundation reports it spent 88 cents for every dollar raised. ($180,109/$203,294 = 88.6%)

The silent minority

It’s hard work being disabled. Even when you get up at 8, it can be 10 before you’re showered and dressed. A flat tire on your wheelchair can ground you for a week. A rude bus driver can take you to the wrong stop. The Access-a-Bus must be booked far in advance.

I wonder why my scooter-enabled friends didn’t hie themselves off to the important Halifax by Design meeting on Infill Case Studies & Urban Design Framework held in January 2007? Maybe they’re relying on the Disabled Persons Commission or LEO to represent them. Maybe they’re tired. Maybe they’re stuck in a snowbank. Maybe the accessible parking is taken by people just popping into the grocery store.

Everyday indignities

• Mike Savage, MP, gets into a wheelchair on Parliament Hill to show his understanding of the predicament of the disabled. Does he spend a day as an African-Canadian? A woman?
• A good friend and his wheelchair can’t visit his child’s publicly funded daycare on the second floor.
• Swimming, a highly therapeutic activity for people with mobility difficulties, is unavailable to wheelchair users at Cole Harbour Place unless they can negotiate ladders.
• For historic preservation reasons, the Maritime Command museum at Stadacona is inaccessible to veterans in wheelchairs. Is that the legacy of Vimy?
• There is no Braille in the elevators at the Victoria General or Dickson Building
• In the Halifax by Design publications there is:

o No mention of the word accessible in General Design & Heritage Design Guidelines or Heritage Conservation
o One mention in The 10 'Big Moves' of the Downtown Halifax Vision, but only in respect of transportation and in the context of proximity.
o Ditto Transportation & the Land Use Framework
o None in Vision, Guiding Principles & the Precinct Approach, no Universal either.
o Ditto Development Approvals & Economic Development
o Ditto Public Realm & Sustainability Framework

The solution

• Think Access, not Disability
• Think Requirements, not Suggestions
• Revise the building codes and the licensing standards

o Write them down
o Enforce them
o Keep them current

• Review every government program for fairness to everyone, including persons with disabilities
• Devise and enforce compliance systems for government programs and capital projects.
• Encourage charities to recruit directors from among the beneficiaries of their programs. Require it of charities with taxpayer funding.

What’s at stake goes to the heart of democracy. It’s time that people with disabilities reap the fruit of their work, their taxes and their votes.

Gus Reed

You can change the grade

2008-08-04T15:02:00.005-03:00

Here is an example of how a switchback sidewalk turns an impossible hill into a useful pedestrian way. The problem is to turn a 12% grade into a wheelchair friendly 8% grade. This configuration uses a wider pedestrian area of 16 feet, but still leaves room for one way traffic and an 8 foot sidewalk on the other side. These proportions are a bit off, but it would work. By way of example, it could be done in the current sidewalk/parking lane on Bishop Street.
Longer switchbacks handle steeper slopes. 28 foot switchbacks can tame a 33% slope and can integrate a stairway. The proposed Sackville Promenade, if done right, could be a signature feature of a pedestrian-friendly Halifax.
Imagine the welcoming prospect of a non-life-threatening route from the waterfront to Spring Garden Road. Kind of a nice alternative for tourists - Government House, The Old Burial Ground, St. Mary's Basilica.

HRM’s outdated sidewalk standards

2008-07-18T18:26:00.015-03:00

A PDF version of this article is available here.

Americans have been on a roll lately, offending nearly everyone with an uninterrupted series of blunders. One bright spot south of the border has been the emancipation of disabled people through the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).This visionary piece of legislation reaches into virtually every corner of American life and beyond.It is why the cruise ships that dock in Halifax have accessible facilities and why your service dog flies with you on the plane.

Meanwhile, back in Halifax it’s still difficult for disabled folks to get around. HRM has assembled all its design standards in a document called Municipal Service System Guidelines – more familiarly The Red Book. You can get one for $100, or you can find it at the library. You’d think it would be published in PDF format so it could be kept up-to-date and consistent, but getting $100 from each HRM contractor must balance some budget somewhere. And the high price makes sure no civilians are looking over the shoulders of civil servants.

Here is what Public Works says about the standards assembled in The Red Book

It is the intention of the HRM to conform with the advances and improvements in the practice of municipal engineering, and we look forward to a successful utilization of the document.

Over the years I have wanted to have a look at the standards, and my requests to HRM have gone unanswered.After my latest request and usual lack of response, I trundled myself down to the library and had a look.The Red Bookis an impressive and weighty tome.There isn’t a lot on pedestrian amenities, but their diagram of pedestrian ramps is the drawing on the next page.I can’t parse notes 2 & 3.
The Plan View on the HRM Standard Detail page looks a lot like this next diagram and accompanying text from Accessible Rights-of-Way: A Design Guide, a ten year old publication of the US Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board.It is downloadable at

http://www.access-board.gov/PROWAC/guide/PROWguide.pdf .

No advocate of decent urban design should be without it.The 134 page document is crammed with good ideas and thoughtful analysis.But this illustrates how not to configure ramps.Are you scratching your head?

Here's the accompanying text:

For stability, it is important to approach the base or toe of the ramp straight on when ascending. Most manual chair users will take a run at an up-ramp to take advantage of forward momentum. To provide a straight shot to the top from the base at the street, the curb ramp needs to be perpendicular to the curb it cuts, so that both sides of the ramp are the same length. If the curb ramp is skewed, with one side shorter than the other, it will be necessary to turn while ascending—a more difficult and taxing maneuver—or enter the ramp at an angle to the change in slope, which affects balance and compromises control. When all four wheels of a wheelchair or scooter are not in contact with the rolling surface, some of the maneuverability necessary to deal with surface irregularities and upslope—and the control necessary to manage a downslope— are lost. Because the downhill slope of a ramp usually ends in the street, a loss of control may have serious safety effects.

If you use a wheelchair, you understand instinctively the importance of this explanation.This is not voodoo, it’s science, and I’m completely baffled as to why this has not penetrated within Public Works. By the way, this illustration is part of a longer document written by a committee of 23. The committee includes at least 13 groups that seem to be municipal public works experts, and a representative from Canada(Canadian Standards Association, Technical Committee on Barrier-Free Design).The complete list is appended.In a city with varied topography, it seems to me that a planner would want to have lots of choices.My first priority for crossing a street is to get the heck out of the line of fire, and I’ve often wondered why there is an uphill slope to challenge me at exactly the wrong moment.It turns out that there are alternatives.
Here is one that seems really sensible – it gets me out of harm’s way by incorporating the ramp (the hard part) into the sidewalk.

Here is an intersection illustrating four types of pedestrian ramps. It looks amazingly like the configuration at Chebucto and Mumford:

Accompanying text:
A line drawing illustrating an intersection with 4 corners and the 3 different types of curb ramps based upon right-of-way widths: two perpendicular (to the curb face) curb ramps, one for each crossing, are shown where the right-of-way is wide enough for a landing at the top; a parallel curb ramp is shown where the right-of-way is too narrow to allow a landing at the top; and a combination ramp is shown where the sidewalk is ramped down to a somewhat lower landing from which a short perpendicular ramp connects to the street at the apex of the curve. A free right turn lane with a pedestrian island and a bulb-out (extension of the sidewalk across the parking lane) are also shown.

Here is another configuration that works for a retrofit in a confined space:

Accompanying text:
A pair of line drawings in plan that demonstrate how to retrofit a 7-foot-wide sidewalk with a complying curb ramp. The ‘BEFORE’ plan shows a perpendicular curb ramp across the full width of the sidewalk, without any level landing at the top. The ‘AFTER’ plan shows the use of a combination curb ramp with landing replacing it.

The point is that there are lots of choices. Choices are tricky, but if the Public Works Department had an expert on accessible infrastructure who signed off on project design – an accessibility officer – all of the various options might get considered, and Halifax might become pedestrian friendly. Leaving it to Public Works gets the status quo. So the statement about the Red Book It is the intention of the HRM to conform with the advances and improvements in the practice of municipal engineering seems like a commitment that needs revisiting.Our Regional Council needs to see that promises made by departments are fulfilled, and we deserve better than outdated standards. Gus Reed
Appended stuff:
A. Relevant paragraphs from The Red Book

7.2.5.6 Pedestrian ramps shall be placed at all cross walk locations.

8.1.6 Walkways shall be located and designed whenever possible so that the grade of the walkway shall not exceed 8%. Steeper grades may be permitted only where the topography makes it impractical for grades to be less than 8%, or to avoid the installation of stairs.

8.1.7 A pedestrian ramp shall be constructed at the ends of walkways where curb and gutter is present, where wheel chair access is required and where pedestrian movement is controlled – e.g. cross-walks.

8.2.3 In locations with curbs, pedestrian ramps shall be installed on both sides of each road at all roadway intersections and at Canada Post Community Mail Box locations. A pedestrian ramp is not to be installed at the end of a walkway unless the walkway ends at a roadway intersection.

B. Public Right-of-Way Access Advisory Committee Members

1. AARP
2. America Walks
3. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials
4. American Council of the Blind
5. American Institute of Architects
6. American Public Transit Association
7. American Public Works Association
8. Association for Education and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired
9. Bicycle Federation of America
10. Californians for Disability Rights
11. Canadian Standards Association, Technical Committee on Barrier-Free Design
12. City of Birmingham, Department of Planning, Engineering and Permits
13. Council of Citizens with Low Vision International
14. Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers
15. Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
16. Hawaii Commission on Persons With Disabilities
17. Hawaii Department of Transportation
18. Los Angeles Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services
19. Massachusetts Architectural Access Board
20. Municipality of Anchorage
21. National Center for Bicycling and Walking
22. National Council on Independent Living
23. National Federation of the Blind
24. New York State Department of Transportation
25. Paralyzed Veterans of America
26. Portland Office of Transportation
27. San Francisco Mayor's Office on Disability
28. State of Alaska
29. TASH
30. Texas Department of Transportation
31. The Seeing Eye
32. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration

David Lepofsky’s Carole Riback Memorial Lecture on Effective Advocacy on Disability Issues

2008-07-11T09:46:00.005-03:00

We need to listen carefully to this speech by David Lepofsky
David is a tireless advocate for people with disabilities in Ontario, and knows whereof he speaks.

Read more about David and this speech at the website of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, or AODA Alliance for short.

The Historic Building Myth- a call for reform

2008-07-04T23:36:00.001-03:00

The James McGregor Stewart Society calls on the Minister of Tourism and the HRM Heritage Advisory Committee to explicitly acknowledge that accessibility is the top priority in exterior renovation of heritage properties and to stop funding preservation for public buildings without adequate accessibility.

Historic property designation allows owners to apply for grants up to $10,000 for exterior preservation work and a rebate on part of the HST. Owners love this program, and it is popularly misunderstood to preclude such additions as ramps. So unless someone is paying attention, your own tax dollars can be used to exclude you from property.

Persons facing barriers are very used to exchanges like this:

"I'm looking for the ramp"

"I'm sorry, we don't have one. We're a historic building, you understand...."

Actually, we don't understand. You seldom see historic buildings that have not been retrofitted with electricity, flush toilets and telephones. The answer really is:

"Our building's appearance and my comfort are way more important than any rights you might think you have. We have a double standard and you better get used to it!"

The HRM Heritage Property Program Planning and Development Services DESIGN GUIDELINES simply say:

All exterior alterations to a municipal registered heritage property (ranging from, but not limited to, paint color, window replacements, re-roofing, and signage) must be reviewed by the Heritage Office.

I know I feel better that paint color is more important than I.

The word interior does not appear in Nova Scotia's Heritage Property Act. Should you be so lucky as to own a heritage property, you receive a Notice of Registration of Property as a Provincial Heritage Property which reads in part:

The effect of registration in the Provincial Registry of Heritage Property is that no demolition or substantial alteration in exterior appearance of the property may be undertaken from the date of registration without the approval of the Governor in Council.

So when someone says to you that they don't have an elevator or Braille signs because they're in a historic building, they are giving you a load of hooey. Don't let them get away with it!

Halifax is a town with hundreds of antique buildings whose charms are advertised to tourists and residents alike. Just like they do in London, England, for example. Here is a statement on Historic buildings in England:

It is important in principle that disabled people should have dignified access to and within historic buildings. If it is treated as part of an integrated review of access arrangements for all visitors or users, and a flexible and pragmatic approach taken, it should normally be possible to plan suitable access for disabled people without compromising a building’s special interest. Alternative routes or reorganising the use of space may achieve the desired result without the need for damaging alterations. Download the full document

And in the US:

Many city programs, services, and activities are conducted in buildings that are historically significant. In addition, many cities operate historic preservation programs at historic sites for educational and cultural purposes. If no accessibility changes are made at these facilities and locations, individuals with disabilities are unable to visit and participate in the programs offered. For example, people who use wheelchairs would not be able to reach the courtroom or clerk's office located in a historic nineteenth century courthouse if no physical changes are made to achieve access. Full text here

So what's so special about you, Halifax?

Do you agree? Give the Minister a piece of your mind! billdooks@eastlink.ca

One in One Thousand - The forgotten legacy of James McGregor Stewart

2008-03-14T14:23:00.002-03:00

James McGregor Stewart, 1889-1955, son of a Pictou lawyer, grandson of a Cape Breton minister, was a principal of Stewart, McKelvey, the downtown Halifax law firm. In his time he was Nova Scotia’s premier corporate lawyer, and he wrote the rules for many of our most successful and long-lived companies. He was president of the Canadian Bar between the wars. He is one of fewer than 500 Canadians to be awarded the Commander of the British Empire for services to the Empire in WW II. His obituary was in the New York Times.

He was the gold medalist of his class at Pictou Academy, and at Dalhousie, where he studied classics. In those days Dalhousie actually got to put forward a Rhodes Scholar in alternate years. The faculty senate at Dalhousie voted in 1910 not to appoint Stewart because he had had polio as a boy and walked with crutches. The motion proposed by Dean Weldon himself read:

Serious physical defects should be considered as rendering a candidate ineligible for the Rhodes Scholarship.

One of Stewart’s mentors later wrote:

Do you think the Senate did right? Or should he have had a chance to see whether his intellectual superiority more than counterbalanced his physical inferiority?

In spite of his evident unsuitability for the Rhodes, Stewart went on to lead his Law School class, shaped Eastern Canada's leading corporate law firm, was Chairman of Dalhousie's Board of Governors, and was an authority on Rudyard Kipling. He met Kipling and left his extensive literary collection to Dalhousie. He is thought to be an exemplar of Kipling's 'Thousandth Man', which is vintage Kipling and worth reading. Here is the first stanza:

One man in a thousand, Solomon says,
Will stick more close than a brother.
And it's worth while seeking him half your days
If you find him before the other.
Nine nundred and ninety-nine depend
On what the world sees in you,
But the Thousandth man will stand your friend
With the whole round world agin you

It's important to understand what is wrong and who is hurt here. It's not just that Stewart was treated badly by a petty and short sighted academic. Imagine if Weldon had succeeded in keeping Stewart marginalized entirely. We all would have been deprived of what is clearly a fine legal mind, and Halifax would have been a dfferent place. Maybe the Bank of Nova Scotia would be the Bank of Ontario

That was then, you may be thinking; 21st century Canadians are protected from such discrimination by the Charter of Rights. Fast forward a century and have a look around Halifax in 2007. There are hundreds of manual wheelchairs, power chairs, walkers, strollers (infants are temporarily mobility challenged) handbikes and scooters, service animals, canes and crutches, all in use by folks who need to go about their business.

Then take a close look at our infrastructure. You’ll see rough sidewalks, devilish curb cuts, steps, narrow doors, crowded retail spaces. Sighted people get killed in our crosswalks - imagine being blind! Most importantly, there are dozens of completely inaccessible public spaces. Government regulation routinely omits even minimun accomodation. The Alcohol and Gaming Commission, which issues lucrative licenses on behalf of all of us, does not require any accessible washrooms. The Human Rights Commission will not consider the broad question of access for all Nova Scotians.

So why do these conditions persist 100 years after James McGregor Stewart? The short answer is that there are no up-to-date standards and no commitment by government to see that all of its citizens can access public places.

It is rare for persons with disabilities to be masters of their own destinies. There is change in the air. Nova Scotia needs to remedy a century of neglect of persons with disabilities, and unleash the potential of people like James McGregor Stewart.

Welcome Tabitha Taylor - 2008 Summer Intern

2008-03-11T20:45:00.000-03:00

Thanks to a generous grant from James McGrergor Stewat's lawfirm of Stewart, McKelvey and to the HRM Community grants program, we are employing Tabitha Taylor (photo at left, with Kevin Murphy).

For the next 12 weeks Tabitha will undertake a long list of tasks that will bring further recognition to your society. Tabitha is a 2007 Dal graduate, currently in her second year in the BEd program at Acadia. She is enthusiastic and capable, with skills matched to the projects. Here are some of the projects we have lined up:

Ceremony at JMcGS's grave in Camp Hill on his 119th birthday, June 30.

Completing a checklist of street and sidewalk configurations under the supervision of the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Dalhousie University.

Group development on Facebook

Further research on JMcGS, including locating his Commander of the British Empire medal (fewer than 500 awarded to Canadians ever)

Interviews with people who knew JMcGS

Bibliography of material in archive

Common purpose with new Hill center at Dal

Updated Brochure and possible Braille version

Podcast

Tabitha has her work cut out for her! She can be reached at tabitha.noelle@gmail.com

Have wheels, will travel

2008-03-11T16:35:00.000-03:00

Not to mention service dogs, white canes, hearing aids, oxygen, walkers, crutches and attendants.

Americans don't have a lot of vacation choices anymore. Their dollar is in the toilet, they're reeling from record (for them) gas prices, the economy is a shambles. A vacation in the Maritimes might be the only affordable alternative. But it's business as usual down at the Ministry of Tourism, where primitive access standards are the order of the day. Chalk up another loss for Nova Scotia.
-Gus Reed

With agencies, resorts and cities eagerly catering to the growing number of travellers with disabilities, the countless obstacles faced by someone in a wheelchair are starting to fall

ALLISON DUNFIELD Special to The Globe and Mail

April 23, 2008

After a car accident put Daryl Rock in a wheelchair in 1983, the Vancouver native became determined to put his life back together - and that meant continuing to follow his dream of seeing the world.

"I considered it a part of my rehab," he says.

Fast-forward 25 years, and his Facebook world map has 31 countries and 190 cities checked off - he has been to every continent but Antarctica and Africa.

And he's certainly not alone on the road. While people with disabilities say they face definite challenges to touring the world, with a bit of planning and because of improving accessibility, it is becoming easier and increasingly common.

A 2002 study by the Chicago-based Open Doors Organization found the travel market for Americans with disabilities to be worth about $13.6-billion (U.S.) - and that it could double if accessibility were improved. In a 2005 study, the organization found that the number of leisure trips in the United States was up 50 per cent over 2002.

Quebec's Kéroul, a non-profit organization dedicated to accessible tourism, says people with disabilities are just as likely to travel as the rest of the population, with more than half of the 4.2 million in Canada taking at least one overnight trip a year.

"It's a normal thing to do for everybody. People with disabilities are the same as everybody else in the sense that it is important for them to experience what this life and this world have to offer, and travel is a big part of that," says Ray Cohen, publisher and editor-in-chief of Abilities Magazine.

But although the "world is in transition," he says, the visually impaired or physically disabled are still encountering problems everywhere from buses to train station washrooms to airplanes. "These are issues that people with disabilities cannot take for granted because it means the difference of being able to go someplace or not."

It certainly hasn't been easy for Rock, who has encountered unsympathetic hoteliers, lost wheelchairs, long waits to disembark from planes and blown tires on the road.

He recalls one trip when he arrived late at his hotel, checked in and went up to his room - only to realize he could not get through the doorway of the washroom. He went back down to the front desk and told the staff the room was not wheelchair-accessible as advertised. They told him that they had had disabled people stay there in the past, "so it's obviously your problem."

"By this time it was midnight. I ended up having to find another hotel," he says.

For most travellers, booking flights, rushing to the airport and getting on a plane with your luggage can be trying, but "if you have a disability, just multiply everything by four or five," says Sandra Carpenter, the acting executive director of the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto. She uses a wheelchair to get around and travels to conferences as part of her job.

Air travel poses one of the biggest hurdles, especially for those who are dependent on a medical assistant for mobility, eating and going to the washroom, or those who are too obese to fit into a standard seat; such passengers must book a second seat - though Air Canada may offer a discounted fare during some flights.

The Council of Canadians with Disabilities argues that having to pay for an extra seat is unfair because it makes travelling by plane prohibitive, with trains, ferries and interprovincial buses already required to allow attendants to travel free.

In 2002, the council launched a complaint with the Canadian Transportation Agency. "I would love to be able to travel on my own. But [because I have attendants] ... I'm the one that has to bear the cost," says Joanne Neubaur, one of the principal complainants in the case.

Three months ago, the agency ruled that Canada's three major carriers - Air Canada, WestJet and Air Canada Jazz - must provide an additional seat at no cost to people with severe disabilities who require an attendant to help them during a flight and to clinically obese passengers.

But a month later, both Air Canada and WestJet filed for leave to appeal the decision. Richard Bartrem, WestJet's vice-president of culture and communication, says his airline "believes there were errors in law in the decision. It was for those reasons that we launched this."

The Federal Court of Appeal has yet to decide if it will grant the leave to appeal, and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities fears the case will drag on.

"Of course I was very disappointed. I thought it just made sense that they provide this accommodation," says Neubauer, who lives in Victoria and requires attendants because of her rheumatoid arthritis.

EXTRA PLANNING IS KEY

The key to planning a trip with a minimum of snags - and there will always be snags, the well-travelled Rock notes - is to know and communicate your needs and rights.

Experts in the field of accessible travel generally agree that doing all your booking online - especially for a complex trip requiring multiple stops or accommodations - is next to impossible if you have special needs because it may not be possible to make specific requests; it's best to phone the airline or hotel to outline exactly what you are expecting.

Brian Simms, a travel agent with Toronto's Access Holidays, which specializes in accessible travel, says it's important for people to consider all the equipment and medical supplies they will use, as well as their requirements on the plane and in a hotel. For example, a passenger needs to figure out whether they will need to be transported from the gate to their seat via an onboard wheelchair. Will there be room to store crutches? How will they get from the check-in counter to the gate?

Rock says it's also critical to pack necessary medical supplies in a carry-on bag.

And many travellers recommend bringing tools and a manual, as wheelchairs are loaded in the cargo bay and can arrive dismantled or damaged.

Simms says it's also important to have a Plan B in case of a flight delay. "An able-bodied person can say, 'Oh, I'll get on the next flight.' A special needs person can't do that." His company will find an accessible hotel for each leg of the journey - just in case.

In many situations, it's simply a matter of knowing your rights. For example, under the Canada Transportation Act, people in wheelchairs or with other accessibility issues can request that their seat be the most accessible one on the plane - i.e., on the aisle, with a movable armrest - when they book, at no additional cost.

Rock notes that airlines are also required to pre-board passengers with disabilities. But often airlines try to help him to his seat last, he says, adding that it's both "irritating" and embarrassing to be lifted into his seat in front of everyone.

During a flight, crews will help to open a meal tray or transport a passenger to the washroom with an aisle-sized onboard wheelchair, but they are not required to assist a person inside the washroom, so solo passengers are advised to consider using a catheter.

Once you've arrived, it's important to have booked a room that will meet all your requirements.

"First off, when you make a reservation, don't just ask for an 'accessible room,' as they all have different features," says Candy Harrington, editor of Emerging Horizons, a U.S.-based magazine on accessible travel. "If you need a specific access feature, such as a roll-in shower, you have to ask for that. All accessible rooms do not have roll-in showers - some have tubs with grab bars. So terminology is important - describe the features you need."

As well, many hotels - even the larger chains - may not have more than two or three accessible rooms, so booking well in advance is essential.

Rock says he usually finds chain properties such as Hiltons or Sheratons to be the best bet for the first night; once he finds his bearings, he usually searches for a smaller, cheaper option.

People should also carefully consider the type of vacation and location.

"I always start with a cruise," travel agent Simms says, if the person hasn't ventured out much. For one thing, a passenger in a wheelchair can spend a week aboard without much worry because most cruise ships are very well equipped.

Other popular choices are Las Vegas, San Diego, Disney resorts and most major cities in the United States. Travellers such as Rock and Adam Lloyd, who runs the website Gimp on the Go, an online repository of accessible destinations, say it's because the Americans with Disabilities Act has substantially improved accessibility in all corners of that country.

"Most U.S. vacation spots do very well," Lloyd says. Worldwide, he adds, travellers consistently rave about Britain, Australia, Germany, France and some parts of Latin America.

Sadly, Vancouver is the only Canadian city commonly mentioned in terms of accessibility. Pat Danforth of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities says that while Canada was ahead of most countries in that respect in the 1980s, since the U.S. disabilities act came into effect in 1990, this country has fallen far behind because we don't have similar across-the-board regulations.

By doing some online research, however, vacationers can get a good sense of what they will encounter. Websites such as Gimp on the Go have an up-to-date list of accessible hotels, tourist spots and restaurants.

Obviously, the trip should suit the individual, not the wheelchair, Harrington says. "There's a whole world beyond theme parks, and just because you are disabled doesn't mean you are automatically going to like theme parks. If you didn't like them pre-disability, you're not magically going to think they're real cool when you suddenly use a wheelchair."

JUST GO

Toronto's Walt Balenovich, a wheelchair maverick who has written a book about his journeys, Travels in a Blue Chair, excels in choosing adventures far from the tourist traps.

He never books his hotels in advance and is always able to find someone to help him get around. He doesn't even worry about finding an accessible shower - there's always soap, water and a washcloth, he says.

"I travel alone so I have to rely on people to help me," he says. "Who wouldn't help somebody in a wheelchair? It takes five minutes out of your day and you come away from it feeling good."

He says that because he's "looking to rough it," he enjoys staying in hostels, where he meets interesting people and often has a more unique experience.

Even a medical emergency abroad did little to deter him. "I had a bad experience in Zambia where I fell out of the wheelchair and broke my leg." A doctor with a "blurry X-ray machine" slapped a cast on him, and Balenovich continued on his way.

He's proof that experiences are limitless for the traveller with a little chutzpah. He has soaked in the spray of Iguazu Falls in Argentina, visited rice paddies in Indonesia and floated on a catamaran over the Great Barrier Reef of Australia.

"I just find a destination. I don't worry about whether the wheelchair is going to be a problem or not. The world is not built with a ramp."

ONLINE HELP

Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality

Council of Canadians with Disabilities

Open Doors Organization

Access-Able Travel Source

Access Holidays

Centre for Independent Living in Toronto

Emerging Horizons

Gimp on the Go

Canadian Transportation Agency

TRAVEL TIPS

Make sure to give yourself plenty of time to research your vacation - some experts recommend spending up to a year if the trip is out of the country, such as a cruise or a safari.

Identify yourself to the airline and/or travel agency as someone with a disability. Under Canadian Transportation Agency guidelines, you are not required to go into detail - simply describe what you need.

Be sure to keep all your medical documentation, wheelchair instructions and medications with you in case of an emergency.

Confirm and reconfirm all your flights, transportation to and from the hotel and any reservations as far in advance as possible, again stating your needs.

Travel during off-hours or off-days to allow more time for yourself and for airline and hotel staff to help you out; ideally, book your flight early in the day in case of delays.

Determine what sort of flight you will need. Planes that carry more than 30 passengers in Canada are required to have an on-board wheelchair that you can use to get to and from the washroom; however, you will not get help in the washroom, so make sure you will be able to manage.

Request the most accessible seat possible - i.e., an aisle seat with an armrest that folds up, preferably close to the washroom.

Unwelcome in Halifax

2008-03-11T16:33:00.003-03:00

A snapshot of accessibility in the Lord Nelson block on Spring Garden

Provincial Party Platforms

2008-03-11T11:01:00.000-03:00

Waiting patiently since requesting details of party platforms in August, your society has at last some information to help voters decide where their interests lie. It would be a stretch to call these policies a cohesive plan, and you will have to read the statements (in topics -> provincial to the right) in detail to decide for yourself what makes sense.

Here is a rough categorization of the substance of the statements as provided by the provincial NDP and Progressive Conservatives:

Category	Conservative	NDP	Grand Total
Assistive devices	1	2	3
Education	5		5
Employment	3		3
Housing	5	4	9
Income Assistance	1		1
Rights	3	3	6
Support Services	8	2	10
Transportation	1	1	2
Grand Total	27	12	39

A complete list is posted here.

Despite promising a statement on September 11, 2007, the Liberal Party has not sent any information. The PC document arrived this February 27 (190 days) and the NDP arrived in a lightning fast 17 days on September 4.

The PCs have combed through their various departments and programs to enumerate anything that might intersect with the interests of persons with disabilities. Not all of these programs would disappear under a new regime – things like self-managed care are here to stay, we hope.

The NDP does not have the luxury of being able to take credit for existing programs, so provides a more general statement of areas of interest.

The 8 categories tabulated above do not cover all areas of interest to persons with disabilities. For example, where is any mention of health? Much is made of Nova Scotia’s commitment to healthy lifestyles, yet many community recreational facilities are inaccessible. Or public safety? Crimes against persons with disabilities are a growing concern.

The NDP forgets education and income completely, while the debate rages about devoting educational resources to mainstreaming. A young woman with a disability was denied support for seeking a higher degree. Many people with disabilities struggle with low incomes and a system that discourages initiative.

The answer, of course, is a Nova Scotians with Disabilities Act, which would require government and business to treat persons with disabilities identically with other citizens. If all departments of government were required to review all of their programs with the objective of neutrality on questions of disability, we would have no inaccessible municipal swimming pools, no libraries without Braille books, and no taverns without wheelchair washrooms.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it?

A few of the programs earn special mention

Bad ideas

The PC program in partnership with the Abilities Foundation, which began with a $1 million payment in March 2005, and had helped just 33 individuals in time for the foundation’s annual report in 2006. (PC)
Cost sharing of private workplace accommodation. Which amounts to bribery to hire individuals with disabilities. This encourages the perception of persons with disabilities as people who need a handout. (PC)
Public sector diversity talent pool – 49 hired in 2007 . (PC)
Adopt UN Convention – Send your complaints to Geneva . (NDP)
Income Assistance programs – people need incentives, not handouts . (PC)

Good ideas

Visitability Standards in public housing – ending isolation for those who can’t always get out. . (PC)
Accessibility standards for public housing. Finally, something in writing! (NDP)
Independent living – everyone is a winner . (PC)
Tax credit – to account for the often heavy start-up costs to enter the work force. . (PC)

Gus Reed
March 14, 2008

Dis Abled or Un Abled

2008-03-11T08:08:00.002-03:00

You've probably seen the South African Blade Runner Oscar Pistorius, a double amputee who has those wonderful carbon fiber prostheses from Iceland. If you haven't, check him out on YouTube.

Better minds than mine have wrestled with the question of whether he should be allowed in the regular Olympics. At first he was not allowed (by the IAAF), then that decision was reversed (by the Court of Arbitration for Sport). He has until July 16th to qualify for the South African relay team. He's only been running for four years and he's close to the required time.

Meanwhile, Olympic swimmers have been clamoring to wear the new Speedo LZR swimsuit, which is slightly buoyant and is seamless. World records have been falling like dominoes.

To me, this is proof of how far athletes will go to win. Is Pistorius disabled, or has he just got better sneakers?

This is a tough question, and goes to the heart of the situation of literally millions of disabled Canadians. Are they disabled, or just kept from doing things? Here are two slides to think about:

Click MENU above for a larger version.

I use a wheelchair, and when I go to the new Best Buy, I'm not disabled. If I go to the Metro Center, I'm inconvenienced; if I go to the Mahone Bay Trading Company at Historic Properties, I'm disabled, and if I go to Park Lane Mall I'm inconvenienced, disabled and endangered. So depending on whether some one has taken the trouble to make things accessible, I'm either as able as anyone or completely UNable.

The second slide above shows the classification of disabilities in Canada. Very nearly 75% are the kinds of disabilities that can be fixed by changing the environment. Why would the government hesitate to improve the lives of 4,235,580 of its citizens?

Granted that some of these people are severely challenged, and low floor buses won't make a difference. But the needs of most can be met with ramps, power doors, closed captioning, podcasts, grab bars and curb cuts. Suppose it's only half - that's still 2 million+!

Most of the problem is probably just inertia. No party has a decent platform on disability, and no party has bothered to look at the numbers and cost. They are so focused on reducing wait times for hip replacements that they never think about prevention or better facilities.

Just by changing some building codes and paying attention to Charter rights, the lives of so many would be bettered.

I hope Pistorius cleans some Olympic clocks. That will confound the gym teacher!

Gus Reed

Nova Scotia Conservative Policy Statement

2008-03-10T17:28:00.001-03:00

A Progressive Conservative Government is committed to working together with the disability community and other government partners to offer services that meet the current and future diverse needs of Nova Scotians with disabilities. Our government and party believe that an important component to the overall health and support of persons with disabilities is consistent work towards independence.

Currently, as a government, we are working through various departments to offer programs that enhance the employability of persons with disabilities such as enhanced community accessibility, career counselling, campus-based supports, and educational support for our youth, technical aid assistance, addiction treatment, mental health services.

As was noted in our Throne Speech in November 2007, "The New Nova Scotia is our destination for this province for the year 2020... It is a place that offers everyone a fair shot at life's success, while helping those who need a hand."

We are currently working on many initiatives - some already in place, others being planned or improved - to assist persons with disabilities and help even the playing field in so many ways.

We have also proposed to establish a new Persons with Disabilities Allowance that recognizes that many Nova Scotians are unable to work due to a permanent disability. Necessary research on the initiative is underway.

Community Supports for Persons with Disabilities

Providing assistance for those who have special needs or disabilities is a key role of government. In the 2007-08 Budget, we directed an additional $2.2 million to Community Services to make their programs and services available to more individuals with disabilities. This funding will help improve client service delivery and better meet the needs of Nova Scotians with disabilities who depend on our support.
Through the Department of Community Services, we are continuing the renewal of the Services for Persons with Disabilities Program. Under this renewal initiative and through community consultation and feedback, it became clear that people wanted more choices. Our government responded with the introduction of three new programs for persons with disabilities. These types of program enhancements will result in a more responsive, accessible and sustainable system of supports for Nova Scotians with disabilities.

The programs are:
1. The Direct Family Support Program was introduced in January 2005;
2. The Independent Living Support Program was introduced in January 2006; and
3. The Alternate Family Support Program was introduced in June 2006.

The Direct Family Support Program provides supports and services to both children and adults with disabilities who live at home with their families. The intent of the program is to support and provide funding to eligible families to enable them to support their family member with a disability at home.

The Independent Living Support Program provides up to 21 hours a week of supports and services to eligible individuals with disabilities who are semi-independent and require minimum support in their own apartment or home. This program recognizes the potential of individuals and facilitates opportunities for continuing growth and personal development.

In March of 2007, our government announced it would be enhancing the Independent Living Support Program in Cape Breton. The program is currently offering support to about 25 individuals with everyday tasks such as maintaining a household, laundry, shopping, banking, preparing meals, and community access. This program is presently being expanded across the province.

In June 2006, the Alternate Family Support Program was introduced. We have now extended the Alternate Family Support Program province-wide to help families caring for adults with disabilities. Alternative Family Support is a critical program as it assists persons with disabilities to be supported in a private home setting. Alternative families receive financial support to help offset costs associated with care.

The introduction and expansion of three new programs for persons with disabilities offers more opportunities for Nova Scotians to remain with their families, to live on their own with support or in other family-type environments in their communities. Through individual support planning, individuals and their families participate in determining the most appropriate support option to meet their needs.

An ongoing review of residential options and adult day programs will further help determine an appropriate continuum of supports for individuals with disabilities. Residential renewal is being undertaken in order to support individuals with disabilities in the right program, the right place, and the right time; and in the least intrusive environment to enhance quality of life.

Vocational and other day-program services complement the residential and community-based support system. The continuum of vocational and day program services is offered to persons with disabilities in order to provide opportunities for individuals with disabilities to participate in employment or day-time activity programs. Currently, 30 Adult Service Centres located in communities across Nova Scotia provide services to approximately 1,771 individuals with disabilities.

Wheelchair Recycling Program

In March 2005, our government partnered with the Abilities Foundation to deliver a children's wheelchair program. Based on the success of the children's recycled wheelchair program, our government provided $1-million to the Abilities Foundation of Nova Scotia to enable adults with disabilities to receive the equipment they need to become more active and participate fully in their communities. Applications are available through the Abilities Foundation.

Community Accessibility

Because persons with disabilities often encounter barriers when attempting to access businesses and the services they provide, our government has assisted in making improvements through the Community ACCESS-ability Program. Since 2000, we have helped hundreds of community organizations throughout Nova Scotia make physical improvements, working with them toward a more inclusive society.

Past projects have allowed organizations to install elevators, automatic door openers, wheelchair accessible washrooms, ramps and specially-equipped swimming docks in buildings such as community halls, libraries and recreation facilities.

Under the Community ACCESS-ability Program, government will make grants of up to two thirds of the direct and indirect costs of renovations, installations, and/or equipment, with the sponsoring organization being responsible for raising at least one third of the improvement project's funding from other sources. The maximum grant available for individual projects is $10,000. Priority will be given to applications which demonstrate that the improvement proposed is part of an overall plan and commitment to the inclusiveness of persons with disabilities.

Potential project sponsors may obtain more information and application forms on the website at: www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/muns/infr/access/access.asp or by calling
1-902-424-7798.

Enhancing Employment Opportunities

We know the percentage of those with disabilities who are active members in our labour market is too low. Employment Support Services works with a variety of partners, including employers and industry associations, to support recipients of income assistance and individuals who have a disability to secure employment. This activity may involve supports such as the creation of a subsidized job placement or supporting individuals to access recognized training.

As well, under the Labour Market Agreement for Persons with Disabilities, individuals may be eligible for funding intended to make their future employment more accessible. Accommodations of various types are considered on an individual basis. This support is also extended to people who are currently employed but are at risk of losing their job due to their disability.

As a government, we continue to work to make the provincial public service a more diverse workplace. By striving to become a more diverse workforce, we are providing a more effective public service to the citizens of this province. We are making in-roads through initiatives like the Diversity Talent Pool which helps to increase representation of designated groups in the public service through short-term, casual job placements. In 2007, 49 positions were filled through the talent pool, an increase of 40 per cent from 2005-06.

On December 3, 2007 - International Day of Disabled Persons - our government led a panel discussion on including more disabled people in our province's workforce. As the executive director of our Disabled Persons Commission noted of the initiative, "There has never been a better climate in Nova Scotia for hiring people with disabilities. We know there is a skills shortage and Nova Scotians with disabilities are truly an untapped resource that can help Nova Scotia businesses fill their employment needs." We want to take advantage of this opportunity for our citizens.

Affordable Housing

With regard to the Affordable Housing Agreement Phase II, we called for proposals under the New Rental Housing Initiative of the Canada-Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Agreement in November 2006, inviting not-for-profit organizations and private developers to submit proposals to build new affordable rental housing for individuals, families, seniors and persons with disabilities. This will provide hundreds of low-income Nova Scotians with access to more affordable homes.

In addition, the New Rental Housing Program funded under the Canada/Nova Scotia Affordable Housing Agreement incorporates "visitability" requirements. The intent is to allow individuals with disabilities to independently access the homes of their non-disabled peers. Visitability ensures that the principal spaces in a building, the entrance, entry-level floor, and washroom facilities are accessible to a person in a wheelchair. The design requirements also allow for future adaptations of dwelling units should residents experience reduced mobility.

Housing Adaptation Programs

Nova Scotians continue to tell us they want as many supports in their homes and communities as possible. Our Strategic Framework - developed with the input of more than 1,400 Nova Scotians - is a plan that contains a range of services for individuals of all ages and their families, aimed at assisting people to remain in their homes and communities as long as possible. In our Budget Address of 2007, we confirmed that we will make all provincially-owned buildings in Nova Scotia barrier-free for public access by 2020.

There are currently three specific housing adaptation programs targeted at keeping individuals with disabilities in their own homes:
1. Access-A-Home program - This is a provincially-funded program that provides grants to home owners to assist them in making adaptations to their homes for wheelchair use. The amount of assistance depends upon total household income. The maximum grant available is $5,000.
2. Home Adaptations for Seniors' Independence (HASI) - This is a federal-provincial cost-shared program that provides assistance to home owners and landlords to help pay for home adaptations to enable low income seniors to continue to live in their homes independently. Up to $3,500 is available and it is non repayable.
3. Residential Rehabilitation Assistance Program for Individuals with Disabilities - This program provides assistance to home owners and landlords to undertake accessibility work to modify dwellings occupied or intended for occupancy by individuals with disabilities. Program funding is provided jointly by the federal and provincial governments.

Support for Technical Aids

In 2006-07, we changed the program to allow eligible Nova Scotians who will require a wheelchair in the near future to get the help they need sooner to make their homes accessible. By increasing income limits by 30 per cent, from $30,000 to $39,000, we allowed for a greater number of Nova Scotians to take advantage of this assistance. The maximum amount of assistance is also increasing by 66 per cent, from $3,000 to $5,000, making more-extensive work possible.

We also intend to improve accessibility and mobility for seniors who live in senior citizen housing units. We are installing 13 new elevators in buildings across the province to improve the quality of life and mobility for many living in seniors' housing.

Income Assistance

We provide financial support and services to cover basic expenses such as personal needs, shelter (increased rate for single persons) and special needs benefits. These may include such items as eyeglasses, emergency dental and prescription drug coverage. Opportunities are made available for disabled persons in receipt of Income Assistance to work with Employment Support to assist in moving towards independence and self-sufficiency.

The personal allowance and shelter rates for recipients of the Employment Support and Income Assistance (ESIA) program have increased over the past four years, with proposed increases annually for the personal allowance based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The personal allowance has increased from $180 in 2001 to $204 in 2007. The 30 per cent wage incentive for persons who are employed has also been extended to cover Income Tax returns. The special needs requests for all eligible ESIA recipients, including persons with disabilities, are considered on an individual basis.

Enhancing the lives of all Nova Scotians is a priority of a PC Government. We will continue to work to find additional solutions to transportation, housing, employment, social and recreation issues, by consulting with individuals with disabilities and groups representing people with disabilities to enhance their lives and their independence.

Accessible Transportation

Accessible transportation options continue to expand. For example, through the Canada-Nova Scotia Agreement on the Transfer of Federal Public Transit Funds:
. Cape Breton Regional Municipality invested close to $350,000 on capital improvements toward regular transit buses that are accessible to people with disabilities.
. Kings Transit directed over $320,000 to purchase two feeder buses and to enhance its bus camera security.
. Five accessible mini-vans or buses are being added for rural community transit organizations, at a cost of just over $170,000.

Our government directed $10,000 to the East Hants Alternative Transportation Service to help with the purchase of a new wheelchair accessible bus. The new bus will serve area residents - seniors, those in nursing homes, disabled residents and others who need accessible transportation services.

We will continue to work with the federal government and interested municipalities to increase the capacity of public transit services - by bus, ferry or rail - in high traffic or remote areas.

Self Managed Care

Our government and our party are committed to helping all Nova Scotians remain independent, active and healthy. Our government established the Self Managed Care Program in 2005, under the mandate of the Department of Health, Continuing Care Division, to promote and support individual initiative, self reliance and self sufficiency. The program allows people to remain independent and in their community as long as possible by providing them with up to $3,500 a month to manage their own support services.

Enhancing Educational Opportunities

Post-secondary education offers a positive step up for those seeking employment. This is no less true for those with disabilities. The Progressive Conservative Party is committed to the expansion of accessibility to post-secondary education.

Currently, the province offers a provincial access grant for students with permanent disabilities; there are grants available through the Nova Scotia Community College and the Department of Community Services and employers.

Our government is also focused on making student loans more affordable for students with reduced means such as lowering the required parental contribution to be eligible for student loans, expanding the criteria for those eligible for interest relief, and lowering the rate of interest paid by students through a direct lending program.

Our universities and colleges are also working in line with the province to remove physical, systemic or academic barriers a student may encounter while attending the institution.

P-12 Education

In "Blueprint for Building a Better Nova Scotia", our party outlined the development of a new tuition support program for special needs students with Individualized Program Plans. This process has been developed to provide eligible students with the opportunity to attend a designated special education private school.

The intention of this support is to provide options for students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) or Learning Disabilities (LD) to access education outside the framework of the public school system.

We then committed an expansion of three years for the program in the 2006 election campaign and kept that promise.

In 2007, we acted on another commitment made during the 2006 campaign: to review services for students with special needs. In December 2007, the Minister announced our response to the review recommendations. This includes the development of a new strategy to provide enriched programming to students with learning disabilities. The department will hire a learning disabilities consultant, who will review the latest research and best practices from around the world related to learning disabilities, and work closely with specialists inside and outside the department. We are committed to providing appropriate programming designed to meet the needs of all students. As the Minister noted, "These initiatives are about understanding the needs of students with learning disabilities and developing strategies that respond to these needs."

Students with learning disabilities make up the largest group of pupils receiving student support services from school boards. Some students with learning disabilities also receive assistance under the Tuition Support Program, which helps pay tuition at designated special education private schools. The program will continue until the Minister is assured an equivalent or better program is available through the public system. Meanwhile, the Tuition Support Program will undergo a thorough review. The Minister has also ordered the program's designated schools to:
-- join the province's learning assessment program if they grant high school diplomas; and
-- use the provincial Individual Program Plan report card. This will help ensure students with learning disabilities in the private and public systems are being evaluated using the same criteria. It will also allow parents to monitor their child's progress and provide accountability in issuing high school diplomas.

The Individual Program Plan report card will be implemented by all of the province's public schools beginning Fall 2008. The Minister's Review of Services for Students with Special Needs began its consultations in April 2007. The committee, chaired by retired school administrator Walter Farmer and including former educator Miles MacDonald and Acadia University education professor Lynn Aylward, held public meetings and received more than 1,000 written responses before compiling its report. The committee put forward 27 recommendations on a wide range of issues affecting students with special needs, including professional development and training of teachers, programs and services, and resources. The complete response to the review can be found at: www.gov.ns.ca/ministersreview.ednet.ns.ca.

Democratic Participation

In this the year we commemorate the 250th Anniversary of responsible government in Nova Scotia, it is important to note another area where there have been improvements made, but where more can be done to ensure those persons with disabilities are not presented with unnecessary barriers.

Elections Nova Scotia works to ensure the polling stations across Nova Scotia are accessible. Of course, each of our candidate's campaigns makes a concerted effort to provide assistance to get those who need help to the polling stations.

Provincially, the PC Party has a TTY/TTD line so that Nova Scotians who are hearing impaired are able to contact our provincial headquarters. If an individual requests assistance, we endeavour to assist or get their request attended to through a local campaign office. Also, we now have closed caption election advertisements.

Our government looks forward to receiving additional recommendations in the future as our all-party Select Committee on Participation in the Democratic Process sets out to hear from all Nova Scotians as to how we might increase voter participation.

Since 1999, our government has been committed to ensuring our province is more accessible and inclusive. While there are many advances, there are still areas where we are committed as a party to ensure changes are made so those with disabilities are able to access the same services as those who do not face similar challenges.

Your Society's work is based on the life and legacy of a strong and determined individual - Mr. Stewart. We owe it to people like him who, even though they had to deal with injustices, are able to overcome those barriers and make positive changes in our society. Our government will continue to honour that legacy by leading by example and working with our communities to allow them to make necessary change for the better.

I thank you for allowing me a forum to share our party's policies, our government's actions to date, as well as those initiatives being planned or underway.

Thank you, again, for your patience.

Sincerely,

Rodney J. MacDonald, Premier
Province of Nova Scotia

We make The Coast

2008-02-07T10:42:00.000-04:00

REALITY BITES January 31, 2008

James McGregor Stewart Society

Speaking of human rights, there's a relatively new (started in August) local group called the James McGregor Stewart Society, advocating for accessibility throughout the region.  

Stewart was a Pictou boy whose stellar academic record brought him to Dalhousie University, where he was a potential candidate for a Rhodes Scholarship reserved for a Dal student. But, notes the society, "the faculty senate at Dalhousie voted in 1910 not to appoint Stewart because he'd had polio as a boy and walked with crutches. The motion proposed by Dean Weldon himself read, 'Serious physical defects should be considered as rendering a candidate ineligible for the Rhodes Scholarship.'"

Stewart went on to found the Stewart McKelvey law firm and became president of the Canadian Bar. He died in 1955. 

The society's website pulls no punches. A slide show labelled "Inaccessible Halifax" shows some of the worst local offenders when it comes to accessibility, including City Centre Atlantic, the Halifax Professional Centre, Park Lane, the Chronicle-Herald building and about a dozen restaurants, each with the tag line "Where not to eat in Halifax." 

Theoretically, Canadian laws mandate accessibility, but theory and practice are worlds apart. The website also hosts a discussion about the absurdities faced by the disabled---the liquor commission, for example, circularly argued in court that it didn't need to build its new management offices to accessible standards because no one with a disability had ever applied for a management job. 

Join that discussion at http://jmcgs.blogspot.com/.

Used with permission

Ontario's checklist to evaluate municipal accessibility

2007-11-16T23:39:00.000-04:00

Please click here to access the questionnaire.

Please take a few minutes to think about accessibility in HRM

2007-11-16T18:28:00.000-04:00

The Province of Ontario requires each municipality to have an action plan for accessibility. They use this checklist to start the discussion. Even if you are not a consumer of municipal services, it would help to have your assessment. For example you may not know about incentives to developers so feel free to use the "Don't Know" response. This is not a test, just a way to start a dialog. Click Here to take survey

Federal NDP Strategy for the Disabilities Community

2007-11-16T17:11:00.000-04:00

National Strategy for the Disabilities Community

Whereas Canadians with disabilities have witnessed an erosion and the elimination of many services across the country and a declining quality of life; and

Whereas in 2001, 3,601,270 persons, or 12.4% of the Canadian population reported having activity limitations; and

Whereas two million Canadian adults lack the disability supports they need; and

Whereas half of the children with disabilities who need specialized aids do not have all the aids they require; and

Whereas 50% of the homeless people are people with disabilities, and that 40% of those rely on food banks to make ends meet; and

Whereas the unemployment rates among people with disabilities exceeds 60%; and

Whereas the federal government has moved away from regulation to mere voluntary compliance on accessibility in transportation; and

Whereas the federal government has been cutting back employment programs and scaling back accessibility in transportation and in health; and

Whereas people with disabilities are highly marginalized, yet are completely invisible and have been largely ignored through successive governments; and

Whereas this crisis needs to be addressed through an effective income strategy and better access to all services and employment, that would allow people with disabilities to live above the poverty line in this country; and

Whereas an income and a high employment policy should be supplemented by legislation in support of a full access strategy and of a higher income strategy; and

Whereas a National Disability Act would establish a law under which the federal government is bound to continually maintain and develop measures that secure not just the equality, but the dignity of all human beings with disabilities; and

Therefore be it resolved

that the New Democratic Party of Canada support a comprehensive set of policy measures to secure the dignity of persons with disabilities, recognize their contribution to the welfare and richness of the community; and

Be it further resolved

that these policy measures include,

A comprehensive new investment package that would combat the poverty and exclusion of persons with disabilities and their families, which would include reasonable and achievable targets over a 5 year period to,

1) reduce by half the annual income gap between Canadians with and without disabilities
2) reduce by half the poverty rate of adults with disabilities
3) reduce by half the Labour market participation gap between Canadians with and without disabilities
4) reduce by half the non-reimbursed costs faced by persons with disabilities,

A comprehensive Canadians with Disabilities Act, which would work with other income and high employment strategies to produce the sea change required to enhance the opportunities of persons with disabilities, removing obstacles to more easily find work, shelter, access a better quality of life, and achieve full equality and inclusion,

Be it further resolved

that the Canadians with Disabilities Act build on existing rights or enforcement bodies and
1) help enforce accessibility for all areas of federal jurisdiction
2) improve access to employment, accommodations and public transportation which are regularly available to persons without disabilities
3) build an effective and accessible complaint mechanism that would allow the disability community to fully vett issues of accessibility and equality
4) establish a National Disability Employment Fund which would help support the cost to employers of providing reasonable accommodations
5) create a National Disability Accommodation Council which would advise the Minister of Social Services and the Commissioner on policy issues as well as on the Administration of the National Disability Employment Fund

Be it further resolved

that the New Democratic Party support the development of a long term disability strategy and action plan that will address the lack of disability related supports and the poverty and the unemployment of Canadians with disabilities; and

a long term disability strategy developed collaboratively between all levels of government a specific strategy to address the issues of Aboriginal peoples with disabilities federal leadership to ensure the full and equal participation of Canadians with disabilities in all aspects of Canadian life

Note from the webmaster: Your Society received this policy statement on November 23, 2007 as an attachment to this email:

Hello,

On behalf of Alexa McDonough, thank you for your email regarding the NDP position regarding persons with disabilities. For your information, I have attached the resolution that was passed by the Federal Party at the last convention regarding this important issue. Thanks once again and please don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any additional questions.

Sincerely,
Lee Bennett
Assistant to Alexa McDonough, MP Halifax
Tel (613) 995-7614
Fax (613) 992-8569
http://www.alexahfx.ca/

Putting Pen to Paper

2007-11-16T16:23:00.000-04:00

Here is another friendly and informative letter from Kevin Murphy. Kevin has a gift for sounding reasonable, and it is worth noting that the person receiving this missive should have no reason to feel personally threatened in any way. It is always a temptation to be angry, but anger often obscures the message. Kevin is a seeker of justice, and his message is clear. We all need to point out injustices. We can take a leaf from his book.

As Kevin's uncle Tim was keeping his rendezvous with death in April 1917, Canadian John McRae, author of the most famous lines of World War I, was saving lives in a field hospital less than 100 kms away. The irony of Kevin's experience would not be lost on them:

To you from failing hands we throw
The torch, be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields

Read Kevin's letter........

Peter Stoffer
Member of Parliament-Sackville Eastern Shore
2900 Highway #2Fall River, Nova ScotiaB2T 1W4

Peter: Happy new year to you and your family. I have been meaning to flip you a note since we attempted to visit the Admiralty House, CFB Halifax Military Museum at CFB Stadacona this past summer. My wife Stephanie and I made a commitment to visit, with our two children, 10 places within Nova Scotia that neither of us have ever been before. We decided that as a family unit, we would make day trips out of these educational visits to local Nova Scotia landmarks and attractions to do our part for the Nova Scotia tourism industry.

Over the past few years, I have taken up genealogy as a hobby, and enjoyed many hours researching my family's history. One of my most intriguing discoveries, was to learn that my Great Great Uncle, Timothy Murphy (from Gold River, Nova Scotia) served our country during World War I, and made the ultimate sacrifice at Vimy Ridge. Although I have always had a keen interest in Canada's military history, and present activities, this discovery of a direct family sacrifice for our country, has furthered my commitment to supporting Canada's proud military heritage.

As you are aware, due to my spinal cord injury obtained in 1985 while playing minor hockey in the Cole Harbour rink, I use a wheelchair for mobility. Despite this obvious challenge, I have never let my physical disability stand in the way of me obtaining any of my personal or professional goals. In the past 23 years I've been involved in many advocacy efforts aimed at leveling the playing field for all persons with disabilities regarding equal access to programs, services, and facilities, of both a public and private nature.

In August 2007, I was at CFB Stadacona for some business in the newer section of the base. During this visit I had decided to do a little reconnaissance work regarding the accessibility of the Admiralty House CFB Stadacona Military Museum, in advance of our planned family visit. Unfortunately, I was to find out that the museum is not wheelchair accessible. The reasons given to me by the front-line staff, was that the museum was located in a heritage building, and was not able to be renovated for accessibility.

Unfortunately for me and my family, we did not get to visit this particular museum. The purpose of my note is not to point out the important role that museums play in maintaining our heritage and educating our present and future generations, but rather to remind our bureaucratic infrastructure, that the demographic of our population is broad and diverse, and includes millions of Canadians with varying levels of physical mobility.

My hope is that this note to you will be forwarded to the appropriate channels, in support of any efforts aimed at making not only this Museum at CFB Stadacona, but every other museum in Canada, accessible to all Canadians regardless of their level of mobility.

Respectfully, Kevin S. Murphy
KSM Freedom Solutions Inc.
20 Deerwood Drive
Mineville, NS B2Z 1J6
(902) 404-7033
http://www.ksmfreedomsolutions.com/

CC:
Kevin Lamarque, Director-Nova Scotia Office, Canadian Heritage
Murray Mason, Canadian Military Veteran
Warren Reed, Director-James McGregor Stewart Society

Another inaccessible public facility in HRM

2007-11-16T15:19:00.001-04:00

Cole Harbour Place is the subject of a well documented complaint by Kevin Murphy, a founder of the James McGregor Stewart Society. His eloquent letter to Councillor Hendsbee outlines the thoughtless design that makes the swimming pool off limits for folks with mobility challenges. You can lend your support by emailing hendsbd@halifax.ca

harry.mcinroy@halifax.ca and

kellyp@halifax.ca

Here is how Kevin desribes the situation:

As a person with a physical disability, I am unable to access the swimming pool (or any of the bodies of water in the facility), for either my own personal use, or to participate in any aquatic activities with my family.

I did speak directly with Management there approx 1.5 yrs ago, with no satisfactory response. The response I got, was that the main pool was wheelchair accessible because of the higher ledge surrounding the pool (which supposedly made it easier to transfer into). I am doubtful if CHP Management has ever attempted to get a mobility impaired 200 lb man out of its pool, and over its “barrier free” pool ledge (which actually makes it more difficult, because you have to go up even further than the pool deck to get out). This was a poor, ill conceived (albeit maybe well intended) attempt at barrier free access by someone who was not an actual user.

What needs to be in place is a proper “track mounted ceiling lift”, with a portable power unit which would enable barrier free access to all bodies of water at the facility (hot tub, kiddies pool, etc). Each body of water would have its own piece of access track to accommodate the mobile power unit (which contains the actual winch).

As mentioned, I did consult directly with CHP Management with my request and subsequent recommendation, even hooking them up with equipment info and a local supplier, hoping that they could carry the ball from there. But here we are almost 2 years later, and still no action. I offered to assist with attracting grant funds from various Foundations who serve the disability population in an attempt to avert the “budget issue” reply...............and no uptake. I even hooked them up with the management at the Acadia University pool in Wolfville which has so many seniors/persons with mobility disabilities swimming, that they recently installed a SECOND pool lift (on the same pool) to accommodate the huge demand of this population using their wonderful facility, in hopes of averting the “how do we manage it” question............no uptake.

See http://www.guldmann.net/Default.aspx?ID=2839&GroupID=GROUP12 for an example of the widely used equipment which would solve the issue.

This equipment would give unrestricted access to any body of water at the facility, giving clients/consumers/customers/taxpayers TRUE freedom of choice as to what aquatic activities they want to participate in.

Also required is a dedicated change/prep room with a proper change table/bed, and a piece of the ceiling track (stands to reason if someone needs a lift to access the pool that further accommodation would be required in this regard).

Although I am writing as a result of personal circumstance/need, I am hoping to instigate positive change for all involved, (inc those seniors and people with disabilities who are content with “status quo”). Surely HRM and Cole Harbour Place Management are privy to the demographics of the populations (inc seniors and people with disabilities) they are attempting to serve by offering equal access to all its programs and facilities? The population of seniors and people with mobility disabilities would greatly benefit from the freedom to choose this facility as part of their healthy living choices.

In another (but related) matter, it was somewhat embarrassing for me as an HRM taxpayer to not even be able to access the CHP Management office, due to the office doorway being to narrow to accommodate the width of my wheelchair. FYI, my wheelchair is 26” wide. The HRM building code requires that all doorways be a minimum of 36” wide. Much to the embarrassment also of the CHP Management who had invited me to their office to discuss the issue of BF access to the pool, we had to hold our meeting in the janitors office which had a doorway which could barely accommodate the width of my wheelchair. I am sure this building was constructed post 1980ish, when the current Barrier Free section of the NS Building Code was enacted. Is this a case of HRM not following its own building code?

I am reminded of the recent NS Supreme Court lawsuit involving the HRM Building Inspectors office VS. NSLC for not constructed it management offices in each new store to meet the barrier free access code. Unbelievably, part of the NSLC Management defence was that no one with a disability has ever applied for a management job!! Needless to say, the NSLC lost this case, and was ordered to retrofit all its store management office to meet the BF code, and to adhere to the BF code in all aspects of future construction.

It continues to baffle me why so much time, energy, and resources are expended by various levels of government (and their agencies) not accommodating persons with disabilities, and the related demographic populations they are supposed to be serving.

My offers of assistance still stand. Looking forward to your prompt reply.

Respectfully,

Kevin S. Murphy

Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes - WSJ.com

2007-11-16T08:59:00.000-04:00

Parents of Disabled Students Push for Separate Classes - WSJ.com

Ontario leads the way with its Accessible Customer Service Legislation

2007-11-15T13:04:00.000-04:00

Ontario seems to have figured out that good access means good business. The government and business community in Nova Scotia would rather not have people with disabilities at the lunch counter. Sound familiar? Thanks to CS for this story.
-Gus Reed

Ontario leads the way with its Accessible Customer Service Legislation
coming into effect 1 January, 2008.

- by Beverley Milligan

On August 11, 2007, the Government of Ontario gazetted Ontario Regulation 429/07 and Ontario Regulation 430/07, Accessible Customer Service Standard that will come into force on January 1, 2008. This is the first of five accessibility regulations for Ontario that are being developed for full implementation by 2025 under the Accessibility for Ontarians Disability Act, requiring all private and public sector organizations to provide access to people with disabilities in the areas of Customer Service, Transportation, Information and Communications, Employment, and the Built Environment.

In bringing the Customer Service regulation into effect, the Ontario Government, through the office of the Accessibility Directorate of Ontario, has established Standard Development Committees (SDCs) and undergone extensive public consultations through both a public review process and encouraging all members of the SDC to consult with their constituencies. In doing so, reaction to the regulation has been all over the map, with affected organizations pushing for caution, while disability advocacy organizations argue it has not gone far enough.

Ontario Ministries and public sector organization will be required to comply with the regulation commencing 1 January, 2010, followed by all other organizations with 20 or more employees on 1 January, 2012.

Currently, accessibility laws in Ontario fall under the Ontarians with Disability Act (ODA), which requires public and broader public service organizations and ministries to file and Accessibility plan each year. It is anticipated that the ODA will be rescinded as AODA regulations come into effect.

There are many questions and issues surrounding the development of the regulations over the next five years, for example, what is the relationship with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal? How can any organization comply with five different regulations? Or, what is the rest of Canada and the world doing in this area? I will address these and other questions in future articles and encourage you to e-mail me your thoughts and questions at bmilligan@mediaaccess.ca . You can also find more information

Weakening the Americans with Disabilties Act

2007-11-14T12:47:00.000-04:00

Our neighbours to the south have a long list of failures when it comes to equitable treatment of their citizens. One bright spot has been the Americans with Disabilities Act, which has gone a long way towards fully integrating disabled folk into society. Recent court decisions have eaten away..........

...........at the intent of the ADA, and a bill to restore the original meaning of the act is making its way through Congress. Canadians may find it interesting to listen to a short (4 minutes) National Public Radio piece here.

Although Canadians with disabilities are protected in some sense by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there is a wide gap between the concept of equity and the reality of disability in this country.

Background on ADA restoration is available in a 2 page letter

Finding the right word - re-inventing language

2007-11-09T16:13:00.000-04:00

“The British civil rights movement has rejected the term ‘people with disabilities’, as it implies that the disabling effect rests within the individual person rather than from society.”

Patriarchy in the UK:
The Language of Disability
By Laurence Clark and Stephen Marsh: 2002

I was reading the Ontario plan for accessible transportation which includes this definition:

Disability - means a) any degree of physical disability, infirmity, malformation or disfigurement that is caused by bodily injury, birth defect or illness and, without limiting the generality of the foregoing, includes diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, a brain injury, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical co-ordination, blindness or visual impediment, deafness or hearing impediment, muteness or speech impediment, or physical reliance on a guide dog or other animal or on a wheelchair or other remedial appliance or device, b) a condition of mental impairment or a developmental disability.

The definition has a lot of loaded words (highlighted by me). Not to mention circular reasoning. I wonder how the person who wrote this could possibly understand what is needed in terms of accessible transportation. A person who thinks of ‘disabled’ folk as malformed and impaired wouldn’t be likely to be very simpatico. The writer is starting from the wrong premise. It should be

Barrier – means any arbitrary architectural, technological, societal, intellectual (and more) circumstance which prevents people from participating fully in day-to-day activities.

Sometimes "handicapped" parking says ‘accessible parking’. This is exactly the thing – focus on the circumstances and not the person.

I guess we’re conditioned to think in the same way that the Ontario definition demonstrates. This has led to all kinds of bizarre linguistic contortions. Disabled access is kind of oxymoronic – what is really meant is unlimited access. Ditto for handicapped washroom. It should be unobstructed. Or even just washroom, and to be clear about what’s going on sometimes obstructed washroom. Barrier free is a useful term –very neutral, descriptive and inclusive of mothers with strollers and people with artificial hips. But this ain't easy - an otherwse educated woman looked at me like I ad 3 heads when I used "barrier free".

You’re probably thinking this is a distinction without a difference. But sometimes it’s really important. Not The Nova Scotians with Disabilities Act but An Act to Enable all Nova Scotians. Not Handicapped Washroom but Enabled Washroom.

I am so sick of “person with a disability”. Nine syllables which don’t exactly trip off the tongue. As if disability is a little cloud to be carried around that turns good into bad. “Person who faces barriers”. That saves a syllable and puts the problem where it belongs. With the step at the restaurant, the PA system at the Metro Center, the door at the cell phone store, the counter at city hall. We're not the problem!

Where is Stephen Colbert when you need him?

Current language is inadequate for folks who are usually referred to collectively as “disabled. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to adapt language to suit a particular situation:

She needs a Braille menu
I need a room with a wheel-in shower
He needs written as well as spoken information

But there is the group known as “the disabled” which is convenient shorthand for a complicated and diverse subset of the population. It may be unnecessary, but people will continue to use it for its succinctness. I am looking for a substitute that is sufficiently new to get attention, short to be easily remembered, and obvious enough so that it doesn’t need explaining. It identfies a situation in which some cannot participate fully because planning for the activity did not contemplate their needs. The focus is on the circumstance, not the participant.

This new word wll describe restaurants without Braille menus, elevators too small for strollers, schools with second floor classrooms, dangerous curb cuts, taverns with 30 inch doors. Things are mentioned, never people. Here are some examples:

Outclusive – The outclusive entrance at the Nova Scotia Legislature is a sad commentary on government.
Unabled – The Human Rights Commission does not give a hoot about the unabled.
Hindered
Thwarted

I would love to have your ideas, comments and suggestions. Please leave them below, or email them to me.

Warren Reed

wcreed@ns.sympatico.ca

Person facing barriers

Framing the debate on disability

2007-10-19T17:05:00.000-03:00

This is pretty interesting stuff, especially the data on multiple disabilities. Rather than just one disability, those surveyed reported having nearly three simultaneous debilitating conditions. The recording of ths data is precise and fastidious. It seems so accurate that it must be A Good Thing to Know. Right?

Here is the whole disabiity debate in a nutshell. Our federal government has gone to great expense to catalogue our woes in 1991, 2001, and is near publishing 2006. They seem to want to help you, but somehow do not ask the correct question. They want to know what's wrong with you, not what's wrong with them. They should be asking how they can help, since they actually get paid for that.

The tactic is a diabolically clever marriage of two well-known debating tactics - "Shoot the Messenger" and "Bait & Switch". You are drawn into the discussion on the expectation that by being counted, someone will help you somehow, and you are alarmed to discover that nothing will happen unless you do it yourself. Blame for the whole mess belongs wth you. The questions that should be asked are ones like:

How can we help you?

A program to lower the cost of durable medical equipment

Exacting and enforced standards for the built environment

Retrofitting of inaccessible public buildngs

Closer monitoring of charities

Cell phones must be GPS enabled and talking

More reasonable rules on equipment replacement

Braille printers in every library

Priority to reduce the wait for pain manaement, psychiatric services

A ban on inaccessible transportation

A Canadians with Disabilities Act.

The purpose of a census is ultimately for government to learn how to empower its citizens. Did you ever feel that your life is a game of chess and the government is playing checkers?

Nova Scotia Liberal Party Policy Statement

2007-09-11T08:58:00.001-03:00

Dear Mr. Reed;
Thank you for your e-mail regarding an invitation from the James McGregor Stewart Society. The N.S. Liberal Party is currently in the process of building a policy platform for persons with disabilities.

I spoke to Kevin Murphy on the weekend regarding issues of concern to persons with disabilities. I hope to, as this process moves forward, engage those involved in the issues such as the James McGregor Stewart Society. I look forward to working together with organizations such as yours to better the lives of those living with disabilities.
Sincerely,
Stephen McNeil
Leader N.S. Liberal Party

Factoid - October 18, 2007

2007-08-24T22:00:00.000-03:00

View complete sheet

Actually, there is good information here. There are 3.6 million Canadians with disabilities. The 17.1% disability rate in Nova Scotia is 38% higher than the rate for all of Canada. I have often said that 20% of Nova Scotians have a disability, so I have exaggerated. But it's the highest in Canada, and in the ballpark.

Gus Reed

The 2001 Participation and Activity Limitation Survey (PALS) is a post-census survey of adults and children whose everyday activities may be limited because of a condition or health problem. A sample of those persons who answered 'Yes' to the 2001 Census disability filter questions were included in the PALS Survey population. Approximately 35,000 adults and 8,000 children living in private and some collective households in the 10 provinces were selected to participate in the survey. The data was collected after the 2001 Census, in the fall of 2001.

Become a Subscriber or Member

2007-08-24T07:53:00.000-03:00

We welcome new subscribers, and you can sign up for free emal notification on this webpage. If you would like to support the effort, you can become a member. A year's membership is five dollars, all of which goes toward the mission of the JMcGS Society. Please send your membership fee to:

Membership Secretary

20 Deerwood Drive
Mineville, NS
B2Z 1J6
Ph: (902) 404-7033
Fx: (902) 404-9133

Don't forget to include your mailing address and email.

About the 1 in 1000 Medal

2007-08-23T07:08:00.000-03:00

The award
We are seeking a sponsor for two medals with a generous stipend to be awarded annually at a James McGregor Stewart ceremony in Halifax. One medal to a person from the region; another to a person from from anywhere in Canada.

Purpose
To salute advocates who have brought special recognition to the community of persons with disabilities, or for meritorious achievement of a person with disabilities in any field.

Eligibility
Is limited to Canadians with disabilities as broadly defined in the regulations of Revenue Canada. Nominees must be 18 years or older. Employees of government agencies which directly affect the situation of persons with disabilities are generally ineligible.

Nomination
Nominators should submit a letter of recommendation. The deadline for receipt of nominations is April 1.

Selection
Is done by a committee consisting of four directors of the James McGregor Stewart Society.

Conditions
In most circumstances, recipients must be present at the award dinner. The stipend is to support travel or study.

Purpose

2007-08-22T00:01:00.001-03:00

Our desire is to fully incorporate persons with disabilities into the social fabric of Canada. We honor a remarkable Nova Scotian who rose to the pinnacle of power despite prejudice and injustice. There are five parts to our program.

Recognition

The James Stewart McGregor One in a Thousand Medal will recognize exceptional achievement in the field of disability rights. Nominations will be accepted for this annual award.

Education

In addition to managing disability itself, persons with disabilities often have little control over their own circumstances, lack power and confidence because of society’s low expectations and lack courage due to simple isolation. Through speaker series, discussion and support, we will encourage full participation in Canadian life

Public Policy

We will petition, promote and evaluate matters of social policy affecting persons with disabilities. Areas of special interest include housing, access, health, education and economics.

Advocacy

Through constructive engagement with government, corporations, organizations and individuals, we will help to articulate the needs of the disabled community.

Participation

By encouraging grass roots involvement, the society provides a vehicle for self determination.

Resolution

2007-08-21T23:20:00.000-03:00

Joshua Slocum

Another determined Nova Scotian who set lofty goals.

Whereas

The rights of Persons with Disabilities are enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms:

15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.

There is no effective Persons with Disabilities legislation at the Federal, Provincial or Municipal level in Canada

Government fails to set an example respecting equity and access for Persons with Disabilities

A distinguished Canadian was unjustly deprived of a rare honor by shameful and egregious prejudice.

Namely, James McGregor Stewart, gold medalist in his class was not nominated by Dalhousie University for a Rhodes Scholarship in 1910 because he had had poliomyelitis as a child. The faculty senate resolution read:

i. Serious physical defects should be considered as rendering a candidate ineligible for the Rhodes Scholarship.

James McGregor Stewart was recognized to be the finest legal mind of his day

James McGregor Stewart later became Chancellor of Dalhousie

James McGregor Stewart wrote the incorporation documents for many of Canada’s largest corporations

James McGregor Stewart is recognized to be the “Thousandth Man” celebrated by Rudyard Kipling in the poem of that name.

James McGregor Stewart should be honored and remembered

Government is complicit in a history of discrimination

Lack of access and enforcement reflects poorly on Nova Scotia’s reputation

Self-determination for Persons with Disabilities is very desirable, but rarely possible

Persons with Disabilities often have further disadvantage in income, housing and health

Persons with disabilities are portrayed in a condescending and inaccurate way by mass media

Programs and legislation for Persons with Disabilities are conceived and written by Persons without Disabilities

We hereby establish the James McGregor Stewart Society

to study public policy relating to Persons with Disabilities

to educate Canadians about issues surrounding disability

to advocate for inclusion of and encourage participation by Persons with Disabilities in every part of civil society.

To recognize and honor achievements of Persons with Disabilities

Kevin Murphy
Warren Reed
Dan MacLellan

Charity Watch

2007-08-20T09:46:00.000-03:00

It's in your interest to be informed!

These 20 charities provide services to disadvantaged or disabled Haligonians. Together they represent

199 full time employees earning $9.5 million
$17 million in long term investments
$18 million in 2006 government funding
$25 million total income
$24 million total expenditures
$18.3 million in charitible programs - 73% of total income

See full spreadsheet

Source - Revenue Canada, Charities Directorate. As reported by the charity. Send corrections to jmcgs.info@gmail.com

Help Wanted

2007-08-14T10:59:00.000-03:00

We are seeking columnists for our website. If you would like to write a regular or irregular column, please email http://www.blogger.com/jmcgs.info@gmail.com . Some possible topics would be:

Technology
Government
World affairs
Sports

If you feel moved to write something, it can and should reach a wide audience, and subscribers will automatically be notified. Please participate!

Be Heard!

2007-08-13T23:18:00.011-03:00

You can help! Become an activist!

If you are as busy as everyone else, it's hard to find time to write your government representatives. To make it easier, here is an all purpose email that you can modify a bit to fit your requirements.

Should you write to the Prime Minister? It's up to you. Think of yourself as a vote, not a person......

Start a new email, and copy and paste these addresses (adding and subtracting as you wish) into the TO: box:

Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, Layton.J@parl.gc.ca, Dion.S@parl.gc.ca, ndpcaucus@gov.ns.ca, lco@gov.ns.ca, pcmlas@gov.ns.ca, jmcgs.info@gmail.com, kellyp@halifax.ca

Need more names? All you ever dreamed of right here!

Copy and paste this blue text into the body of your email with any changes you may wish to make:

Dear Representative,

I am writing about the deplorable state of access at ____________ on ___________. Although some slight modifications have been made, they seem to have been done without any recognized standard. The power doors are too narrow for wheelchairs, the buttons are impossibly located and the short ramps replacing the step is too steep. I am baffled that _____________ was able to receive a permit while excluding me and others like me. Would they get a permit if their sign said "No Politicians"?

I am also writing to remind you of the urgent necessity to acknowledge and promote the equity rights of persons with Disabilities. Here are are some of the many issues that need attention:

For government

All programs, existing and proposed, must be reviewed for disability neutrality
Government's stated goal is the full and unfettered participation of disabled people in their democracy

For Charities focusing on disabilities

Recruit directors from among those intended to benefit
No events in which disabled people can't participate as equals
No stereotyping of disabled people in image or word.

For media

No images or language that imply separate standards for disabled people

For Business

Value every customer equally, and promise to provide safe and dignified access.

For everyone

Do not assume the principal goal of disabled people is a "normal" life.
Do not consider disabled people to be objects of pity or need
Do not use patronizing language
Recognize and remove the barriers which make people disabled

Thank you for your attention to this important subject.

Yours truly,

Nothing Runs Like a Deere

2007-08-13T23:04:00.000-03:00

An innovative modification to his lawn tractor allows Nova Scotia’s Kevin Murphy to plow and mow independently.

It’s been said that every man needs a tractor—maybe even as much as he needs a TV remote control. For Kevin Murphy, an incomplete C5-6 quad who works as a rehabilitation counsellor for CPA Nova Scotia, the itch just had to be scratched.

“Construction of our new home in the summer of 2000 had me yearning to participate in the ‘ground work’ of the building process,” explains Kevin. “I wanted to drive a machine of some sort--excavator, Bobcat, whatever. Upon completion of our landscaping this spring, I could no longer ignore the urge inside of me to participate in the upkeep of our property.”

What Kevin decided to do was buy a lawn tractor, which would allow him to mow his grass and plow his driveway in the winter. He set out to investigate the many brands and types of lawn and garden tractors available, searching for one that required minimal adaptations.

“In the end,” says Kevin, “I settled on the John Deere. It featured an automatic transmission, a desirable frame structure to accommodate easy transferring and adapting, and hand controls for the mower and other attachments.”

The only problem was actually getting on and off the tractor. So, in cooperation with the local John Deere dealer and a metal fabricator/welder, Kevin designed an adaptation that would solve the problem. The end result features a used wheelchair seat (to give Kevin the extra back support and stability he needs) that is attached to an electrically-powered screw drive, which is powered off the regular tractor battery. The screw drive raises the seat up off the frame of tractor several inches. The seat then swivels 180 degrees, so it faces to the rear, then lowers down to a more desirable height for Kevin to transfer into. After transferring in, the seat raises him up, and he can then swivel back to face forward before lowering and locking into a driving position.

“It’s not really rocket science, but it took a fair bit of logistical ‘ciphering’,” says Kevin. “I approached this challenge no differently than I approach any other task. I examine every detail of the process and situation, and then approach it one step at a time, analyzing each little logistical challenge preventing me from doing this task. Then I come up with a method, gadget or some way around each little challenge, until at last I’ve achieved the end result--in this case, mowing my lawn!”

In fact, says Kevin, it’s the first time he’s mowed his lawn or plowed his driveway since he was injured more than 16 years ago. He adds that, without the cooperation and patience of the dealer and the fabricator, he wouldn’t have been able to complete the project.

For more information, you can e-mail Kevin at kmurphy@canparaplegic.org

From Total Access, Winter 2001

Nova Scotia NDP Policy Statement

2007-08-13T14:48:00.003-03:00

The NDP will work to create a Nova Scotia where nobody is left behind and all people are able to live life with dignity.

The Issue

Everyone benefits when people living with physical and intellectual challenges are supported in their full participation in our communities.
Liberal and Conservative governments have had a chance to improve services for people with disabilities - and they’ve failed. They have rooted services in the welfare model instead of treating services as a right. Under this model, people who require supports for daily living are restricted from having savings accounts, owning a home, and having a trust fund for their care needs. Those who marry face being cut off completely.

Darrell Dexter and the NDP have a common sense plan to make life better for disabled Nova Scotians.

The right to dignity and independence

Some people with intellectual or physical disabilities need supervised care. But years of cuts and closures have left long waiting lists. Aging parents fear for their dependent adult children when they can no longer live at home. And adults with disabilities who want to live independently wait for years for a place to live.

Transportation

Over half of disabled Nova Scotians live outside of cities that offer accessible transportation. Community-based transportation programs in rural areas struggle with inadequate funding and rising costs. In cities, services must be booked far in advance and are not universally accessible.

Housing

We need to work toward creating accessible housing in rural and urban communities, geared toward all levels of income.

Assistive devices

The NDP has long advocated for an aids for independent living program that would be a central lending bank for mobility and technical aids. It would be operated by people with disabilities, and the cost of equipment would be geared to income levels.

Employment equity and assistance

Many people with challenges are able and willing to work full or part-time, but they still face barriers. The NDP is committed to working with people with disabilities, and with employers and educational facilities to increase the number of disabled people participating in the workforce.

Today’s families, regardless of their abilities, can count on the NDP to help support their needs.

The NDP will work to:

Establish a technical and mobility aids program to help people without insurance obtain equipment necessary for independence

Improve home care, attendant, and other support services for people with disabilities, remove restrictions on savings and income trusts, and maintain services when a person marries

Work with transportation groups to expand services for people with disabilities

Expand accessible housing through public rental housing, equity co-ops, and work with private developers on accessibility standards

Review residential options for people with intellectual disabilities and create a plan to address these needs

Also enclosed is the resolution from 2007 supporting the adoption of the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, tabled by Marilyn More, our critic for the NS Disabled Persons Commission. Please note the motion was defeated by the Conservative members. The resolution reflects the NS NDP's position on the UN Convention and the rights of disabled persons.

Hansard January 11, 2007

RESOLUTION NO. 1624

MS. MARILYN MORE: Mr. Speaker, I hereby give notice that on a future day I shall move the adoption of the following resolution:

Whereas on December 13, 2006, the United Nations adopted a landmark convention regarding the rights of persons with disabilities; and

Whereas in March 2007 the member countries of the United Nations will begin voting to ratify this convention and its optional protocols, which would make the convention international law, protecting the rights of disabled persons everywhere; and

Whereas Canada has demonstrated its leadership with prior UN conventions, and our country should be among the first members to ratify the convention and protocols in March;

Therefore be it resolved that this House of Assembly signify its approval today of the UN convention on the rights of disabled persons, and that the members here strongly encourage the federal government to move forward with voting for ratification of the convention and adoption of the optional protocols.

Mr. Speaker, I request waiver of notice.

MR. SPEAKER: There has been a request for waiver.

Is it agreed?

I hear several Noes.

The notice is tabled.

There are several other Hansard transcripts of questions we have pursued during Question Period, Budget Estimates and Committee meetings. To search Hansard for what political parties have said in the Legislature on issues affecting persons with disabilities, go here and scroll down on the right to the green section "legislature" and follow the links.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at the address listed below.

The official NDP contact for the BLOG listing should be:

ndpcaucus@gov.ns.ca or 424-4134 (TTY is 424-2116) or 1-888-247-0448.

Opinion

2007-08-13T12:29:00.000-03:00

Let’s take a second look at the U.N. Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

March 30, 2007

The Honourable Peter MacKay, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, today signaled Canada’s intention to be a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN Convention is an 11,000 word document which should be closely scrutinized by Canadians with disabilities, who will be most affected by its enactment. It is not yet ratified by Parliament and it shouldn’t be. It is a document that is written with every good intention, but it is complicated, occasionally condescending, often long-winded and sometimes hard to understand. Here is an example of a section that is virtually impossible to parse:

Article 4 Section 2. With regard to economic, social and cultural rights, each State Party undertakes to take measures to the maximum of its available resources and, where needed, within the framework of international cooperation, with a view to achieving progressively the full realization of these rights, without prejudice to those obligations contained in the present Convention that are immediately applicable according to international law.

It troubles me that Parliament has adopted a document that contains such a meaningless paragraph, and it makes me wonder if anyone actually read it.

The danger of this exhaustive document is that its adoption, in Canada at least, adds nothing new to the body of law concerning persons who face barriers. Governments may take adoption to be an end in itself, when it is actually just the beginning.

In Canada, all of the verbiage could be replaced by the 9 words of section 15 of the charter of Rights and Freedoms: Every individual is equal before and under the law. Since this short instruction has proven so difficult for government to implement, how is it going to help to sign on to a much more vague and elusive program?

No part of the UN Convention has the force of law. These are suggestions and proposals, promises and avowals. Signatories merely have to file a report to a newly-constituted UN Committee.. I fear the Convention is a shield for government, not a sword for equality and justice.

The Committee and its associated bureaucracy add a whole new level to the large, unwieldy and oft-criticized UN bureaucracy. The focus of accountability will be the UN Committee, not the citizenry of Canada.

In sum, I am concerned that the government of Canada has signed on to a politically correct but unenforceable document, and has neglected to understand the real needs of Canadians who are prevented from realizing their potential.

Warren Reed
August 31, 2007