Essays & editorials
What Does the Government’s promised ‘disability lens” really mean?
Published Nov. 19. 2019, Ottawa Life Magazine The last minute Liberal election commitment to apply a disability lens to all federal government decisions was both fought for and welcomed widely by the disability community across the country. But it’s easy to promise. Now the government must deliver.The Dawning of a New Age for People with Disabilities
Published July 9, 2018, The Star The recently proposed Accessible Canada Act and the Senate report on fixes for Revenue Canada concerning the Disability Tax Credit, Breaking Down Barriers are stellar achievements for advocates with disabilities and the receptive politicians and public servants who listened. If both are implemented, they will remove the physical, social and financial barriers to the participation and contribution of people with disabilities in Canadian society.People with Disabilities Should be Leaders in Implementing Accessibility
Published Aug 20. 2018, published in the Huffington Post They have the toughness, discipline, ingenuity and experience to ensure that implementation matches bold intentions. The recently proposed Accessible Canada Act and the just released Senate report on essential fixes for Revenue Canada concerning the disability tax credit, Breaking Down Barriers, are stellar achievements for advocates with disabilities and the receptive politicians and public servants who listened.A Meditation on Medical Assistance in Dying
Published March 21, 2018, published in Policy Options
The establishment of standards will help us to address the tough moral issues raised by MAiD, as well as to better monitor its practice.
I consider myself lucky to have been born when death was still pretty much a mystery, more the prerogative of poets and other artists, philosophers and religious teachers than of scientists and doctors. I grew up surrounded by death.
Close the Poverty Gap of Canadians with Disabilities
Published March 26, 2018, published in Policy Options
Canada’s Registered Disability Savings Plan (RDSP) is the first poverty-fighting tool for people with disabilities in the world. This remarkable example of federal/provincial/territorial cooperation, which was created in 2008, has already changed the lives of more than 150,000 Canadians with disabilities.