Ontario has failed people with disabilities
- Mike
- Oct 1
- 6 min read
People with disabilities in Oshawa, Whitby and Clarington speak bluntly about what accessibility act means to their lives ‘As a disabled person since 2010, the improvements I’m seeming in my community are absolutely minimal’: Jim McEwen
This article explores Ontario’s progress toward a barrier-free province for people with disabilities amid the impending AODA deadlines through personal experiences.
Monday, December 2, 2024
5 min to read
Article was updated Dec 2, 2024
Dot McFarlane, who has lived with a disability for a number of years and often uses a scooter to get around Oshawa, cuddles with two of her pet dogs, Morgan (on top), a schnauzer mix, and Riot, a poodle mix.
A barrier-free Ontario was the purpose of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA), unanimously passed by MPPs in 2005. With the province’s 20-year deadline for the implementation of accessibility standards looming on Jan. 1, 2025, Restricted Access: Will Ontario meet its barrier-free goals? explores this quality-of-life issue for the millions of people living with disabilities — a demographic that’s expected to skyrocket as the population ages.
When passed nearly 20 years ago, the AODA, as its most commonly known, was created to “establish, develop, implement and enforce standards related to goods, services, accommodation, employment and buildings before Jan. 1, 2025.
The legislation applies to every person in both the public and private sector. Its ultimate aim is to work toward a barrier-free Ontario.
Has it met that goal? Has it come close? Has much even changed?
DurhamRegion.com asked four people who live with disabilities and who have been members of local accessibility advisory committees in various municipalities whether the legislation has been effective.
Here are their stories, through their own lived experiences and in their own words:
Dot McFarlane, 58, of Oshawa
Dot McFarlane is the current chair of Oshawa’s accessibility advisory committee.
She has “back issues that when I walk certain distances, my legs start to go numb. I also have a genetic endocrine issue and vertigo. I was diagnosed with my endocrine issue when I was in my teens. It causes problems with my face, my neck is very bulgy. It creates hypothyroidism, but my hypothyroidism manifests itself in my neck and it makes my neck look a lot bigger than most people.”
The City of Oshawa insisted on this disclaimer about McFarlane’s comments: “The opinions reflected by the member are their own personal comments and are not endorsed nor representative of the advisory committee, the City of Oshawa or Oshawa city council.”
“Because of my hypothyroidism I get a lot of comments on my face, that I’m fat, that I should lose weight, all that kind of stuff; I get negative comments in regard to that. I started needing to use a scooter six or seven years ago … At first, I wasn’t approved for a scooter, so I ended up getting my own. The doctor had prescribed it. I faced comments in regard to that too. Even people that sort of know me, here in my building, they look at me and they say, you’re too lazy, you shouldn’t need that scooter. So it’s a prime example of attitudinal disability. They think that just because they can see me walk that I shouldn’t need that scooter at all, but they can’t see what’s going on, on the inside,” she said.
How do you feel now as far as accessibility goes in 2024, compared to about a decade ago?
“We have made progress, but there is still a long way to go … In my own life, it’s been in transportation. I don’t drive, my scooter is my car. When I’m going on public transit, with the buses, I’ll go back 20 years ago when we were riding buses — the buses were not accessible at all. I used to have a roommate that used a wheelchair and I would always have to fold her wheelchair up to carry it on the bus and she managed to almost crawl on to the bus. Nowadays, it’s much better.”
Kathryn Bremner, 73, of Oshawa
Bremner’s adult son Scott lives with a disability. She is a longtime disability rights advocate and former member of the City of Oshawa accessibility advisory committee.
“We are six weeks away from the AODA deadline for an accessible Ontario and two decades removed from when it became law and it’s clear that Ontario has failed people with disabilities, miserably. This will come as no surprise to Premier Doug Ford. Four reviews raised alarms about Ontario’s lack of progress. Just north of me in Oshawa, thousands of homes are being built with no thought to accessibility. Homes that will last for decades. The construction industry and the politicians who make the laws need to wake up to the reality that roughly 2.6 million Ontarians are disabled and the number is growing, as the population ages.”
Mike Moraites, who lives with a disability, is a former member of the Whitby accessibility advisory committee. He said he was frustrated with the committee and stepped down a few months ago.
Tim Kelly Metroland
Mike Moraites, 63, of Whitby
Moraites lives with osteoarthritis diabetes and neuropathy and retired at age 53 from his job in Toronto, when he moved to Whitby. He is a former member of the Whitby accessibility advisory committee.
“One of the things I find in the Town of Whitby is the lack of enforcement for disabled parking, an inability to find a space, and people violating the laws by parking in the space, or parking in the space with a permit and waiting while they have their friend run into the store. There are all kinds of enforcement issues. That’s the town we live in,” he said.
“There are also two examples of how it’s not working. When I went to visit my doctor’s office, and I went to go into the accessible washroom, the door was shut. I pushed the door open, went to go in, and it was a storage room. I still went in, use the bars to get up and down. I waited and spoke to my doctor; she agreed it shouldn’t be like that. On my next visit, I went to use the accessible washroom and the door was locked. I spoke to the doctor, but they had put a bar in the other bathroom, so it was not adequately equipped in a doctor’s office. What it comes down to, there’s nobody to complain to, nobody to call. What do you use if you come in with a walker or a wheelchair?” he said.
“My biggest worries and concerns are the AODA is not going to be fulfilled by the Jan. 1, 2025 date. I mean, I’m 100 per cent sure they are not going to be able to do that. I understand a lot of people fought for this, but maybe the province should have another look at the act and see what’s doable and reset some achievement dates and try and figure out where the general public is going to come up with the funds to do what they have to do with regards to accessibility. Enforcement (of standards) is an important part for the province. In the town, we pay enough tax. We don’t have money to hire more bylaw enforcement, and it should be a provincial responsibility,” Moraites said.
Jim McEwen of Clarington, a member of the Region of Durham’s accessibility advisory committee, has lived with a disability since he suffered a stroke in 2010.
Tim Kelly Metroland
Jim McEwen, 69, of Clarington
McEwen, a retired civil engineer, has lived with a disability since 2010 after suffering a stroke. He is a member of the Region of Durham accessibility advisory committee.
“As a disabled person since 2010, the improvements I’m seeing in my community are absolutely minimal. I’m not seeing the improvements I would like to see in restaurants. In most restaurants, I have to go to the women’s restroom with my wife. Twenty years ago, there was no standard to have proper bars in handicapped stalls. Twenty years later, I’ve been in so many washrooms where they don’t have enough bars and I’m trying to grab on the back of the toilet because they don’t have accessibility,” he said.
He said he’s frustrated that the need for accessible washrooms seems to be an Ontario Building Code requirement rather than an AODA standard.
“There seems to be a disconnect between the AODA and Ontario Building Code with respect to providing a barrier-free Ontario.”
“I like it when places have a washroom that is only for the disabled. I can go into it, use it and I’m totally fine with it. I have no issues with it and come out on my own. I know how to deal with them. They have a push-button door opener, and they’ve got proper bars in them. I’m totally safe in them,” he said.
With the advisory committee, he said “we’ve had an impact. Durham Region was proposing a new long-term-care home in north Pickering and our committee had the opportunity to review the proposed drawings for accessibility, which was good.”
TORONTO STAR -OPINION PAGE, OCT. 1, 2025
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