CanadaWhat you can do to make Toronto more inclusive

© Richard Lautens The City of Toronto has installed a transit shelter at the corner of King St. W. and Bathurst St. that has no opening to emphasize some of the obstacles people with disabilities face on a regular basis as a part of the Toronto for All campaign.

Editor’s note: The opinions in this article are the author’s, as published by our content partner, and do not necessarily represent the views of MSN or Microsoft.

Torontonians recently opened their collective eyes to the challenges faced by more than 400,000 of their neighbours.

A simple bus shelter, converted for a month to make it completely inaccessible, called attention to the daily hurdles Torontonians with disabilities face every day.

It took a Village: How the careful plan to arrest Bruce McArthur came undone in minutes

WARNING: This article contains graphic content. A blanket of snow accompanied December’s arrival in Toronto, cloaking yards and wilting any plants that had hung on through rare late-fall warmth. Winter’s onset had disrupted Bruce McArthur’s once-predictable landscaping schedule at a critical time in the Toronto police investigation into the disappearances of Andrew Kinsman and Selim Esen. On Dec. 5, 2017, court had given the officers of Project Prism the green light for a covert search of McArthur’s apartment at 95 Thorncliffe Park Dr., a towering building overlooking the Don Valley. The special task-force had found Kinsman’s blood in McArthur’s 2004 Dodge Caravan.

In Toronto , many City services make the lives of residents easier, safer, and more enjoyable. However, not all residents find the services they need On both fronts, the City can do more to make services available, effective, and to meet existing and emerging needs. Are we providing the services

Think about what you ’re doing to make diverse individuals feel included , supported and respected -- and whether you ’re doing enough. Are talented individuals leaving your company for a more inclusive workplace? Beyond being great for people, having a workplace that values all people is also

The glassed-in transit shelter at King and Bathurst is there for the general public to understand how it feels to be left out. When you look into the shelter a poster asks “Feeling Left Out?” and points out that’s how nearly half-a-million Torontonians with disabilities feel, too. (A poster on the exterior of the shelter is entirely in American Sign Language and other posters in bus shelters across the city are in Braille.)

Judging by the reaction to the shelter, Torontonians are open to receiving the message.

But this is just one glassed-in transit shelter on one street. To get the real experience of exclusion facing people with disabilities we would have to multiply these barriers tenfold all across the city.

People with disabilities don’t just feel excluded, we are excluded — from many areas of life that others take for granted, including employment, education, housing, civic engagement and social participation.

Kawhi Leonard’s One-Man Show Illuminates Toronto’s Tenuous Future

Kawhi Leonard holds all the cards. At once he controls how far the Raptors will go in these NBA playoffs and what decisions they might make this summer.

Make inclusion feel real to your employees — as true and authentic in closed conference rooms as Empowering Employees To Be More Inclusive . An inclusive workplace is cooperative, collaborative Tip: For more inclusive meetings, encourage employees to send agendas and materials in advance

Toronto is one of Canada’s most expensive markets, so you may have to get through a touch of sticker shock before Plus, you can still find apartment buildings that are all- inclusive (and some Toronto is very much what you make it. In fact, the city is more like several cities that have been rolled into

And continuing negative attitudes about people with disabilities contribute to the stigma and social isolation we experience: when you build a building without a ramp, we are left out; when you have an event without ASL interpreters, we are left out; when you fail to provide materials in accessible formats, we are left out.

Most Torontonians don’t even consider that we are systematically and structurally left out every day and in many ways.

That’s what this initiative — part of the City’s “Toronto For All” campaigns to promote an inclusive city — is all about.

But it’s only a start.

Our hope is this campaign doesn’t just remind you to include people with disabilities, but also invites you to be an ally and learn more about what you can do to make Toronto more inclusive.

Here are five ways you can start:

• See the person, not just their disability. Treat people with disabilities the same way you would want to be treated.

• Include people with disabilities in your conversations.

• Don’t assume people with disabilities want help, and don’t force your assistance on anyone.

• Don’t ask people with disabilities awkward and inappropriate questions about their disability.

• Speak up! When you see something that’s not accessible you can take action at sites like AccessNow and Stop Gap, among others.

These small steps can move us toward making a Toronto For All.

Wendy Porch is the executive director of the Centre for Independent Living in Toronto (CILT).