David Onley's Long Road to Accessibility

This winter has been a disaster for anyone with mobility problems. Sidewalks aren't getting plowed or shovelled and even if they are, there's likely a mound of snow and ice blocking them at intersections. Ontario hasn't done a great job in mandating accessiblity to start with (one of the few social policy areas in which the U.S. leads Canada) and this winter has made already difficult journeys into impossibilities for many.

Recently, the Toronto Star published a feature on David Onley, the former lieutenant-governor of Ontario. Onley, a popular TV reporter before being appointed to the vice-regal position, has been battling the effects of polio all his life. He's now completed a report on accessibility in Ontario and submitted it to the government.

He is using it to describe what he sees at ground level — and getting a hearing from the powers above. Appointed last year by Queen’s Park to conduct a formal review of accessibility in Ontario, he has just submitted his findings to the Progressive Conservative government:

ere is still a stunning disconnect for the disabled, and a growing gap in how the able-bodied perceive the reality of inaccessibility.

Onley wouldn’t tip his hand about the details of his report, which will be shared with the public later. But he didn’t disguise his disappointment.

“We still have a very inaccessible society, a built environment that is very inaccessible,” he told me. “The people who believe it’s accessible are members of the able-bodied population.”

This mirrors my personal experience. Years ago, one of my closest friends was Bob Venn, who had spina bifida and was confined to a wheel chair. He could drive, using a hand control, and almost got his pilot's license. I spent a lot of time pushing him around and got a graduate course in just how difficult a few steps could make life for someone in a wheelchair. Bob is gone now, but I've never forgotten that lesson. We need to do better.