Rick Hansen: Accessibility must be an election priority in B.C.

Forty years ago, I began the Man In Motion World Tour with a simple goal: to challenge perceptions about disability and help create a world without barriers.

Over 26 months, I wheeled through 34 countries and more than 40,000 kilometres. Along the way, I met people whose lives were limited not by their disabilities, but by the environments around them. I encountered stairs where there should have been ramps, buildings that welcomed some people while excluding others, and communities that spoke about inclusion without designing for it.

As candidates in B.C.’s provincial and municipal elections debate housing, infrastructure, affordability, economic growth, public safety and community well-being, they should also be talking about accessibility. That includes ensuring the homes being built today are accessible and adaptable enough to meet the needs of people with disabilities, seniors and families as their circumstances change.

Accessibility is not a niche issue. Nearly one in three British Columbians has a disability, representing about 1.7 million people across the province. We are citizens, taxpayers, workers, consumers and voters. Our families, caregivers, friends, colleagues and neighbours are also affected by the accessibility of the communities we share.

Together, we represent a substantial and growing constituency whose voice should be heard in every election campaign, especially as the population ages and more people experience changes in mobility, vision and hearing.

Accessibility determines who can participate fully in community life. Every resident should be able to enter public buildings, find suitable housing, use public transit, navigate sidewalks and vote independently and with dignity. Accessible communities also benefit seniors aging in place, parents pushing strollers, workers recovering from injuries, and anyone who wants to move safely and independently.

Accessibility is also an economic issue. When buildings, workplaces, commercial districts, transportation systems, and public spaces are inaccessible, barriers to employment, entrepreneurship, education, and consumer activity follow. At a time when employers across B.C. are looking for talent and communities are working to strengthen local economies, accessibility is an economic imperative. An accessible built environment enables more people to work, start businesses, shop, travel, volunteer, and contribute to their communities. Exclusion carries economic costs, while inclusion creates economic opportunity.

The encouraging news is that governments have already recognized the importance of accessibility. B.C. enacted the Accessible British Columbia Act, while Canada adopted the Accessible Canada Act. B.C. has also joined provinces and territories across the country in committing to reduce physical barriers and advance accessibility through greater collaboration and harmonized standards.

These are important achievements. However, legislation, memorandums of understanding, and accessibility plans do not remove barriers on their own.

At the Rick Hansen Foundation, we see this reality every day. Through our work we have learned that progress occurs when leaders make accessibility a priority, measure outcomes, and hold themselves accountable for results.

Candidates at all levels of government should be prepared to explain how accessibility will be integrated into infrastructure investments, housing development, transportation systems, procurement, community planning, and economic development. They should be able to tell voters how many accessible and adaptable homes they intend to create, how accessibility will be incorporated into new public infrastructure projects so that funds aren’t invested in creating new barriers and retrofitting later, how progress will be measured and publicly reported, and what barriers they will remove during their term of office.

These are practical questions with real consequences.

Accessible communities are stronger communities. They attract talent, support business growth, help seniors maintain their independence, promote health and well-being, and expand opportunities for people to work, learn, volunteer, and participate fully in civic life.

Forty years after the Man In Motion World Tour began, accessibility remains one of the defining tests of whether we are creating communities where people can belong, contribute, and thrive. B.C. has made important commitments through legislation, policy, and public investment. The challenge now is turning those commitments into visible, measurable results.

As voters head to the polls, candidates should recognize accessibility as a community, housing, health and economic priority, and as fundamental to everyone’s ability to participate and contribute.

That was the vision that inspired the Man In Motion World Tour, and it remains the standard by which we should judge progress today: not by promises made, but by barriers removed.

Rick Hansen is founder of the Rick Hansen Foundation.