Green Party Candidates in Two of the Three September 3, 2026 Ontario By-Elections Make All Accessibility Pledges the AODA Alliance Sought – Where Are the Other Three Parties?

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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Green Party Candidates in Two of the Three September 3, 2026 Ontario By-Elections Make All Accessibility Pledges the AODA Alliance Sought – Where Are the Other Three Parties?

 

August 25, 2026

 

SUMMARY

 

 

On august 25, 2026, the AODA Alliance received election pledges on accessibility for people with disabilities from two of the three Green Party candidates in the fast-approaching September 3, 2026 Ontario by-elections. These candidates made all four pledges that the AODA Alliance requested of them in its August 20, 2026 letter to the major parties’ candidates.

 

Below are the responses that the AODA Alliance received on August 25, 2026 from Scarborough Southwest Green Party candidate Mark Bekkering and from Hamilton East-Stoney Creek Green Party candidate Pascale Marchand.

 

So far, the AODA Alliance has heard nothing back from the Ontario Liberals, NDP or PCs. The AODA Alliance will make public any responses it receives from other candidates as quickly as possible after receiving them.

 

The non-partisan AODA Alliance is encouraging people with disabilities and their supporters to raise disability issues in the September 3, 2026 by-elections now underway in Scarborough Southwest, Hamilton East – Stoney Creek and York – Simcoe.  The AODA Alliance’s August 20, 2026 By-Election Action Kit gives voters action tips on how to raise these issues. The AODA Alliance’s August 20, 2026 letter to the candidates asks each candidate to make four commitments that are important to over 2.9 million Ontarians with disabilities, including

  • To support and not weaken the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act.
  • Support tearing down disability barriers in Ontario’s education system facing hundreds of thousands of students with disabilities including enacting an Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA.
  • To oppose the use of public money to create or perpetuate disability barriers, and
  • To support reforming the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the process for enforcing human rights in Ontario.

 

 

MORE DETAILS

 

 August 25, 2026 Responses to AODA Alliance Questionnaire from Green Party Scarborough Southwest Candidate Mark Bekkering

 

  1. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires the Ontario Government to become fully accessible to people with disabilities by 2025. Ontario made progress but failed to meet that legal deadline. The AODA remains on the books. The Government must achieve its goal as soon as possible after that deadline. Do you support that law and its goal as a Government priority, and will you oppose any efforts to weaken it or measures enacted under it?

 

Ontario Greens fully support the Accessibility for Ontario with Disabilities Act as a government priority, and are committed to fulfilling all commitments in the Accessible Ontario Pledge. I will strongly oppose any efforts to weaken these commitments.

 

 

  1. Over one third of a million students with disabilities continue to face serious disability barriers in Ontario’s K-12 and post-secondary education systems. For the past decade, all Ontario political parties have supported the Government creating an enforceable Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA. Yet none has been enacted. Ontario’s underfunded special education program is in crisis. Do you support the Government reforming education for students with disabilities in Ontario, including enacting an effective Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA to tear down disability barriers in Ontario’s education system?

 

Ontario Greens support strengthening and investing in special education and enacting an effective Education Accessibility Standard.

 

 

  1. Do you agree that the Ontario Government should implement effective action to ensure that public money is never used to create new barriers against people with disabilities, or to perpetuate existing barriers?

 

Yes.

 

  1. When people with disabilities suffer unlawful discrimination, the dysfunctional, backlogged process for filing a human rights complaint and getting a hearing at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario can take 5 years or more. The system is broken. It needs substantial reform. Do you agree that the process at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for enforcing human rights should be substantially reformed to recommend reforming the system and making it effective and timely?

 

Yes, Ontario Greens support reforming the Human Rights Tribunal to ensure the system has adequate resources to address each concern in a timely and effective way.

 

 

August 25, 2026 Responses to AODA Alliance Questionnaire from Hamilton East-Stoney Creek Green Party Candidate Pascale Marchand

 

  1. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act requires the Ontario Government to become fully accessible to people with disabilities by 2025. Ontario made progress but failed to meet that legal deadline. The AODA remains on the books. The Government must achieve its goal as soon as possible after that deadline. Do you support that law and its goal as a Government priority, and will you oppose any efforts to weaken it or measures enacted under it?

 

Ontario Greens fully support the Accessibility for Ontario with Disabilities Act as a government priority, and are committed to fulfilling all commitments in the Accessible Ontario Pledge. I will strongly oppose any efforts to weaken these commitments. Through my work for the local municipal office I successfully obtained improvements to accessibility in East Hamilton, like making sidewalks wider and accessible for people in mobility devices. I’ve also put pressure on rail companies to improve crossings for constituents who are deafblind.

 

  1. Over one third of a million students with disabilities continue to face serious disability barriers in Ontario’s K-12 and post-secondary education systems. For the past decade, all Ontario political parties have supported the Government creating an enforceable Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA. Yet none has been enacted. Ontario’s underfunded special education program is in crisis. Do you support the Government reforming education for students with disabilities in Ontario, including enacting an effective Education Accessibility Standard under the AODA to tear down disability barriers in Ontario’s education system?

 

Ontario Greens support strengthening and investing in special education and enacting an effective Education Accessibility Standard.

 

 

  1. Do you agree that the Ontario Government should implement effective action to ensure that public money is never used to create new barriers against people with disabilities, or to perpetuate existing barriers?

 

Yes. According to the Social Planning and Research Council of Hamilton, almost 220,000 Hamiltonians have activity limitations, which accounts for about 39% of the population. This is slightly more than Ontario’s municipal average. Accessibility in Hamilton is imperative. Cities like Hamilton regularly consult the Accessibility Committee for Persons with Disabilities and its Built Environment Working Group, as well as their Housing, their Outreach, and their Transportation Working Groups. I’ve consulted with members of this committee on many issues, including how to tackle systemic barriers at the local level. In my work I also worked alongside the Accessibility Hamilton Alliance (AHA!) to bring meaningful improvements to accessibility and prevent barriers.

 

  1. When people with disabilities suffer unlawful discrimination, the dysfunctional, backlogged process for filing a human rights complaint and getting a hearing at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario can take 5 years or more. The system is broken. It needs substantial reform. Do you agree that the process at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario for enforcing human rights should be substantially reformed to recommend reforming the system and making it effective and timely?

 

Yes, Ontario Greens support reforming the Human Rights Tribunal to ensure the system has adequate resources to address each concern in a timely and effective way.