Disability Rights, and Wrongs: The David Lepodcast

Disability rights advocacy is often not something you will do on your own. You frequently work with others. Naturally, differences in opinion happen. That’s why learning to successfully navigate coalitions and build common ground are crucial for anyone involved in advocacy. Today’s guest, Wendy Porch, the executive director of CILT, the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto, has extensive exper...

Disability rights advocacy is often not something you will do on your own. You frequently work with others. Naturally, differences in opinion happen. That’s why learning to successfully navigate coalitions and build common ground are crucial for anyone involved in advocacy. Today’s guest, Wendy Porch, the executive director of CILT, the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto, has extensive exper...

There is a critical lack of accessible housing in Canada. 1 in 5 Canadians have a disability and our population is aging. This problem isn’t going away; it’s going to get worse. With so much recent talk of country building projects, especially around addressing the wider housing crisis, accessible homes cannot be neglected. Kate Chung is a grassroots advocate for accessible housing. She organizes...

There is a critical lack of accessible housing in Canada. 1 in 5 Canadians have a disability and our population is aging. This problem isn’t going away; it’s going to get worse. With so much recent talk of country building projects, especially around addressing the wider housing crisis, accessible homes cannot be neglected. Kate Chung is a grassroots advocate for accessible housing. She organizes...

In 1981, the then Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre-elliot Trudeau was dead set on repatriating the constitution of Canada. At the time, our constitution was effectively under the control of the British parliament. Repatriating it meant that Canada would finally have the power to amend it without British approval. In the process, Trudeau also wanted to introduce a charter of rights and freedoms, wh...

In October 1980, Canada’s Prime Minister, Pierre-elliot Trudeau was dead set on repatriating the constitution of Canada. At the time, Canada’s constitution was under the control of the British parliament. Repatriating it meant that Canada could finally amend it without needing British approval. Trudeau also wanted to add a charter of rights and freedoms to Canada’s Constitution, which would create...

Lisa Freeman is a physician and professor who lives with chronic illness. In this episode, she illuminates the factors that lead to hospitals and medical clinics being inaccessible spaces. She also provides fantastic tips on how to advocate for yourself as a patient with a disability. To learn more about disability barriers in the health care system and advocacy to remove and prevent these barrier...

In this episode, Bruce McIntosh continues his remarkable story of disability rights advocacy: The Ontario Autism Coalition’s clash with the Ontarian government over funding policies for children’s Autism therapy. This time, he highlights successes they had during Kathleen Wynne’s term as well as how they achieved those positive outcomes. He also gives his first-hand account of a major controversy...

This episode of Disability Rights and Wrongs highlights a powerful story of advocacy that illustrates an important reality of the work of an advocate; Golden opportunities for progress can present themselves at any time. In this case, Maayan Ziv, a respected disability rights advocate and entrepreneur, took a cross-Atlantic flight in September 2022 with her power wheelchair stowed away in the carg...

In this second half of the conversation David had with former Premiere of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne, they combine forces to offer tips for advocates on a range of topics. This includes how to get through the door if you don’t already have a relationship with the person/office you’re looking to reach, how to compose compelling emails and even how to actually handle yourself during crucial meetings.  ...

Our hope as disability rights advocates is that the messages of our campaigns reach the desks of the decision makers; the CEOs, organization presidents and high level politicians. But what does our labour and messaging look like from the other side of the desk? Today, we share a conversation David had with former premiere of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne about what we can do to get into the busy agendas...

Getting media attention is an invaluable tool for disability rights advocates. Whether you’re trying to pressure your provincial/state government or a private company, the public scrutiny a high profile media piece can provide is often the decisive factor that turns an advocacy battle in your favour. In this episode, David talks to Michelle McQuigge, a Canadian Press journalist of nearly 20 years....

In this episode, you’ll hear from Bruce MacIntosh about a remarkable disability advocacy campaign he helped organize in the 2000s. It centered around hugely problematic, arguably unconstitutional, age cutoffs for crucial government funded therapies for Ontarian children with Autism. The 26 events they put on directly lead to the government backing down. While this was only one small chapter in a m...

Builders and architects are overwhelmingly misinformed on the realities of what it takes to make our shared spaces accessible. Why is this? One of Canada’s top built environment accessibility experts, Thea Kurdi, makes it clear that a few persistent misconceptions continue to counter efforts to make our shared spaces fully accessible. Those misconceptions are: - Building codes insure accessibility...

In this first episode, David Lepofsky shares one of his most impactful advocacy stories—the time he dragged the Toronto Transit Commission to the Human Rights Tribunal just so blind riders could know what subway stop they were at. Sounds simple, right? It wound up being a 12 year battle. But thanks to that fight, we now have the automated stop announcements you hear on every subway and bus in Toro...

David Lepofsky and AMI’s Jacob Shymanski discuss the latest in disability rights … and wrongs. About AMI AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, pro...