and — Sign Up to Tell the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee on February 25, 2021 Why Toronto Must Not Allow E-Scooters
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance Update United for a Barrier-Free Society for All People with Disabilities
Web: https://www.aodaalliance.org Email: aodafeedback@gmail.com Twitter: @aodaalliance Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aodaalliance/
February 12, 2021
summary
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to have devastating impact on our society. That should be the focus of 100% of the time of our political leaders. Despite this, it is inexcusable that The City of Toronto, among some other Ontario cities, continues to actively consider the possibility of unleashing electric scooters (e-scooters) on the city.
E-scooters would endanger the safety of people with disabilities, seniors, children and everyone else. They would create new accessibility barriers in public spaces impeding people with disabilities. Toronto already has two many disability barriers.
E-scooters are now banned in Toronto. That should continue. It is not good enough to say they cannot be ridden on sidewalks. We know that people will ride them on sidewalks, if they are just banned from sidewalks.
Help us convince Toronto Mayor John Tory not to allow e-scooters in Toronto. Email him: mayor_tory@toronto.ca and call his office 416 397-2489. Tell him to say no to e-scooters. We know the e-scooter corporate lobbyists have a feeding frenzy going on at City Hall. We need Mayor Tory to listen to us, the people, and not to give in to the corporate lobbyists.
Take your pick! Here are two easy ways you can help us stop Toronto from allowing e-scooters.
1. Watch and Spread the Word About Our New Short Captioned Video on How to Help Us Stop Toronto from Endangering the Public by Unleashing Electric Scooters
We just made public a brand new short captioned video about why we must stop e-scooters from being allowed in Toronto. This video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PDdTJt9NK14&feature=youtu.be
Please watch this video and spread the word about it. AODA Alliance Chair David Lepofsky explains why e-scooters pose such a danger to people with disabilities, seniors, children and others, and why they would create new disability barriers. This video offers you very practical tips on how you can help us get Toronto to say no to e-scooters.
Post the link to this video on your website, on Twitter, on Facebook or on whatever social media you use.
2. Sign Up to Make a Presentation over Zoom or the Phone to the February 25, 2021 Special Meeting of the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee
On Thursday, February 25, 2021, starting at 9:30 a.m., The Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee, appointed by the City of Toronto, is holding a special virtual meeting to receive feedback on the disability concerns with allowing e-scooters in Toronto. We encourage you to sign up to make a 5-minute presentation to that Committee. This would also help us oppose e-scooters in Toronto.
You can request a chance to speak to the Committee by emailing the Committee at taac@toronto.ca or phoning 416-338-5089. Below we set out the announcement of that meeting.
We commend the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee for holding this meeting. We urge Mayor Tory to log on to be a part of this meeting. As we said earlier, we need him to listen to us, and not only the corporate lobbyists who have had some 94 contacts with him or his office.
We also call on all members of Toronto City Council to log on to attend this meeting. It is especially important for 11 of them to do so, the 11 who voted on July 28, 2020 against having the City of Toronto further investigate disability concerns with allowing e-scooters in the city. Those 11 councilors who opposed us include: Councilors Ainslie, Bailao, Colle, Crawford, Filion, Ford, Grimes, Holyday, Lai, Layton and McKelvie.
It is great that one year ago, on February 3, 2020, the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee unanimously recommended to Toronto City Council not to allow e-scooters at all. The City of Toronto should have dropped its consideration of allowing e-scooters then and there. It is wrong for us to have to continue to try to oppose it, especially when we are faced with the ordeal of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We also invite you to check out the AODA Alliance’s Action Kit on how to help us keep e-scooters out of Toronto.
You can learn even more about our effort to protect people with disabilities, seniors and others from the dangers that e-scooters pose by visiting the AODA Alliance website’s e-scooters page.
MORE DETAILS
Announcement of Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee February 25, 2021 Special Meeting
Originally posted at http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/decisionBodyProfile.do?function=doViewMeetingNotice&meetingId=20132 NOTICE OF SPECIAL MEETING
TORONTO ACCESSIBILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE
FEBRUARY 25, 2021
The Chair has called the meeting of the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee of Thursday, February 25, 2021 as a special meeting to hear a presentation from Transportation Services staff on Electric Kick-scooters (E-scooters). The details of the meeting are as follows:
Date: Thursday, February 25, 2021
Time: 9:30 a.m.
Location: Video Conference
Meetings of the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee will be held by electronic means and the proceedings of the Committee will be conducted publicly.
These measures are necessary to comply with physical distancing requirements and as civic buildings are closed to the public.
The video conference details will be published closer to the meeting dates.
The agenda will be distributed as soon as it is available. To view the most up-to-date schedule of meetings, please visit www.toronto.ca/council.
To provide comments or make a presentation to the Toronto Accessibility Advisory Committee
The public may submit written comments or register to speak to the Committee on any item on the agenda.
Written comments may be submitted by writing to taac@toronto.ca.
To speak to the Committee, please register by e-mail to taac@toronto.ca or by phone at 416-338-5089. Registered speakers will be provided with instructions on connecting to the meeting.
For further information or assistance, please contact Carol Kaustinen, Administrator, at 416-338-5089 or e-mail taac@toronto.ca.
CITY CLERK
January 6, 2021
Closed Meeting Requirements: If the Committee wants to meet in closed session (privately), a member of the Committee must make a motion to do so and give the reason why the Committee has to meet privately (City of Toronto Act, 2006).
Notice to People Writing or Making Presentations to the Committee: The City of Toronto Act, 2006 and the City of Toronto Municipal Code authorize the City of Toronto to collect any personal information in your communication or presentation to City Council or its Committees and Boards. The City collects this information to enable it to make informed decisions on the relevant issue(s). If you are submitting letters, faxes, e-mails, presentations or other communications to the City, you should be aware that your name and the fact that you communicated with the City will become part of the public record and will appear on the City’s website. The City will also make your communication and any personal information in it – such as your postal address, telephone number or e-mail address – available to the public, unless you expressly request the City to remove it.
Many Committee, Board, and Advisory Body meetings are available over the internet for the public to view. If you speak at the meeting you may appear in the video record of the meeting.
If you want to learn more about why and how the City collects your information, write to the City Clerk’s Office, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West, Toronto ON M5H 2N2 or call 416-338-5089.