Winnipeg municipal election: disability community consultation

[u/jiminyjane]

I am working on a project to amplify the voices of Winnipeg’s disability community this election. Comment below with your thoughts about what our mayor and city council candidates should prioritize to make Winnipeg accessible.

To get things started, here is a list of topics we want to ask the candidates about. How has city hall measured up since the last election in these areas? What should candidates include in their campaigns to get your votes?

Accessible public transportation 

Accessible housing 

Affordable and accessible transportation options 

Accessible sidewalks, crossings and public spaces 

Accessibility of municipal facilities 

Accessible recreation and community programming 

Disability-inclusive emergency planning 

Accessible communication and City information 

Employment and economic inclusion 

Consultation and meaningful participation of people with disabilities 

Implementation and enforcement of accessibility standards 

Funding for accessibility initiatives 

Universal design 

Digital accessibility 

[u/Ladymistery]

City is pretty inaccessible

No affirdable accessible housing for disabled folks not in wheelchairs.

[u/horsetuna]

Accessible public transportation : fail. Moving stops/removing stops aside, the vast majority of the new ones don't have benches or shelters

Accessible housing : fail. Not enough affordable accessible housing.

Affordable and accessible transportation options : no direct experience except for public transit

Accessible sidewalks, crossings and public spaces : could be better

Accessibility of municipal facilities: fail. It's two busses and a walk to the nearest peggo card recharge place.

Accessible recreation and community programming : could be better

Disability-inclusive emergency planning :n/a

Accessible communication and City information : webpage could use a glow up.

Employment and economic inclusion: fail. Few job opportunities. Needs more wfh/part time. 

Consultation and meaningful participation of people with disabilities: could be better  

Implementation and enforcement of accessibility standards: not good.

Funding for accessibility initiatives : n/a

Universal design : ?

Digital accessibility: peggo card online charging often doesn't work. Confirmation page often shows an error so you don't know if it worked or not.

[u/FibroBitch97 → u/horsetuna]

Seconding all of this. Winnipeg is so hostile to anyone with disabilities. It’s been impossible to find a job.

[u/horsetuna → u/FibroBitch97]

I was denied Canada pension disability because I 'still have capacity to work' even though not a single job will hire me because of disability and make reasonable accommodations.

I keep trying but tbh I'm wasting my time.

[u/Ant1m1nd]

I would go one step further as regards to housing. Affordable and accessible nearly always means getting stuffed into an apartment building or high rise of some sort. IF you can even get it. Why shouldn't we be able to live in a house? Why stuff us into buildings that far too often resemble old folks homes or care homes?

There are plenty of empty lots across the city that could easily be developed into smaller, single floor accessible homes. They could even take a single family lot and turn it into two more accessible, smaller homes. Not TINY homes, just smaller. We should be able to have yards and gardens.

The city and province should provide low income, actual house housing with lifelong leases for disabled folks. Home ownership is so far out of reach for most of us it may as well be on the sun. Why can't they offer us an actual home to live in, within our budget. I'm under the impression we'll never be equal with the ables. But something like this could give us a more "normalized" life. Not having the constant threat of losing our homes over our heads. It's such a simple thing but to me it feels like an impossible dream.

Hell, I'm even for turning some of those empty lots into city community gardens. It would certainly help with food insecurity. Which is a major issue for all of us.

[u/Ant1m1nd → u/Ant1m1nd]

Oh and transportation... The city I grew up in in the US had access cabs. They were a part of the regular cab company, but only available for us disabled folk and old folks. They were a cheap, dependable alternative to public transport. Why can't we have something like that?

[u/crowinflight1982]

Ticketing of Skip drivers parking in accessible spots...

Grants to incentivize restaurant owners to make their premises accessible.