Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance campaigns for barrier-free elections (AODA Alliance)

After a lively two-hour all-candidates debate, voters leaving Leaside High School were greeted by activist Sharon Dever and two other people in wheelchairs at the bottom of a set of imposing cement stairs. They were unable to attend the meeting because the school is inaccessible. Dever held a sign reading "Access Denied."

This is an especially cruel irony for voters with disabilities. In the earliest days of the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee, the AODA Alliance’s predecessor used the spectacle of an inaccessible Toronto area All-Candidates Debate in the 1995 election campaign, 12 years ago, to raise this issue. A dozen years and two accessibility laws later, the same spectacle occurs in 2007.

With less than a week to go before the Oct. 10, 2007 Ontario election, be sure to make arrangements to vote. If you need para-transit, book it early. Check with Elections Ontario to find out where an accessible polling station is. Make sure you bring all the identification documentation they require. Your voter registration card alone isn’t sufficient. To find out more about voting, including advance polls, call toll free to:

1-888-668-8683
TTY 1-866-273-4612

More information at: www.aodaalliance.org/election2007

All three major political parties have pledged in this election to support the next government in developing a plan to make all elections in Ontario fully accessible to voters with disabilities.