TORONTO—In an effort to break down barriers and improve accessibility for people with disabilities across the province, the Ontario government has named Julie Sawchuk as the chair of the Standards Development Committee which will lead the province’s review of the design of public spaces accessibility standards for outdoor and indoor public spaces.
Sawchuk is a best-selling author, professional speaker, accessibility strategist and a designated professional for Rick Hansen Foundation Accessibility Certification. As a person with a spinal cord injury, Sawchuk offers an important perspective for the committee’s work.
The committee is expected to begin work in early 2022 and continue into 2023. It will include people with disabilities from all across the province as well as businesses, municipalities and other impacted stakeholders and it will review existing accessibility standards and consider whether new standards might be needed to improve accessibility in Ontario’s public spaces, indicates a release.
“Creating accessible public spaces in Ontario is not the job of one person, it is the responsibility of all,” said Sawchuk in a statement. “I’m both grateful and incredibly proud to be asked to lead this discussion and look forward to adding a rural perspective as often as I can. This is an opportunity to bring people together to share what is working and what needs to be done differently in design and construction and to listen to all the voices who are looking for change.”
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