On January 9th, 2019, the Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance (“AODA Alliance”), David Lepofsky, sat down with CTV “Your Morning” host Kelsey McEwen to discuss the federal government’s Bill C-81, the proposed Accessible Canada Act.

Since the bill’s inception, the federal government has stated it is meant to reflect the principle “nothing about us without us!” However, disability groups including the AODA Alliance are calling foul.

On October 31, 2018, 34 disability groups sent an open letter to the federal government addressing significant concerns with the proposed legislation. As David Lepofsky explains, those concerns include a lack of timelines for implementation, splintered responsibility for handling complaints, and no requirement that federal dollars not be used to perpetuate barriers – for example, by providing funding for new infrastructure only where it will meet accessibility requirements.

You can watch David Lepofsky’s interview with CTV here (link). The full open letter suggesting amendments to Bill C-81 can be found here (link).

Bill C-81 passed Third Reading at the House of Commons on November 27th, 2018 and is currently before the Senate. You can read the bill here (link).