Opinion – Disability Rights are Human Rights

A great article in the Montreal Gazette that discusses The Accessible Canada Act that came into force a couple of months ago.

The article discusses how the Act is being implemented and put into practice across the country.

Until now, the rights of people with disabilities have been mostly disregarded. And not only by mainstream media, but by policy makers, governments and frankly by the broader human rights community. This despite all the evidence: statistical data, years of documented human rights complaints at alarmingly high rates, decades of reports and studies from disability organizations. It is unfortunate that even the passing of this historic legislation received very little attention outside of the disability and human rights community.

The fact is that disability is something that every Canadian may experience at some point in their lives, regardless of any other factor, and it goes beyond gender, race, class, sexual orientation or geography. In fact, according to Statistics Canada  24% of all women and 21% of all men in Canada already live with a disability. This legislation is very likely to have an impact on the lives of all Canadians.

CVS is so pleased that this Act has been developed by the Federal government. Now it\’s up to the community at large to adhere to this Act and ensure that it is being enforced in practice.

To read more of the article, visit the original story on the Montreal Gazette website.