Candidate did not respond to our questions.
- The number #1 issue from an accessibility standpoint is how we move around the City. This encompasses:
- paratransit, conventional transit, ride-share and taxis
- broken and unsafe sidewalks
- buses that let out into areas that aren’t safe for folks with impaired vision.
- Winter weather conditions, snow clearing on sidewalks, snowbanks left in ways that people with mobility issues cannot get around, insufficient salting making for dangerous conditions etc.
- Accessible housing improvements are a key part of the plan as we build and refurbish affordable housing stock in our community. These investments will increase the number of accessible units available to low‑income residents. Within supportive housing, we also prioritize the need for accessible spaces for those who rely on them.
The City administers the Ontario Renovates program, and while the program has merit, I will continue advocating for improvements and modernization. Income thresholds and assessed property values should be updated to reflect current realities and allow more residents to benefit from the program.
- To improve transportation on conventional transit and paratransit, we must improve frequency and reliability. I think this will be a continued focus for the LTC and the next term of Council. With a new paratransit provider, my hope is that some of the underlying concerns can be addressed. For taxis and rideshare, we need to look at a greater partnership to allow for more accessible vehicles within the system.
Early in my career, I served as a District Manager for the Easter Seal Society, where I learned about accessibility needs across different communities. I saw firsthand how life‑changing a mobility device can be, not just in improving independence, but in opening up opportunities that many people take for granted.
As a parent of a child with a hearing disability, I also understand how challenging advocacy can be. Too often, systems are built with barriers that place the burden of navigating and explaining those barriers on the very people most affected by them.
These experiences have shaped how I listen, how I engage, and how I understand accessibility issues in our city.
Candidate did not respond to our questions.
- What do you feel is the #1 accessibility issue facing the city of London?
I think that the number one accessibility issue facing London is that we tend to fall into the pattern of treating accessibility as a nice-to-have, rather than a need-to-have. This issue isn’t unique to London, but it is a cloud of sorts that hangs over many conversations around accessibility. Accessibility is not something that we can start to think about if every other need is taken care of. It has to be part of our thinking process from the beginning.
2. How will you commit to improving accessible housing opportunities in our city?
A very important first step is protecting the accessible housing that we already have. The City’s Housing Stability Action Plan identifies helping people stay housed through prevention and diversion supports as a priority, and protecting the accessible units we have is a key piece to that.
We also need to prioritize the construction of new accessible units where the city has the authority to do so. New housing projects where the city is a partner are one place where this is possible. We can also look into providing incentives for more accessible units in new private developments.
I think that it’s also important to broaden our understanding of what accessibility means in the context of housing. There are accessible units that are designed for a wheelchair user, and they’re critically important. In addition to that, I think that we need to consider some other barriers to housing that people experience. Some people have a difficult time living in multi-unit dwellings because of sensitivities to sounds or aromas. Could soundproofing or ventilation that goes beyond the requirements of the building code help to address these challenges? I would be curious to hear from residents about the specific accessibility-related barriers to housing that they have experienced, and I would be very open to trying to find solutions.
I would add as well that I am currently temporarily physically disabled because of a lower body injury. I know that previously able-bodied people saying things like “I understand everything now because I broke my leg” is a problematic thing that happens, and so I want to be clear that I do not pretend to understand everybody’s experience, nor did I only start caring about accessibility when I got hurt. I only wish to say that going out and knocking on doors in a walking boot has given me some very interesting first-hand experience into the accessibility (or lack thereof) of various architectural features we see throughout our city, and I would happily welcome any and all input from folks with disabilities about which architectural features create barriers and why.
3.How will you work to improve accessible transportation including conventional transit, Paratransit, taxis and ride sharing?
I’ll be honest; conventional transit is the easiest of these four modes of transportation for me to talk about because it’s the one I have the most firsthand experience with. There are many opportunities to improve the accessibility of conventional transit, including increasing frequency to avoid overcrowding, improving reliability of service, making bus stops and shelters accessible, and clearing snow. Snow clearing has to happen at bus stops, on the sidewalk, and at curb cuts; windrows and snow banks are not accessible. Discussions about conventional transit are hard to separate from discussions about sidewalks and bike lanes because you have to get to the bus stop one way or another. I’d be curious to hear about other accessibility challenges that residents have faced on sidewalks and/or in bike lanes. Are there sidewalks that are too sloped to roll on? Are there areas where water pools, making the sidewalk or bike lane unusable whenever there’s precipitation or melting? I’d welcome input about any specific accessibility challenges that people face.
For paratransit, I think it’s easy to look at the numbers and say, “There’s been (some) progress,” and for taxis, it’s easy to look at the documents and say, “We have a framework for accessible taxis.” It’s clear to me, though, that there’s unmet demand, and that there is a need to improve some key metrics. This is an area where I really would value hearing about people’s lived experience because I’ve never taken paratransit, and while I’ve taken taxis for accessibility reasons (such as lower body injuries), I’ve never actually needed to request an accessible vehicle. I would like to hear people’s stories so I can get a sense of what’s working and what’s not working, and see what we can do within our current regulatory framework. As for rideshares, the City has fewer levers we can pull there, but I’d be happy to see what we can do.
Candidate did not respond to our questions.
