Meta tags:
description=Common sense for an uncommon world.;

Headings (most frequently used words):

share, this, of, for, the, on, to, dash, by, jason, menard, reflections, nine, years, accessibility, advocacy, sidewalk, debate, walks, path, systemic, ableism, minority, report, nothing, truly, keep, arrogance, partisanship, in, check, organic, curtain, call, shows, potential, value, devalued, ovations, discussion, how, but, not, whom, vote, tomorrow, common, sense, an, uncommon, world, post, navigation, categories, looking, particular, article, or, topic, recent, posts, mail, subscription, tags,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (135), and (97), that (73), this (48), have (41), for (40), are (36), with (34), but (30), people (27), community (25), you (24), #accessibility (24), not (23), they (23), new (22), share (22), who (22), opens (20), window (20), more (19), london (18), because (16), there (15), from (15), was (14), those (14), about (14), all (14), our (13), been (13), don (13), email (12), menard (12), systemic (12), their (12), seen (12), facebook (11), how (11), ableism (11), like (11), has (11), make (11), can (11), when (10), years (10), jay (10), reddit (10), them (10), accessible (10), day (9), politics (9), fringe (9), support (9), city (9), what (9), should (9), being (9), role (9), minority (8), 2018 (8), want (8), even (8), today (8), than (8), barriers (8), better (8), cost (8), fully (8), disabilities (8), now (7), other (7), just (7), someone (7), leave (7), may (7), had (7), voices (7), would (7), issues (7), these (7), loading (6), government (6), your (6), vote (6), nothing (6), nine (6), continue (6), advocates (6), very (6), first (6), equitable (6), need (6), out (6), work (6), around (6), dash (5), jason (5), representation (5), council (5), show (5), best (5), whom (5), truly (5), sidewalk (5), path (5), entry (5), posted (5), tagged (5), link (5), friend (5), hope (5), reply (5), ovation (5), saying (5), every (5), something (5), though (5), working (5), sidewalks (5), committee (5), barrier (5), access (5), here (5), unintentional (5), both (5), one (5), which (5), members (5), person (5), costs (5), street (5), areas (5), willing (5), why (5), much (5), through (5), term (5), experience (5), join (4), blog (4), theatre (4), post (4), opportunity (4), see (4), others (4), night (4), debate (4), advocacy (4), lifestyle (4), feel (4), use (4), choose (4), same (4), read (4), ask (4), made (4), going (4), where (4), only (4), its (4), chair (4), time (4), will (4), right (4), able (4), disability (4), communities (4), aoda (4), impact (4), back (4), self (4), asking (4), part (4), know (4), over (4), lived (4), always (4), councillors (4), stand (4), also (4), privileged (4), name (3), view (3), report (3), sign (3), subscribe (3), wordpress (3), com (3), words (3), voting (3), sports (3), social (3), municipal (3), elections (3), federal (3), election (3), business (3), mail (3), posts (3), doesn (3), into (3), discussion (3), organic (3), curtain (3), shows (3), value (3), arrogance (3), archive (3), reading (3), ignore (3), needs (3), aren (3), take (3), difference (3), experienced (3), felt (3), two (3), special (3), prevent (3), really (3), get (3), each (3), put (3), whether (3), inclusivity (3), past (3), future (3), longer (3), must (3), say (3), certain (3), participating (3), inclusive (3), some (3), sense (3), reason (3), risk (3), pathways (3), message (3), never (3), environmental (3), sensitive (3), anyone (3), concept (3), society (3), against (3), under (3), 2025 (3), could (3), comes (3), lgbtq2 (3), without (3), fear (3), doing (3), any (3), everyone (3), bipoc (3), efforts (3), good (3), easy (3), hear (3), hard (3), world (3), website (2), write (2), reader (2), content (2), log (2), subscribed (2), already (2), 129 (2), subscribers (2), create (2), writing (2), media (2), respect (2), ontario (2), liberal (2), language (2), hockey (2), gay (2), speak (2), address (2), great (2), most (2), important (2), exposed (2), bennett (2), learned (2), yet (2), happens (2), expense (2), bad (2), tomorrow (2), call (2), potential (2), devalued (2), ovations (2), keep (2), partisanship (2), check (2), walks (2), reflections (2), looking (2), older (2), october (2), ultimately (2), pushing (2), side (2), represents (2), ward (2), hopefully (2), sure (2), responsibility (2), process (2), cast (2), feelings (2), interests (2), list (2), especially (2), outside (2), isn (2), 2019 (2), tap (2), might (2), problem (2), thursday (2), ménard (2), requires (2), parties (2), solutions (2), reality (2), preclude (2), effectively (2), idea (2), march (2), 2021 (2), advisory (2), well (2), meeting (2), received (2), thank (2), upon (2), inclusion (2), marginalized (2), again (2), exemption (2), learn (2), dealing (2), perpetuate (2), maintain (2), solution (2), determining (2), participate (2), providing (2), bodied (2), perpetuating (2), meet (2), sides (2), appreciate (2), societal (2), does (2), come (2), creating (2), decisions (2), compromise (2), significant (2), universal (2), becomes (2), welcome (2), medway (2), valley (2), benefits (2), paths (2), built (2), frame (2), balance (2), money (2), talking (2), dramatic (2), lack (2), maybe (2), less (2), couple (2), generation (2), green (2), rather (2), once (2), request (2), company (2), strong (2), way (2), makes (2), discriminatory (2), quick (2), racism (2), met (2), intentional (2), advocate (2), design (2), long (2), honour (2), lens (2), privilege (2), firmly (2), wanted (2), using (2), skills (2), photo (2), stories (2), many (2), else (2), accommodation (2), talk (2), parts (2), too (2), off (2), ensure (2), discuss (2), served (2), believe (2), wonderful (2), acac (2), said (2), didn (2), unfortunately (2), political (2), care (2), own (2), attending (2), meetings (2), hand (2), often (2), staff (2), her (2), lucky (2), recognition (2), honestly (2), financial (2), heard (2), three (2), common (2), uncommon (2), comment, comments, collapse, bar, manage, subscriptions, site, privacy, account, free, youth, voters, violence, veterans, twitter, toronto, television, students, stephen, harper, networking, school, remembrance, religion, quebec, protests, paul, martin, parents, parenting, olympics, nhl, nfl, music, movies, montreal, marketing, lockout, liberals, justice, internet, holidays, marriage, football, fan, fans, family, education, conservatives, christmas, children, cfl, cbc, canada, campaign, biz, baseball, athletes, aging, tags, updates, enter, receive, notifications, subscription, hell, yeah, mandy, patinkin, rebellion, overwrought, vision, obscures, recovery, triumph, raw, honesty, bravery, jon, hug, embrace, fraser, hypnotist, presents, life, gentle, fun, influences, habits, devilishly, funny, religiously, adhere, structure, mark, toland, mind, wonder, mystery, lessons, turn, bridges, pulpits, planks, divides, form, recent, search, particular, article, topic, uncategorized, 108, 116, 136, 204, categories, navigation, cause, instead, focus, platform, ideas, align, remember, giving, voice, ongoing, interaction, rarely, case, worthy, encourage, consider, factors, ballot, suggesting, talked, chances, yours, fact, presenting, she, advocating, large, grain, salt, yourself, whose, telling, august, woolgatherer, heartfelt, honest, mattered, lies, gets, exactly, performance, woolgather, resulted, calls, veteran, goers, suggested, hasn, happened, decades, meant, moot, continuing, govern, presumption, deterrent, together, compromising, finding, benefit, wider, swath, canadian, hyperpartisan, happening, partisans, acknowledge, listen, communicate, theory, offer, worlds, quaint, wheelchair, please, note, authored, document, authorized, behalf, statement, feb, accac, unanimous, endorsement, approved, sentiments, identified, shared, respond, test, expressed, commitment, towards, quote, diversity, policy, removing, listening, responding, mere, page, precedent, set, allowed, exemptions, last, year, mandatory, opposition, approve, doubt, minds, choice, chosen, actively, intentionally, sounds, satisfies, price, tag, attached, excluded, belief, shouldn, artificial, threshold, considerations, presented, neighbours, concern, yes, essentially, undoing, historic, largely, unintentionally, sadly, maintaining, foundation, room, stance, unless, puts, critical, danger, adding, integrity, area, resulting, residual, damage, expectation, absent, neighbourhood, famous, canopy, sends, catastrophic, accident, paraplegic, stroke, confining, homes, pathway, used, argued, unsuccessful, beneficial, effect, keeping, away, treading, potentially, currently, wheelchairs, canes, environments, adults, mobility, challenges, young, families, strollers, neither, change, were, consideration, comfortable, reducing, transactional, ledger, desire, canopies, retrofitting, laws, entire, province, exceptions, point, forward, files, complaint, resolving, greater, inconvenience, actions, intended, perception, swapped, either, above, statements, colour, notions, wouldn, considered, stated, comfortably, reprisal, old, south, proclaimed, leaders, quoted, paves, park, brought, phrased, allows, regardless, ability, events, local, renovations, minimum, number, parking, spots, disabled, employees, granted, send, apply, fulfilling, prophecy, examples, ableist, however, reflective, beliefs, enabled, establishment, maintenance, bigger, issue, soft, sell, easier, deprioritize, commoditize, framed, discussions, basic, human, rights, done, lot, dismantling, practices, anti, condemn, shrug, think, unrelated, whereas, moment, cusp, environment, customer, service, standards, web, embracing, least, incremental, improvements, honoured, trusted, biggest, taken, given, ago, worked, advocated, aware, considerate, seeing, informed, prism, things, equitability, terms, haven, tried, watched, limits, whooshing, approach, another, predecessors, try, confines, continued, after, forced, fight, cis, gendered, white, guy, believed, ideally, amplifying, concerns, simply, grinning, idiot, press, camera, taking, monument, failures, experiences, sharing, pop, news, cycle, while, majority, discrimination, living, struggle, frustrating, heart, breaking, infuriating, pretend, understand, enjoy, different, second, love, accommodations, implies, norm, accommodating, tools, resources, enable, fashion, element, spreadsheet, aside, reflect, challenge, whenever, matters, harder, thing, defend, opposed, corporate, dislike, arms, lgbtq2s, member, prevented, accessing, silent, complicit, successful, supposed, close, elements, vaunted, plan, mandate, road, planned, mandates, paper, thin, repeatedly, ignored, curb, appeal, impacted, uncomfortable, generosity, group, kept, amplify, communications, delivered, resonates, result, including, chairs, preceded, private, sector, ever, organization, neuter, importance, committees, aac, still, provincially, mandated, threaten, resign, masse, traction, deep, pocketed, pillar, fine, former, councilor, churches, centres, realizing, live, extension, move, safely, environmentally, odd, habit, ensuring, stay, wander, trample, species, print, pave, oppose, making, mainly, increased, visitor, traffic, neighbourhoods, caring, having, remain, inaccessible, groups, exact, opposite, game, fold, influence, aspirations, push, sexism, homophobia, performatively, fore, fights, cameras, worse, reaching, questions, help, input, unpopular, influential, constituents, decision, then, dramatically, compromised, personal, gain, grandstanding, depth, knowledge, hours, days, months, effort, planning, execution, reporting, genuinely, trying, enough, clerk, jerri, success, directly, attributable, patience, diligence, melanie, stone, such, positive, force, conversely, worst, appointed, professed, chase, titles, little, shoulders, advance, careers, sleep, inequity, further, career, goals, pleasure, amazing, supporters, behind, scenes, diligently, striving, compensation, until, status, quo, place, start, luxury, attend, mid, values, supportive, wife, encouraged, engagements, degree, sameness, getting, actually, opening, shifts, facing, technological, coming, speaking, truth, confidence, vital, marked, final, five, month, elected, times, total, sat, mixed, ugly, links, freelance, consulting, arts, echidna, blogs, skip, menu,

Text of the page (random words):
mixed feelings and i wanted to share the good the bad and the ugly of my experience i will also start by saying that it has been a privilege to support the community in this role but unfortunately this opportunity and others like it is only for the privileged to have the time and luxury to attend mid day meetings requires support i ve been lucky to work for a company that values this work and have a supportive wife who has encouraged my efforts but not everyone is that privileged many of our community engagements have a degree of sameness the same people attending the same voices being heard we need to do better at getting out to where people actually are opening up the process so that those who are working shifts facing financial and technological barriers or who may be coming from areas where speaking to truth can have the support and confidence they need to have their vital voices heard until we do that we re going to hear the same privileged voices over and over i honestly hope that the status quo is because of systemic and unintentional barriers that are in place but i can t be certain it s not by design i have had the pleasure of working with some amazing community advocates and supporters i have seen first hand how hard some people work behind the scenes diligently striving each and every day to make an impact they do this not for financial compensation or recognition but because they care i have all the respect in the world for these people conversely i ve seen the worst of community advocacy more often i ve seen self appointed advocates who have never met a photo op they didn t like i ve been exposed to self professed advocates who chase titles and recognition but do very little other than stand on the shoulders of others to advance their careers these people i have no time for and i honestly don t know how they sleep at night using other people s inequity to further their own career goals i have seen how hard city staff work i see the hours days and months of effort that go into planning execution and reporting i see genuinely good people trying to make a difference and i can t say enough about our wonderful clerk jerri any success i ve had in this role are directly attributable to her patience diligence and support as well melanie stone has been such a positive force for accessibility in this city we are so lucky to have her advocacy on staff and then i see these efforts be dramatically compromised in the name of personal gain grandstanding and often a lack of depth of knowledge i ve seen councillors who care whether it s reaching out to me on their own to discuss issues or ask questions or attending our meetings to learn first hand what they can do to help i have seen councillors who value community input and are willing to take a stand that may be unpopular with influential constituents because it s the right decision and unfortunately i ve seen the exact opposite i ve seen councillors who talk a great game about inclusivity only to fold when those who can influence their political aspirations push back i have seen strong advocates against racism sexism and homophobia willing to performatively stand at the fore of those fights when cameras are around who are all too willing to ignore or worse support ableism because it comes at less of a political cost i have read community advocates who ask in print do we want to be the first people to pave the green or who oppose making medway valley pathways accessible mainly because they didn t want increased visitor traffic to their neighbourhoods without caring that having parts of our community remain inaccessible to certain groups is discriminatory also you know what accessible paths in environmentally sensitive areas do they have this really odd habit of ensuring that people stay on the path and not wander off and trample environmental sensitive or at risk species how about the former councilor who said why do we need sidewalks in this community there s nothing for people with disabilities there there s no churches or community centres not realizing that maybe a person with a disability might like to live in that community and by extension be able to move around safely or the deep pocketed pillar of community who said we don t need sidewalks here our people with disabilities are just fine being on the street as a result i ve also seen wonderful people including the two chairs who preceded me leave this role because they felt they could do more in the private sector than they ever could have as part of the organization i have seen council neuter the impact and importance of other committees and i firmly believe the only reason aac acac is still around is because it s provincially mandated under aoda and even we had to threaten to resign en masse to get any traction i ve always been uncomfortable being chair of this committee as a person without a disability i always felt the role would be better served by someone with lived experience but through the generosity of the group they kept asking me back and voting me chair i believe that my role has always been to amplify the voices of those with lived experience and use my skills in communications to effectively advocate with them and ensure the right message is delivered to the right people in the way that best resonates i also don t know how successful i ve been here we are in 2025 and under aoda ontario is supposed to be fully accessible we re not even close we have elements in the vaunted london plan that mandate inclusion of sidewalks in areas that don t have them when road work is planned but those mandates are paper thin and have been repeatedly ignored when privileged members of those communities don t want their curb appeal impacted and those councillors who would take up arms if a bipoc or lgbtq2s member was being prevented from fully participating and accessing the community around them stand silent and complicit in perpetuating systemic ableism there are two words i dislike accommodation and accessibility accessibility is too easy to write off as an element on a spreadsheet it s easy to cast aside because it doesn t truly reflect what the challenge is and that s systemic ableism i ve been working very hard over the years to ensure that whenever we discuss these matters we view it through the lens of ableism that is a much harder thing to defend as opposed to the more corporate accessibility term the second term is accommodation people love to talk about accommodations but the term implies that we are doing something special or out of the norm for someone we are not accommodating people we should be providing the tools and resources that enable everyone to fully participate in all parts of the community around them in an equitable fashion it s not doing something more or special but rather just being equitable the most important experience i ve had over the past nine years though is the honour of people with lived experiences sharing their stories with me it s not always easy to hear accessibility issues may pop into the news cycle every once in a while for the majority of us but for many with lived experience they re dealing with discrimination and barriers both unintentional and intentional each and every day just living is a struggle these stories can be frustrating heart breaking and even infuriating to hear and i can t even pretend to understand how they must make the person feel these community members aren t asking for more or better than anyone else they re asking for equitable access to enjoy the community around them no different than anyone else they re the reason i continued in my role after all if they re forced to fight day in and day out who am i with all my privilege to tap out as an able bodied cis gendered white guy i am part of the problem so i firmly believed that i wanted to be part of the solution ideally amplifying the voices and concerns of others using my skills and never simply grinning like an idiot for a press camera taking a photo of me at a monument to my and society s failures so i don t feel good about where we are in terms of accessibility but i hope i ve made an impact i fear i haven t but i ve tried my best i have watched term limits go whooshing by me and as i approach yet another one i m going to join my predecessors in this role and try to continue to make a difference outside of the council confines my biggest fear is that i ve taken more than i ve given back i am a better person today than i was nine years ago the people with whom i ve worked and the issues for which we ve advocated have made me more aware more considerate and more inclusive i have the honour of seeing issues through a more informed prism i know i make better day to day decisions and my work is better because i m looking at things through the lens of equitability and inclusivity i continue to advocate for universal accessibility because it benefits us all from language use to built environment from customer service standards to web design embracing accessibility makes us all better at the very least i hope i m able to continue to make incremental improvements and have been honoured to be trusted with this responsibility for so long thank you for these past nine years share this share on x opens in new window x share on facebook opens in new window facebook more share on reddit opens in new window reddit email a link to a friend opens in new window email like loading this entry was posted in lifestyle politics and tagged accessibility aoda london on march 30 2025 by jay menard sidewalk debate walks the path of systemic ableism leave a reply by jay ménard at this moment we are at the cusp of determining whether an unintentional systemic barrier becomes an intentional one this city has done a lot to support the dismantling of discriminatory practices we are quick to support anti bipoc racism efforts we are quick to condemn issues against lgbtq2 but when it comes to systemic barriers that preclude people with disabilities from fully being a part of the community they re met with a shrug i don t think it s unrelated that we have representation of both the bipoc and lgbtq2 communities on council whereas we don t have representation from people with disabilities and it shows the bigger issue is that as a community we use the term accessibility as a way to soft sell the issues accessibility is a concept that makes it much easier to ignore those issues deprioritize them or even commoditize them because they re not framed as discussions on basic human rights we are no longer talking about accessibility we are saying what this truly is ableism now i m not saying that everyone who doesn t want a sidewalk on their street is ableist however it is reflective of our societal beliefs that has enabled the establishment and maintenance of barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully participating in society here are a couple of examples as a committee we once received a request from a local company doing renovations asking for an exemption to the minimum number of accessible parking spots because we don t have any disabled employees working here and that request had it been granted would send a very strong message to people with disabilities that they re not welcome to apply in the future creating a self fulfilling prophecy a couple of years back one of old south s self proclaimed leaders was quoted as saying do we want to be the first generation that paves the green when the idea for an accessible path through that park was brought up which i would rather have been phrased don t we want to be the first generation that allows all people regardless of their ability to have equitable access to the community and all the events that go on our actions though maybe not intended to do so have a dramatic impact on perception if you swapped out either of those above statements with people of colour or lgbtq2 those notions wouldn t be even considered much less be stated comfortably without fear of reprisal why because accessibility is nothing but a concept an inconvenience that s why we must frame this as ableism i appreciate the desire to maintain canopies and the costs of retrofitting communities but ultimately there are more dramatic costs under aoda laws this entire province needs to be accessible by 2025 no exceptions and at the point the city could be very much at risk that someone with a disability comes forward and files a complaint about lack of equitable access resolving that would come at a much greater cost but i don t like to make this about money again if we were talking about other marginalized communities money would not be a consideration as a society we d do it so why do we feel comfortable reducing accessibility to a transactional cost why are we willing to put people with disabilities on a ledger and balance them against costs because accessibility is a concept that can be seen as an expense if we frame it as ableism does that change the balance sure there may not be anyone with a disability on a street currently but accessibility isn t just about wheelchairs and canes accessible built environments support all members of the community older adults with mobility challenges young families pushing strollers neither of whom should be on the street and hopefully this never happens but what if someone has a catastrophic accident and is now paraplegic or has a stroke are we confining them to their homes because we re not willing to make a pathway that can be used by all as we argued in the unsuccessful medway valley accessible path debate there are significant environmental benefits accessible pathways have a beneficial side effect of keeping people on paths and away from treading on potentially sensitive environmental areas absent accessible pathways a neighbourhood no longer becomes famous for its canopy it now sends a message that people with disabilities aren t welcome there is room for compromise we don t need a sidewalk on both sides of every street some areas just don t make sense but our stance is that unless there is a reason that puts people at significant critical risk for danger e g adding a sidewalk would compromise the integrity of an area resulting in residual damage the expectation should be for universal accessibility this should not be up for debate creating and maintaining a fully inclusive community should be the foundation upon which all decisions are made i appreciate the cost considerations i really do but what s being presented is neighbours concern about costs yes there are costs but they are the cost of essentially undoing the historic societal barriers that we have put up largely unintentionally that prevent certain members of our community from fully participating in the community that sadly does come with a cost but what is the cost of not being inclusive it sounds like there s a solution that satisfies both parties but one that has a price tag attached but i ask what...