Elections
The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act mandates that cities must be completely accessible by 2025. What changes would you make to ensure Hamilton complies with this mandate?
Responses to the question: "The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act mandates that cities must be completely accessible by 2025. What changes would you make to ensure Hamilton complies with this mandate?"
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6 Candidate Responses (top)
| Ward 03 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Brief Response | Full Response |
| Bureau, Alain | Yes | |
| Farr, Laura | Yes | From my experience working at City Hall over the last ten years, certain areas have been resistant to making those changes, or simply not had the funding to implement them. The work of the Accessibility Committee for Persons with Disabilities is very comprehensive and exhaustive in reporting where deficiencies exist. Their voices and recommendations need to be acted on, unequivocally. |
| Kuruc, Ned | Yes | I would create a task force to help local businesses understand what is necessary to meet the necessary standards and to help local business access resources to make the necessary changes. |
| Nann, Nrinder | Yes | Millions of people live with disabilities in Ontario. The City of Hamilton has a legal obligation, regulated by the Ontario Human Rights Code, as well as a moral obligation, to provide accessibility or accommodations for its citizens.
In 2006 the City created barrier free design guidelines for requirements above and beyond the Ontario Building Code, in line with AODA regulations. The report showed that there is a 157-million-dollar funding gap around the facilities management required to upgrade City facilities to current accessibility legislation standards. These costs were calculated by auditing 16 services, and costing out the needed upgrades across 500 services. By not budgeting for accessibility-related infrastructure changes, the City of Hamilton is continuing to perpetuate the idea that people with disabilities do not matter in our city. People with disabilities are not being treated as equal citizens because rectifiable urban-design failures and negligence. This waiting game puts the City at legal risk, according to the city's legal department, for an onslaught of human rights complaints, and continues to further marginalize a growing portion of our population which includes seniors and people with visible and invisible disabilities. As City Councilor, I would push for the creation of a six-year accessibility strategy, in line with the provincial mandate to create a fully accessible Ontario by 2025 and with attention paid to the next round of capital budget approvals, to ensure that no one in our city is left behind. I'll also strongly advocate for LRT and completion of the BLAST network. LRT will allow people with mobility devices to ride the B-line any time of the day and reduce reliance on DARTS. Plus, expanding our bus network (with accessible buses) will further allow residents to be more independent. |
| Smith, Dan | Yes | I would do my best to see that building, especially government are fully accessible. |
| Sprague, Kristeen | Yes | As a person with a disability, I am all too familiar with the problems that inaccessibility causes for our residents and the inclusive operation of our municipal government itself. We need to make sure that public building and spaces have physical improvements made with access in mind. But that's not enough. We need to look at all of the ways in which public space, infrastructure and operations intersects with users and residents with disabilities. This means considering how factors such as poverty, gender expression, age, and radicalization can impact accessibility. This might mean taking a broad approach to accessibility that includes regular training for personnel and volunteers, regular consultation with the community and community groups of residents with disabilities, and making adjustments to city operations and space to make Hamilton more accessible to residents and visitors. |
Response Summary (top)
| Brief Response | Count | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Yes | 6 | 100.0% |
| No | 0 | 0.0% |
| Maybe | 0 | 0.0% |
7 Candidates Have Not Responded (top)
| Ward 03 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Balta, Milena | ||
| Beck, Keith | ||
| Denault, Steven Paul | ||
| Kavanaugh, Brendan | ||
| Lemma, Tony | ||
| Rowe, Stephen | ||
| Salonen, Amanda | ||
