Accessibility Wins (and We Meet the Prime Minister)
This past Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the federal government is giving Toronto Community Housing Corporation (TCHC) $1.34 billion for repairs. And! 20 percent of that is earmarked to improve accessibility. And I got to meet him. But more on that later. The National Housing Strategy and accessibility You have read about the…
Access/No Access: The Quest for an Accessible Hotel Room
I had to be out of my apartment for week while my landlord installed new flooring to replace the one that had been destroyed in a flood. But first, I decided to check out a few accessible rooms in hotels near my neighbourhood to see which would best fit my needs. Starting with a surprise…
A Streetcar Named Freedom
Ask any person with a disability about the main challenges to living their life and almost all will talk about transportation (and, of course, housing). In Toronto, we have WheelTrans, the parallel transit system for people with disabilities, some accessible regular buses, some accessible subway stations, and now, new and accessible street cars. I have…
A Hotel That Heals: Le Germain Maple Leaf Square Review
The first hint that we weren’t in real life anymore was the name of the toilet. OK, so I’m sure it was the name of the brand of this kind of toilet (total? Really?), but it set the tone. I got kicked out of house and home the last week while a big part of…
How Michael Kuluva Raises Awareness About RA and Disability Through Fashion
I was really excited to speak with Michael Kuluva, creator of Tumbler and Tipsy, about how he raises awareness of rheumatoid arthritis through his fashion. He also showed us some examples from his 2019 Spring/Summer collection, just fresh off the runway at New York Fashion Week
Changing the National Building Code for an Inclusive Canada
I have never visited my sister’s home. I have never been to my partner’s home. If my friends are having a party, I can’t go. My partner and I can’t live together. Housing in Canada is usually not accessible to people who use wheelchairs. It contributes to isolation — you might even call it segregation…
How You Can Help Create Accessible Housing in Ontario
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” — Margaret Mead Do you live in Ontario? Then we need your help! A few months ago, I became involved in the Older Women’s Network’s “Living in Place” campaign. It’s calling for the…
Living in Place: Fighting to Increase Accessible Housing
We have an accessible housing crisis. This will get worse as the population ages — not in some far-off future, but rather immediately so when the silver tsunami hits in a few years. Despite this, developers exclude accessibility in their design, continuing to build barriers to people with disabilities. This exclusion is in violation of…
Access/No Access: Ramps or Steps… Or Both?
This is the first in my new series of posts taking a look at bad solutions for accessibility, and hopefully the odd good one, as well. There are a couple of places in my extended neighbourhood that have created access using both a ramp and steps. One is at a local grocery store The other…
Fighting for Inclusion: Some Days the Battle is All Uphill
There are days where you hardly notice you have a chronic illness or disability. You move through your day effortlessly a, whatever accommodations you’ve made are by now second nature and hence unnoticeable. Wherever you go, people are helpful, removing barriers to make sure you are included Last Saturday was the opposite of one such…
Trailblazers & Pathmakers: Women’s Leadership with the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
Me? A trailblazer? Apparently so, because I had the privilege of being invited to the Trailblazers & Pathmakers event at Queen’s Park hosted by The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. On an early April morning, I joined 99 amazing women to discuss issues surrounding women’s leadership. May I get real for a moment?…
Construction Obstructions: A Walk in a Wheelchair Gets Complicated
This past weekend, we headed towards the ferry dock to go to the Islands. Because I haven’t been to the Islands yet this summer and I’ve been having a hankering. Getting there was an interesting challenge. There’s been some road work along Queens Quay, the street that runs parallel to the lake in downtown Toronto….