The Agenda with Steve Paikin (Audio) - How Can Accessibility Shape a Better City?

Episode Date: October 25, 2024

Things like public transit, building codes, and snow removal are not always planned keeping in mind people with disabilities. So, what does an accessible city for all look like? Writer and disability ...organizer Emily Macrae has some suggestions, and they can be found in a new book of essays and interviews she's edited, called "Living Disability: Building Accessible Futures for Everybody".See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Public transit, building codes, snow removal. These policies are not always planned with people with disabilities in mind. So what does an accessible city for all look like? Writer and disability organizer Emily McCray has some suggestions and they can be found in a new book of essays and interviews she's edited. It's called Living Disability, Building Accessible Futures for Everybody. And it brings Emily McCe to our studios. Welcome All right, so let's start by talking about some terminology
Starting point is 00:00:31 In the intro to this book, you know that contributors will switch between person first and identity first language break it down for us What's the difference? Yeah, for sure. So there's lots of different ways of talking about disability I think the most important thing is that we do talk about it and we include it in our conversations about all of the topics that you Mentioned off the top when we say person first that would be like saying a person with a disability And so the motivation there is to focus on the person rather than the disability and to put that first in the phrase Another approach would be identity first language. And so that would be like saying Another approach would be identity first language and so that would be like saying
Starting point is 00:01:12 Disabled person or disabled people and I think that is acknowledging that disability is an inherent part of a person's identity It sort of shapes how they interact with the rest of the world Why do different writers in this book have different preferences in terms of how they want to? Identify yeah for sure. I think it's not like one is better than the other. Both are equally valid. I think if you're interacting with someone, you can kind of wait and see which language they use. You can ask outright if you want to be extra clear.
Starting point is 00:01:37 But I think one reason that there is this variation is that anyone who's disabled is balancing other identities, whether we're part of a queer community, a faith community. We're also in relationship with other people who have other ways of moving through the world. And everyone chooses language that best represents their experiences. All right, one more terminology, but I promise it's the last one. Many of these chapters refer to the medical model
Starting point is 00:02:02 of disability versus the social model. What does each model look like? Can you give us some examples? When we're thinking about different frameworks for understanding disability, really the medical and the social models focus on different aspects of what needs to be fixed. So the medical model thinks about disability as being a flaw that is inside of an individual and so there's a need for scientific intervention, whether that's from a doctor, from another health care
Starting point is 00:02:29 professional to cure or to treat the disability or the flaw in the person. And I would say something about that is that it puts a lot of pressure on the individual to change and adapt. They need to do things differently to be more like other people. In contrast, the social model frames disability as a mismatch between a person and their environment. And so that's useful because
Starting point is 00:02:55 that allows all of us to look around us and think about what could be different so that more people could participate more fully. Do you have an example for that model. So if we're thinking about the social model of disability, if there were no lights on not only in this room, but in this building, you and I might need night vision goggles to get around. And that would be, honestly, a pretty expensive
Starting point is 00:03:18 and specialized assistive device that would allow us to get to the exit or get to the next floor. In contrast, someone who's blind or low vision and who is accustomed to navigating using other cues that aren't necessarily visual would probably not have a problem in that environment. Okay. All right. I want to read a little snippet of from the book. It starts off by saying, We're the experts, but we are not a monolith. A foundational piece of being disabled is knowing that other people don't move through the world like you do, don't notice what you do. We're musicians and artists, academics and activists, thrifters and gardeners, film critics and movie buffs.
Starting point is 00:03:56 Every person in this book has an area of expertise beyond our lived experiences of disability. We are disabled and not disabled, but we've found solutions and bridged problems that others have never had to consider. People in the disability community may have completely different experiences in the world and navigate and how they navigate their city. So how did you come together to advocate for change
Starting point is 00:04:20 when experiences are so different? I mean, I love my city. I care deeply about Toronto, but I'm also curious about other communities of all sizes and how they work or why they don't. And when I was starting to read and then write about urban issues, I noticed that disability was covered very rarely in accessibility as well,
Starting point is 00:04:40 or if it was, only very poorly. And that really didn't represent my own experiences with disability throughout my life. And so what I hope that this book does is that it brings together not only things that I notice, but things that other people who are already doing the work across Canada of making their communities more accessible are doing differently and encouraging
Starting point is 00:05:01 in terms of the way that we gather, the spaces that we share, and other things like online communities, the design of forms. So many things can be done differently so that more people can participate fully. We'll talk about that a little later. I want to talk about some of the issues that we're dealing with. Toronto specifically and actually all across this country you can look, dealing with rising housing costs in China. What's the impact on people with disabilities when it comes to housing?
Starting point is 00:05:29 A lot of housing is not designed with the needs of disabled people in mind and there are physical components of housing that could be done differently. I mean if we look at Ontario the building code was updated in 2012 so that 15% of all New units in multi-unit residential buildings have to include some basic accessibility features And that might sound like progress, but if we break down that those numbers, it's not a lot I mean first off 2012 is already a while ago 15% not 50% not a hundred percent And those units that have to have accessibility features,
Starting point is 00:06:08 those are only in multi-unit residential buildings. So that excludes single-family homes, that excludes townhouses, duplexes. Really it's cutting out sort of the missing middle housing form that we know we need to bring density and create spaces that are affordable for everyone in our cities. Now, Taz, I trade a planner, urban planner. Curious, are urban planners trained in universal design and accessible development? What is, is there some lacking of knowledge in that field? So I would say there are definitely gaps there.
Starting point is 00:06:41 Like urban planning is often thought about as the space between buildings. So we were just talking about the building code that's kind of maybe more a matter for architects. Whereas when we think about urban planning, one of the contributors in the book, Sarah Mantufel, is a planner working in Winnipeg and she actually conducted research. So she did a scan of the professional codes of practice for planners in Canada, the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. And there's very little language about disability,
Starting point is 00:07:10 but Canada actually shows up the worst because the word disability isn't in those codes of conduct for us in our profession here at all. So you can imagine if it's not in those foundational documents, how do you develop the courses, what is the basis for professional development? All right, I wanna chat a little bit about transportation.
Starting point is 00:07:28 One of the chapters in this book looks directly at accessibility on the TTC here in Toronto. What are the accessibility issues on public transit as it is right now in the city? When we're thinking of public transit, I mean, there are sort of multiple systems running in parallel in Toronto. We have Wheel Trans, which is specialized door-to-door service for people with disabilities and then sometimes that integrates into the bus service or the subway services. Not all of the subway stations are accessible and you know even stations that are accessible sometimes you need to use multiple elevators to get between street level and platform level or
Starting point is 00:08:10 between different platforms. So there are definitely physical barriers in terms of getting around the subway and then you know other things like frequency does the bus route that you need run often enough that you can get to your appointments or get to work? How far in advance do you need run often enough that you can get to your appointments or get to work. How far in advance do you need to call to get a Wheel-Trans ride? You know, what is that window that the Wheel-Trans bus is going to wait for you? And what happens if you forgot your code upstairs? You know, different things both in terms of the hard infrastructure and the soft services that could be
Starting point is 00:08:43 different so that we can all get around and get where we need to go. In this chapter about the TTC and transit in particular, it's kind of interesting because the people that were involved were kind of talking about being the guinea pigs for accessibility in the TTC. But what was interesting was that there was a story where disability advocates tried to get the TTC CEOs at the time to understand the challenges. What did they do? Mazen Aribi writes about his experiences with the Advisory Committee for Accessible Transportation.
Starting point is 00:09:13 And one of the things that he did with multiple TTC leaders was offer them the opportunity to spend a day with him using a wheelchair and going through that system that I was just describing. So using conventional buses, using Wheelchairs and using the subway as a way to see sort of like what are those bumps along the road that you're encountering when you're trying to transfer between vehicles and get between stations. So I think you know really valuable relationship building experience to give a perspective for people who may not have had to sort of think through every step in the process.
Starting point is 00:09:48 Do we know how that that unfolded? How did it go? Because I am curious, you know, former TTC CEO Andy Byford, you know, doesn't require a wheelchair to get around and I'm curious if there was maybe some pushback around, you know, putting someone who didn't require a wheelchair in a wheelchair to experience what it was like. So I think Andy Byford is one of the people who did say yes to that invite and go for the experience. I think that one of the things that he noticed
Starting point is 00:10:18 was just that passengers can be really inconsiderate in terms of just brushing by and not giving people the space that they need to use and maneuver while they're getting on and off the subway for instance. But you know I think one of the great things about this book is that we bring together chapters and ideas that sometimes contrast. So another of our writers, Jonathan Lepke, brings together research and shows that some of these simulations to sort of try on disability for a day aren't necessarily the best way to build empathy or create systemic change because of course disability isn't a costume. I can't take it off at the end of the day and so maybe that's a starting point but of course having these more in-depth conversations, spending time with a chapter is another way to sort of learn more and think about how it impacts your life and your decisions. Very good. All right, I want to read another little snippet. It reads, more than half
Starting point is 00:11:10 a million disabled Canadians consider themselves housebound and winter conditions are one contributing factor. In Toronto, the inconsistent maintenance of sidewalks on residential streets creates a perverse incentive against walking or riding around the city's densest neighborhoods Each winter instead of visiting friends or attending events thousands of torontonians are stuck at home Out of fear that the sidewalks we rely upon are not safe connections to our destinations All right So one chapter in this book focuses on one particular night where you and your brother are Off to get some Thai food lovely food, you had a great time, but what happens when
Starting point is 00:11:51 you're heading home? So this is back in 2017 and I'm sort of recollecting on some of my experiences of winter which is my favorite season. I actually love snow. But as we were heading back from the restaurant my brother uses a wheelchair and he got stuck in the snow in front of someone's house that hadn't been fully shoveled. And it was really scary. He couldn't move forward. He couldn't move backward.
Starting point is 00:12:15 It was really hard to know what to do in that situation. And that was because every single individual property owner was responsible for digging out the area in front of their house after every snowstorm. I should say that that has changed since then so that happened in 2017 and at the end of 2021 Toronto introduced that there would be sort of publicly funded snow shoveling services for all sidewalks not just sort of the wider easier to plow sidewalks but Toronto is really an outlier because when the press release for that new program was announced back in 2021, it was saying, you know, Toronto is joining
Starting point is 00:12:52 Ottawa and Montreal in terms of taking this approach. What about Halifax? What about Edmonton? You know, anywhere this side of the Rockies, we get snow in the winters. And that means a whole bunch of people are at risk for not being able to just get out the door. I want to make sure people understand that this wasn't just, you know, someone who didn't shovel their sidewalk and it's an inconvenience to you.
Starting point is 00:13:13 This was for you and your brother really, you know, having to really think about how to get out of it. Can you walk me through a little bit about that? Because it's, you know, having to trace your steps backwards. I think when you were talking about the story, it added a significant amount back, which is a short distance really from home, but these small little things are not as small as we think. That's a really good point. I think, you know, we didn't go far away to grab our dinner and we were sort of stuck in that snow for quite a long time. My brother's a really good driver, and he's capable of problem solving
Starting point is 00:13:48 using his electric wheelchair, so he was looking for different ways to adjust his angle. I asked permission to sort of try to give him a boost from behind. You know, that wasn't working, and so it's an example of neighbors not looking out for each other and systems not being in place so that everyone can simply get from one end of the block to the other.
Starting point is 00:14:08 All right. The Wellesley Institute recently released data showing that it costs about $62,000 for a single working age adult to thrive in the city of Toronto. For an adult with a disability, they estimate that cost is up to 32% more. What makes living in a city more expensive for people with disabilities? All kinds of factors that we can get into. And I think I'd also just say, you know, we're talking about a large number of people. That same report from the Wellesley Institute
Starting point is 00:14:35 says about a million Torontonians are living with some kind of disability. And so, you know, impacts on costs can include food preparation. We have a chapter in the book about depression, and when you're dealing with really limited energy, you know, less capacity to do things like cook meals. And so, you know, does that mean that you're maybe buying prepared foods, which could be more expensive, or getting grocery deliveries, which also has a cost?
Starting point is 00:15:03 There is the topic of incontinence which is uncomfortable but Dorothea Ellen Palmer has a really brave chapter about adult diapers and anyone who gives birth is at risk of you know later in life having changes to bladder capacity and then maybe you're just doing a lot more laundry and you know in my rental building in Toronto since I moved in the cost of laundry has doubled. That's not loads for everyone, but when you're living on a fixed income and when you're having to do multiple loads of laundry
Starting point is 00:15:30 a week, that does add up. All right, I think I know the answer to this question, but I think it's important to ask. In this province, we have the Ontario Disability Support Program. Is it enough to provide for people living with disabilities? So the Ontario Disability Support Program, you
Starting point is 00:15:45 know, that's about $1,400 a month for a single person and there are people who have been much more involved in this than me for a much longer time who have described this form of income support as legislated poverty and, you know, similar criticisms can be applied across the country in terms of these are rates of so-called social assistance that are set by our elected governments, but that are far below the poverty threshold. And there are other punitive measures
Starting point is 00:16:13 in terms of the possibility to earn income on top of that or the types of assets and income that your partner can have. So it creates a really challenging situation. One of the things that we saw particularly during the pandemic was an influx of people leaving the city. And I'm curious, that is not an easy thing to do for a lot of people.
Starting point is 00:16:37 I'm just curious, why can't people with disabilities just move to rural places where there are lower costs of living? I would also say that people with disabilities do move. We've got a chapter in the book by Athena Cooper who moved from Vancouver to Calgary. We've got a chapter by Shay Ehrlich who's kind of dreaming about leaving the city. And so, you know, none of us is stuck in place regardless of our abilities or disabilities. But, you know, I think that cities do create proximity
Starting point is 00:17:06 in terms of the distance to, whether it's a grocery store or other types of services, and then we all have our own networks of relationships. And so as much as I might dream about another city, well, my friends are here, I value my neighbors, and we do all help each other out in a way that can't be quantified, especially for people who are living on a fixed income or who need help with some of those less formal day-to-day
Starting point is 00:17:30 tasks like, for example, cooking. All right. I want to come back to the connection aspect. Many contributors in this book talk about connecting with other activists on social media. How has the online environment changed disability advocacy? I think that those online connections have been a great way to share ideas and also vent frustrations. I think of hashtags like AODA fail, so that's some provincial legislation or everyday ableism just kind of calling out the comments that many of us receive. But
Starting point is 00:18:03 then also it can be a space to just sort of share interests and joy that is like above and beyond or I guess I could say separate from activism things like wildlife photography you know Nick Steenhout is part of a wrote a chapter about the ways that he finds birds and takes photos in all kinds of beautiful areas and also the online communities that he has formed that is sort of separate from advocating for better accessibility, whether that's in building websites or designing physical spaces. Alright, my last question to you, what will it take to get policymakers to prioritize
Starting point is 00:18:38 making cities accessible? I think I would say prioritization starts with slowing down and learning the basics. So I'm really glad that we did talk about some of the language as part of this conversation. I think too often people are scared to talk about disability because they don't want to say the wrong thing. And so become comfortable with those terms. Think about who in your life you could talk to to learn more. And think about what decisions you could hand over,
Starting point is 00:19:06 what power you could seed, so that people who have this expertise, people who know about disability and accessibility, can be the ones to have the final say. Emily, we're gonna leave it there. Thank you so much. Fantastic collection of reads there. Really appreciate all the work you do.
Starting point is 00:19:20 Thanks so much for having me.

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