A Fall Bouquet of Opportunities

By Raymond D. Cohen

Welcome to our Fall Issue – but I must say, it feels somehow more akin to spring – what with the number of opportunities available for growth and enhancement starting this season.

Let’s visit some of them:

First off, Access Guide Canada (AGC) continues to expand. This initiative, supported by the Social Development Partnerships Programme of HRDC, promises to be Canada’s most comprehensive source of information on accessible restaurants, hotels, places of worship, businesses, and community resources. In addition to volunteers (please see our ad on page 53) it needs the active participation of many other Canadians with disabilities and their families.

Simply put, all that AGC asks is that you identify your favourite or most useful accessible place, log on to Access Guide Canada at www.enablelink.org/agc and give us your information. We will take it from there.

The Canadian Abilities Foundation (CAF) is proud to support the growing coalition of individuals, organizations and artists comprising this fall’s inaugural event – Connections – a juried visual art exhibition and sale. This is the first event out of a series of 3 over 18 months comprising Abilities Festival: a celebration of disability arts and culture. Visit page 28 of this issue for a sneak preview or visit www.enablelink.org/abilitiesfestival.

Speaking of the arts, we at CAF are actively seeking information on accessible venues of all kinds. We want to know which theatres, galleries and performance sites are disability friendly. Please take a moment to give this some thought. Similarly, we are also looking for mentors within the arts; artists, with or without disabilities, who would be interested in sharing their techniques, views and sources of inspiration. In both these instances, please send your thoughts to agc@enablelink.org

Many Abilities readers are now aware of the work that Philia has been quietly doing – behind many scenes. The word Philia connotes a Greek concept for neighbourly love or the positive bonds that bind a community. Actually, in its fullest sense, Philia embodies concepts of resilience, capacity, hospitality, civility, trust and reciprocity – critical principals for defining the nature of our relationships as neighbours and friends.

Philia has been going about the business of influencing organizations and communities to become more receptive to the qualities of people with disabilities – while simultaneously working to help people with disabilities understand the amazing contributions which they can deliver.

Join like-minded thinkers this autumn in Quebec’s beautiful Eastern Townships and explore a new definition of citizenship influenced by the disability sector. Dialogue will surround matters relating to inclusive communities, economics and the environment. Please see the ad on page 5 of this issue, or visit www.agora.qc.ca/philia.

We at CAF would like to add our congratulations to those of the ODA Committee of Ontario. We, too, would like to recognize the ambitious work which the City of Sault Ste. Marie and its Accessibility Advisory Committee have undertaken in convening the first-ever, province-wide open conference on implementing the Ontarians with Disabilities Act.

The focus of this important event will be enhanced by speakers such as ODA founder and chair David Lepofsky, David Duguay, City Planner for Peterborough (which has had its own accessibility plan for nearly twenty years) and Al Buchan, manager of the non-profit HAGI Transit Inc. of Thunder Bay. The conference will also be a fantastic forum for individuals and organizations who have been fighting for a strong and effective Ontarians with Disabilities Act to come together, compare notes, and strengthen their coalition.

We hope to share progress from this important process with the rest of Canada in the near future. There is no doubt that we will all have much to learn – about citizenship, community mobilization, political process and human rights. For registration and additional information please see the ad on page 19.

There you have it! A sample of the opportunities waiting for you this fall – just a few ways you can contribute to a more inclusive Canada!