From My Bottom Step

A Milestone for Disabled Canadians

From the Council of Canadians with Disabilities:

For Immediate Release

Today, Minister Peter MacKay, on behalf of the Government of Canada, tabled in the House the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This is the final step in the process of Ratification of the Convention, one that has been eagerly awaited by Canadians with disabilities. Continue Reading

Sunshine DreamLift

Disabled kids anticipate departure for Disney trip.

Accessibility Awareness Action

For those of you who may not know, earlier this month a man who is quadriplegic from Thunder Bay, Ontario became the first quadriplegic to reach the North Pole.

In response to the lack of awareness about this momentous occasion, DAG is having an action to increase awareness of accessibility issues.

On Thursday May 7th (raindate May 8th) at 11 am we will be meeting to make signs at Central library, then … Continue Reading

Stuck In The Snow

Yesterday, the Disability Action Group of London, Ontario took to the street with it’s Stuck In The Snow campaign to help raise awareness of the issue.
Many Londoners are housebound each winter due to the inability of the City of London to adequately plow sidewalks . Roads are given top priority while the needs pedestrians from all “walks of life” are ignored.
Please take a … Continue Reading

My Q&A With Roger

On Tuesday, I posted an article (A New Low for Council Committees) about the sorry spectacle that I’d witnessed at the previous day’s ETC meeting when Roger Khouri (Chair of the Accessibility Advisory Committee) made an appearance.

Following his appearance, Mr. Khouri was nice enough to do a Q&A with me. I hope that you’ll find it instructive: Continue Reading

London’s 2009 Accessibility Plan

The Ontarians With Disabilities Act 2001 requires every municipality to have an Accessibility Committee. It further requires every city to create an accessibility plan for each new year, and to consult with it’s Accessibility Committee about that plan. Continue Reading

Are they Trying or Lying?

This article originates from, and is republished with the permission of, the Toronto-based Ontario Coalition Against Poverty.
Continue Reading

ETC’s Accessible Taxi Licences Referral Motion

Home at last. Almost 4 hours of verbal presentations from members of the public, and in the end a deferral motion that, although unanimous, may (or may not) have been achieved by an illegal procedure.
It seems to me that, after an first motion by Controller Hume was clearly defeated, and with a subsequent motion by Councillor Orser on the floor, the Chair did allow the original motion to … Continue Reading

Respecting Pedestrian Rights

In the ‘Letters’ section of this weeks The Londoner, one contributor comments about having witnessed the disgusting behaviour of five consecutive automobile operators who turned into the Wonderland Rd. S. Loblaw’s parking lot despite the presence of a disabled pedestrian on the sidewalk. Unfortunately, the letter doesn’t say whether or not the witness recorded vehicle/operator descriptions, plate numbers, and called the police. Because that’s what should have … Continue Reading

ODSP ‘Day Of Action’

OPSEU conducted a province-wide protest yesterday “to raise awareness of the stress faced by front line workers who handle more than 500 [ODSP] cases at a time.” 01
“The call for a Day of Action [resulted from] … severe understaffing and under funding that has caused a crisis in a provincial program that administers and distributes more than $2.6 billion in income support payments to disabled Ontarians living in … Continue Reading