Tomorrow, September 26, 2024 From Noon to 1 PM Eastern Time, Call in to CBC Radio’s Ontario Today Program when AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky is the Guest, Discussing Disability Barriers

Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update

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

Twitter: @aodaalliance

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/aodaalliance

Tomorrow, September 26, 2024 From Noon to 1 PM Eastern Time, Call in to CBC Radio’s Ontario Today Program when AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky is the Guest, Discussing Disability Barriers

September 25, 2024

In the wake of all the recent media coverage about the many disability barriers at Toronto’s new Armoury Street courthouse, CBC Radio invited AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky to be the guest on CBC’s provincewide call-in program Ontario Today on Thursday, September 26, 2024 from noon to 1 pm Eastern time. The program will ask callers to talk about disability barriers they face, and what should be done to remove and prevent these barriers. This is an exciting “first” for the AODA Alliance.

What You Can Do to Help

Please call in to Ontario Today on Thursday, September 26, 2024 between noon and 1 pm Eastern time. The number to call is 1-888-817-8995. You might start calling before noon to get into the lineup.

Plan to describe a disability barrier that should be fixed and what should be done to remove and prevent such barriers.

Remember that we advocate to remove all kinds of disability barriers, not just physical barriers in the built environment. Feel free to talk about digital and technology barriers, bureaucratic and legal barriers, communication and information barriers, or any others.

We advocate in all areas of life. Pick one to focus on, such as:

Disability barriers facing students with disabilities in schools, colleges or universities
Disability barriers facing patients with disabilities in hospitals and throughout Ontario’s health care system
Disability barriers facing passengers with disabilities in public transit and other transportation services
Disability barriers facing employees and job seekers with disabilities in the workplace
Disability barriers when dealing with the federal, provincial or municipal governments
Disability barriers facing people with disabilities seeking housing, whether looking for a place to rent or buy

New dangers and disability barriers such as the silent menace of electric scooters.

We thank CBC for devoting an hour of its program to disability barriers. We invite you to encourage CBC to do more of this.

Alert family and friends about this upcoming program. Encourage them to dial in as well!

When this program airs on Thursday, September 26, 2024:

There will be only 97 days until 2025. That’s the deadline that the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act sets for the Ontario Government to have led this province to become accessible to 2.9 million Ontarians with disabilities.

There will have been 972 days since the Ontario Government received the final report of the Government-appointed K-12 Education Standards Development Committee. It gave the Government a roadmap showing how to tear down disability barriers in K-12 schools. The Ontario Government has not implemented any of it.

There will have been 2,065 days since the Ontario Government got the final report of the 3^rd Independent Review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act conducted by former Lieutenant Governor David Onley and 479 days since it received the 4^th Independent Review of the AODA conducted by Rich Donovan. They both found that progress on accessibility in Ontario has been far too slow. The Ontario Government has announced no plan to implement their recommendations.