For immediate release
Alliance for An Inclusive and Accessible Canada convenes world disability experts in first-ever online conference: What should Canada's promised national accessibility law include?
Toronto, August 10, 2017 – The Alliance for An Inclusive and Accessible Canada will convene the first-ever online disability expert conference, What should Canada's promised national accessibility law Include? Tuesday, August 22, from 10:00 a.m. to 1 p.m., EDT, at OCAD University.
Renowned lawyer and disability rights advocate and community organizer, David Lepofsky, who is also a visiting professor at the Osgoode Hall Law School, will chair the three-hour forum, which will be live-streamed and available as an archived recording.
"This extraordinary conference brings together experts from around the world to share cutting edge ideas on how to design a strong and effective national accessibility law for over four million people with disabilities in Canada,” says Lepofsky. “I'll probe the experts with tough questions so we can all learn from what others did right, and how to improve on mistakes learned elsewhere.”
“We are delighted and honoured that Canada's first Minister Responsible for People with Disabilities, the honourable Carla Qualtrough, has agreed to attend to hear from the amazing array of experts speaking to us from Canada, the U.S. Israel and Switzerland”, added Lepofsky.
A full list of speakers and how to watch the live stream is available at http://alliance-canada.org/en/expert-conference/
During the 2015 federal election, Justin Trudeau's Liberals promised to enact a national accessibility law to remove the many accessibility barriers that prevent Canadians living with disabilities from fully benefiting from federal employment opportunities, air travel, telecommunication services, banking and federal government services, and other programs and services. The Liberal promise was in response to grassroots activism of Canada's disability community.
The media is invited to cover this ground-breaking event and the public is invited to join on August 22 by accessing the live stream at: http://alliance-canada.org/en/expert-conference/ Questions for panel members can be submitted ahead of time by emailing
The Alliance for An Inclusive and Accessible Canada is made up of 12 member organizations and four partner organizations from Canada’s disability community. For more information about the Alliance, visit: www.alliance-canada.org.
This project is funded by the Government of Canada's Social Development Partnerships Program – Disability Component.
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Media contact:
Dave Carragher
Communications and Project Manager Assistant, Alliance for an Inclusive and Accessible Canada
Tel: 343-291-1117