#CriptheVote

Oct 13, 2019
5 min

#CripTheVote 2019: Accessibility

Introduction and discussion questions by Gabrielle Peters and Alex Haagaard. When it comes to disability-focused legislation, Canada has lagged behind the United States. The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990, and created requirements for accessibility of public and commercial spaces, provision of reasonable accommodations by employers, as well as broadly prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability. Even though the ADA is American legislation,

Alex Haagaard

Oct 4, 2019
7 min

#CripTheVote 2019: Housing

Introduction by Gabrielle Peters and Alex Haagaard. Discussion questions by Gabrielle Peters. Canada is in the midst of a housing crisis. As of 2014, nearly one in five Canadian households were experiencing extreme housing affordability problems. In 2016, a Statistics Canada report found that eight percent of Canadians over the age of 15 had experienced “hidden homelessness,” where they had to live in someone else’s home, in their vehicle, or in another temporary situation be

Alex Haagaard

Sep 23, 2019
1 min

#CripTheVote 2019 Online Town Halls

This federal election, we are collaborating with YWCA Hamilton, and activists Alex Haagaard and Gabrielle Peters, to co-host Centering the Margins, which will engage BIPOC and disabled people in the electoral process. It is estimated that one in five Canadians over the age of 15 has one or more disabilities. Yet disability justice perspectives remain underrepresented in our national political discourse, and many disabled people in Canada cannot physically or directly engage t

Alex Haagaard

Sep 23, 2019
4 min

#CripTheVote 2019: Climate Justice

Action on climate change is one of the key issues of the 2019 federal election. Recent research has found that there is a broad consensus among Canadians that climate action is needed. The outcome of October’s election will determine what Canada’s climate strategy will look like. Climate change intersects with many social justice perspectives, including disability justice. Disabled persons may experience serious worsening of chronic health problems as a direct result of extre

Alex Haagaard

Oct 21, 2018
4 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from candidate Michael Pattison, on Accessibility and the AODA

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us for our final #CripTheVote chat. Please introduce yourself! Hello. My name is Michael Pattison. I am a lifelong Hamilton resident, I live in Ward 1, I am self-employed, I have two daughters and 1 step-daughter, and I am running for Mayor of the Greater City of Hamilton. 2. What does it mean to say that something is “accessible”? Accessible to me means that a product, service, technology, or space can be used or accessed by all people. It

Alex Haagaard

Oct 21, 2018
3 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Carlos Gomes, on Accessibility and the AODA

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us for our final #CripTheVote chat. Please introduce yourself! Hi my name is Carlos Gomes and I'm hoping to be Hamilton's new mayor this coming elections day. 2. What does it mean to say that something is “accessible”? Availability to all PERIOD 3. What is the importance of making Hamilton more accessible? No one knows what the future holds for us, one day we can be the person complaining about senior & disabled people. The next day we could

#CripTheVote Town Hall: Accessibility and the AODA

Alex Haagaard

Oct 19, 2018
4 min

#CripTheVote Town Hall: Accessibility and the AODA

Good evening everyone, and welcome to our third and final #CripTheVote chat in the lead-up to the Hamilton municipal election. The #AODA is a law that was passed by the Ontario government in 2005, "to develop, implement and enforce standards for accessibility related to goods, services, facilities, employment, accommodation and buildings" by 2025. Accessibility is usually understood to mean the design of products, spaces and services so that disabled people can use them. Desi

Alex Haagaard

Oct 18, 2018
5 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Michael Pattison, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself! Hello, My name is Michael Pattison, but you can call me homegrown Mike, guy smiley or Happy Mike. I am 46 years old and a born and raised Hamiltonian. 2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election. How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city? I believe the LRT is a positive for those with accessibility issu

Alex Haagaard

Oct 18, 2018
4 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral incumbent Fred Eisenberger, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself! This is Fred Eisenberger. It has been my privilege to serve as the Mayor of the City of Hamilton. 2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election. How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city? The LRT project is the first step in the implementation of the BLAST network designed to serve the whole city through

Alex Haagaard

Oct 17, 2018
4 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Henry Geissler, on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself! Hello DJNO! My name is Henry Geissler and I am not a career politician. I actually consider that to be an asset, although it has hurt me in that the Spectator ignores my message, and that is a pity. My campaign is centred on the LRT question. It would anger me whenever I thought of the harm City Council and Metrolinx planned, especially when there was such potential for good. I was not hearing what was cle

Alex Haagaard

Oct 17, 2018
3 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Carlos Gomes on Transportation

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself! Hi my name is Carlos Gomes and I'm hoping to be Hamilton's new mayor this coming elections day. 2. The planned LRT line for Hamilton has become a prominent issue in this election. How do you anticipate this project would impact access to transit for disabled people living throughout the city? The LRT will make accessibility for disabled people and seniors, none existent. It doesn't have any hydraulic lifting f

Alex Haagaard

Oct 16, 2018
3 min

#CripTheVote Town Hall: Transportation

Good evening, and welcome to the second of three online town halls in the lead-up to the #HamOnt municipal election. Tonight's theme is #transportation, an important issue that affects disabled people everywhere, whether they live in urban centres, or in rural areas. For people with disabilities, getting around their neighbourhood, town or city can be time-consuming, exhausting, and can often feel like they are playing some kind of complicated strategy game. Zach Anner's "Que

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Michael Pattison on Poverty, Gentrification & Housing

Alex Haagaard

Oct 16, 2018
7 min

#CripTheVote: Responses from mayoral candidate Michael Pattison on Poverty, Gentrification & Housing

1. Welcome, and thanks for joining us. Please introduce yourself! Hello. My name is Michael Pattison. I am a lifelong Hamilton resident, I live in Ward 1, I am self-employed, I have two daughters and 1 step-daughter, and I am running for Mayor of the Greater City of Hamilton. 2. A recent article in The Hamilton Spectator notes that, “The usual concern is that [gentrification] may cause displacement and prevent lower-income households from moving into an area that might have

Alex Haagaard

Oct 15, 2018
3 min

#CripTheVote statement from mayoral candidate Ute Schmid-Jones

In response to the Disability Justice Network of Ontario's invitation to participate in our series of #CripTheVote town halls, mayoral candidate Ute Schmid-Jones has sent the following statement to us: Thank you for taking the time to invest in a very detailed and interesting telephone conversation with me on the weekend. I hope that I was able to explain that as an individual, I can express a point of view and even share how a political policy effects me personally for exam

Alex Haagaard

Oct 11, 2018
4 min

#CripTheVote #HamOnt Town Hall: Poverty, Gentrification & Housing

According to Statistics Canada, nearly a quarter of Canadians with disabilities live in poverty - more than twice the rate for non-disabled Canadians. This number increases for Canadians with multiple and 'severe' disabilities - more than 35 percent of whom live below the poverty line. The Ontario government recently cut a planned increase to disability benefit rates, and cancelled the province's basic income pilot programme. Meanwhile, many Canadian cities are facing dramati

Disability Justice Network of Ontario

Oct 11, 2018
2 min

#CripTheVote #HamOnt

With elections underway the Disability Justice Network of Ontario is hosting a #CripTheVote campaign from October 15th to October 20th for the mayoral elections in #HamOnt!! Many people with disabilities are directly affected by local municipal politics, yet cannot physically or directly engage their candidates with important questions in traditional formats for a variety of health or access related reasons. To fill this gap, the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO) w