Canada’s Minister for Sport and Persons with Disabilities is heading to the North this week, looking for ideas about how Canada can become more accessible.
Carla Qualtrough, who will visit communities across the country from now until February, is looking to develop federal legislation that can promote “equality of opportunity and increase the inclusion and participation of Canadians who have disabilities or functional limitations,” according to an announcement on the federal government’s website.
“I know when I was up there in Iqaluit [in March], I talked with a number of individuals who find it difficult to get around especially in the winter months, because of all the snow and the access the way buildings are built,” Qualtrough said in an interview last week.
She says the legislation will go “way beyond the more noticeable disabilities” like those that require the need for a wheelchair. She says it will also protect those with functional limitations like autism or mental illnesses like depression.