Accessibility still an issue in Toronto

Torontosun.com
Aug. 24, 2015
By Jeremy Appel

The Parapan Am games may be over, but issues of accessibility for disabled Ontarians remain.

Leandre Casselman knows this first hand. He became quadrapalegic after a gymnastics accident in 2000. Now he works with Spinal Cord Injury Ontario to support people with spinal cord injuries and raise awareness about their plight.

"I've experienced Ottawa and Toronto in a wheelchair and urban centres are always more accessible. Government buildings have to be accessible ... When you live in a more rural, smaller community you're less likely to have accessible transit ... because there are less people with disabilities in those communities," he said.

Using a wheelchair in downtown Toronto is still a challenge, particularly for the uninitiated. The sidewalks are sloped so sewers can collect rain water. One has to push extra hard to avoid sliding into the gutter.

"Most new businesses that are built nowadays from the ground up are accessible, but all the old ones aren't. There isn't even enough room necessarily to make all the old buildings accessible," said Casselman.

It can cost thousands of dollars to make a building handicap friendly, which can serve as a disincentive for some business owners.

"Business owners need to realize that there are lots of people with disabilities who are gianfully employed or have money ... They don't (realize) how much extra business they can get because they've never catered to that demographic before," Casselman said.

This is where the provincial government comes into the picture.

The 2005 Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act sought to "set standards that help people with disabilities participate fully in their communities," according to the Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

It set standards for five areas of public life-customer service, employment, information and communications, transportation and design of public spaces.

David Lepofsky, a blind lawyer with Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, said the province could be doing much more to implement its own accessibility legislation.

Although the government says these standards are mandatory, there is no means of enforcement, Lepofsky said.

"If the speed limit on the 401 was optional, nobody would follow it," he said. "It's as simple as that."