Correspondence

Disability Issues Largely Ignored During Federal Election Campaign

June 2004

Dear Editor:

Please consider the following for publication in your Letters column.

People with disabilities, who comprise about fifteen percent of Canada's population, continue to face among the highest rates of unemployment, poverty, exclusion, social isolation and political marginalization, and we want to ask why our issues have been largely ignored again during the current federal election campaign?

We are interested in how each party will address such questions as how print information will be made more accessible, increased funding for needed disability supports, how tax measures will be improved,what concrete steps each would take to address our continuing unacceptably high level of unemployment and poverty, what steps will be undertaken to make the electoral process more accessible, and what role should the federal government play in addressing our issues?

We represent a significant block of votes, yet no party seems interested in giving our issues the time and attention we believe they deserve. And, again, we ask why?

John Rae
President
National Federation of the Blind: Advocates for Equality

Return to List of Briefs, press releases and correspondence