Currently, no AODA standards require provincial or municipal elections in Ontario to be accessible. However, the Third Review of the AODA recommends the creation of standards mandating accessibility in politics and elections. AODA standards in politics and elections could require enhanced disability awareness for political leaders.
Disability Awareness for Political Leaders
In earlier articles, we have explored how more training and professional development could help educators teach students with disabilities, and work with them outside the classroom. Likewise, we have discussed the need for more training of other workers, such as:
AODA standards development Committees recommend specific training to enhance service toward citizens with disabilities in each of these sectors. Training should reduce attitudinal barriers and discrimination on the basis of disability.
Similarly, people with careers in public service should be prepared to serve citizens with disabilities. Political leaders make decisions that profoundly affect the lives of citizens with disabilities. For instance, governments have the power to lead in implementing the AODA, including making government employment and services accessible. Likewise, the government can promote employment for qualified job-seekers with disabilities in the public and private sectors. Furthermore, government leaders can augment resources available to people through the Ontario Disability Support Program (ODSP). While many people using ODSP now live below the poverty line, expanded funding would allow people to provide for themselves and their families.
In addition, more government work to enforce the AODA and implement new standards would reduce the barriers citizens face. Enforcement of the AODA would help more people live full and dignified lives within their communities. Likewise, new AODA standards would continue to improve people’s quality of life through better access to housing, politics, and other sectors.
Training to Enhance Disability Awareness for Political Leaders
In short, political leaders and the choices they make have immense impacts on the every-day lives of citizens with disabilities. These leaders should receive extensive training to understand how current and future law or enforcement make the lives of citizens with disabilities better or worse. For example, people in public service who should receive this training include:
- Members of Provincial Parliament (MPs)
- Mayors
- City counsellors
- Developers of provincial programs, such as ODSP
In addition, people supporting these leaders, through financial data-gathering or other research, should also gain enhanced disability awareness.
Like recommended training in other sectors, training to enhance disability awareness among political leaders should be thorough. Leaders should learn about how current laws and governmental programs impact citizens with a variety of disabilities. Moreover, leaders should learn about the Ontario Human Rights Code, discrimination, and the forms of discrimination that people face. Likewise, leaders should learn about how people’s disabilities intersect with other protected grounds under the Code. Citizens with lived experience of disability should lead the training.
Moreover, this training should be comparable in length and scope to health and safety training. In other words, trainees should take what they are learning seriously. The format of training should be synchronous, to provide trainees with real-time opportunities to discuss what they are learning with peers. A test requirement should ensure that trainees retain the knowledge they have gained through these discussions with trainers and peers. Finally, political leaders should revisit their training midway through their political careers. This renewal of training would allow them to observe how laws or programs that their governments support have impacted citizens with disabilities during their time in office.