11th Episode of “Disability Rights and Wrongs — The David Lepodcast” Concludes a Two-Part Interview About One of the Most Important Disability Advocacy Wins in Canada

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

United for a Barrier-Free Ontario for All People with Disabilities

Website: www.aodaalliance.org

Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com

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The 11^th Episode of “Disability Rights and Wrongs — The David Lepodcast” Concludes a Two-Part Interview About One of the Most Important Disability Advocacy Wins in Canada

 

April 16, 2026

 

Check out the 11^th episode of the AODA Alliance podcast “Disability Rights and Wrongs — The David Lepodcast.” It is available wherever you get your podcasts. It is entitled: “The Milestone Fight for Including Disability Rights in Canada’s Charter of Rights – With Yvonne Peters, Part 2.”

 

In this episode, you can enjoy the second and concluding part of host AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky’s interview with human rights advocate Yvonne Peters on the successful campaign in 1980 and 1981 to get equality for people with disabilities added to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Peters and Lepofsky campaigned for the disability amendment. They were much younger and knew little about how to do this advocacy.

 

They discuss what they each tried, and extract lessons we can learn from their experience. You can listen to Episode 10 to hear the first part of their discussion.

 

You can subscribe to the podcast for free, using links below, or just click here to play the episode.

 

How to Learn More

 

David Lepofsky wrote a book/memoir about these events, entitled “Swimming Up Niagara Falls! The Battle to Get Disability Rights Added to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.” It is available online for free download from the AODA Alliance Website’s publications page, in pdf, MS Word, e-pub formats, and as a free audio book. It is also available for purchase as a hard copy book from Amazon or as a Kindle e-book from Kindle.

 

Take a look at the AODA Alliance’s online video series about the birth of Canada’s national accessibility legislation, the Accessible Canada Act. That series includes videos about the 1980-81 battle for the disability amendment to the Charter of Rights.

More about Our Podcast

 

Our 11 podcast episodes to date and future ones transport you to the front lines of disability rights advocacy! We invite you to listen to them all, in whatever order you wish.

 

We investigate advocacy incidents and battles of all sorts. Some were waged by individuals. Others are advanced by groups and organizations. We find action tips on how to be an effective advocate, whether you are advocating on a disability issue or any social justice issue.

 

The podcast is designed to be informative for listeners anywhere in the world, not just in Canada where the podcast is based. We have listeners all around the world.

 

New episodes drop every third Friday. Earlier episodes include:

• “The 12-Year Fight for Automated Stop Announcements on the TTC” about Lepofsky’s long struggle to make transit in Toronto accessible for blind riders” with host David Lepofsky.
• “Beyond Building Codes: Designing Spaces for Everyone”” with guest built-environment accessible design expert Thea Kurdi
• “Smart Strategies, Real Change: Lessons from a Landmark Autism Campaign, Part 1” covering how targeted advocacy resulted in policy change for autism therapies.” With guest autism advocate Bruce McIntosh.
• “Turning Barriers into Headlines: Practical Tips from a Veteran News Reporter” with former journalist Michelle McQuigge.
• “How to get a Politician’s Attention” Part 1 and Part 2 with the Honourable Kathleen Wynne, former Ontario Premier.
• Airline Accessibility: How Maayan Ziv Turned a Mangled Wheelchair into Real Change
• “Smart Strategies, Real Change: Lessons from a Landmark Autism Campaign, Part 2” covering how targeted advocacy resulted in policy change for autism therapies with guest autism advocate Bruce McIntosh.
• “Why Must a Doctor with Disabilities Combat Accessibility Barriers in the Health Care System?” with physician Dr. Lisa Freeman.
• The Milestone Fight for Including Disability Rights in Canada’s Charter of Rights, Part 1 with Yvonne Peters

 

Discover our podcast on major podcast platforms:

Apple music: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/disability-rights-and-wrongs-the-david-lepodcast/id1838700161

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WFLiSy99OJPMZ1ZSrkWCg

Ask your smart phone, Alexa, or Google Nest: “Play podcast ‘Disability Rights and Wrongs!’”

 

You can also listen to episodes on your computer. Use the links we provided above, or simply Google “Disability Rights and Wrongs — The David Lepodcast.”

 

If you want a transcript of each podcast, Apple Music can generate transcripts. Spotify might do that as well. For iPhone users, you might prefer to use the live captioning feature that comes with your phone.

 

How You Can Help

 

• Help us get more listeners! Invite friends to give it a listen!
• Urge K-12 students to listen to this podcast. There are tons of school projects they could invent using issues that the podcast covers.