One of them is Rick Hansen ofc. The fact he signed off on this you might think means even a little teenie tiny disability lens has been applied - even a white, wheelchair user version of one - but nope.

For instance... https://twitter.com/dfergusson/status/1264285483388956672

"Commit to the creation of 15-minute neighbourhoods"

This is ableist. This is 101 entry level grasp of ableism to know that you can't sign off on this.

And it's not just ableist - parents walking/wheeling with toddlers do not travel at same speed as 20 yr old 6'2" abled dude.

"Remove all mandatory minimum parking requirements for any new building."

When I sat on a City advisory committee I adjusted wording to make clear there needs to be accessible parking. Also there needs to be short term parking available for home care, deliveries, etc.

The letter mentions repeatedly "affordable and accessible housing" but those words do not have clearly understood or agreed upon definitions especially in cities and provinces with no accessibility legislation.

Accessible housing does not actually mean housing I, as a wheelchair user, can live in, it generally means housing I can enter. That's not the same thing. Also even places that conform to 'accessible' as it is currently defined & understood are inaccessible to some disabled ppl.

Disabled people are hugely over-represented among the homeless population. Becoming disabled can be the cause of a housing crisis in someone's life. So a letter like this should spell this out clearly.

Also, [*takes breath and waits for the swear words to evaporate*] clearly the author of this letter and the signatories to it have given zero consideration to where and why a disproportionate number of people who've died from Covid-19 have been living - nursing homes.

So this is written with the same old same old urbanism - they learned nothing.

The things I am listing about housing and parking - these are things necessary for disabled and/or elderly people to live in the community NOT nursing homes. That is the point. Stop designing death.

It mentions 'universal design' - does anyone know what that actually looks like in terms of a city?

Sometimes I feel like universal design was a term coined because the ableds who've been centred in everything ever built didn't want to feel left out by accessible.

Part of creating something universal - meaning that works for everyone - is recognizing 'a' thing might not & you might need options. Like benches at different heights. Places where you can put your feet up in public space & elevate your legs.

Stares in disabled needing wide sidewalks with curb cuts and no beg buttons. What in the actual f is this? You say you want to prioritize the 'mobility challenges' faced by disabled people and then talk about accomplishing this via more bike lanes?

Just fecking glorious that Rick Hansen signed this. No timetable for making them 100% wheelchair accessible - just electric.

"Mandate a conversion timetable stipulating that 100% of taxi and ride-sharing vehicles will be electric."

"Commit to making public bus fleets fully accessible and electrified."

Super. You know that means more than ramps right?

Reader they do not know it means more than ramps.

Near the bottom of the list there's this and in a way it's the worst of it all bc it suggests there is an existing checklist, template, blueprint, (private certification you can buy?) that can accomplish this. There isn't. And an offhand mention is not helpful.

Covid-19 has highlighted (for some - some of us already knew, some don't care) the deadly results of the injustice, inequity and exclusion of our society.

This letter reads like disrespect for the dead.

We need more than a minute of silence from some.

Here's the link if you want to read it. https://www.2020declaration.ca/