People with disabilities excluded from planning

Victoria’s Official Community Plan survey is a classic example of the systemic ableism people with disabilities are subjected to daily.

The Accessible British Columbia Act calls upon municipalities to remove barriers for people with disabilities. As the city moves forward with its OCP, one would think the city would attempt to understand the barriers faced by these people.

Nope. On the last page of the survey, in the “standard demographic data collection” section the city asks age range, gender identity, resident status, spoken languages, household size and income. Glaringly missing — disability.

As far as I am aware, Victoria is not a disability-free zone and people with disabilities still represent close to 25 per cent of the population. Further, understanding this demographic is fundamental to removing barriers in the city as required by the Accessible B.C. Act. Our exclusion from the demographics is an egregious omission at best.

Beyond the abhorrent omission, the city’s survey uses language that excludes segments of the disability community and calls upon blind survey users to view graphical maps to answer questions.

AudioEye, a tool used to detect website accessibility violations, detected 72 violations on the first page of the survey alone.

Further demonstrating contempt for the rights of people with disabilities, the survey asks respondents to prioritize Indigenous identity, multicultural identity and diversity over one another, as though rights are determined by popularity and not the law.

These types of questions are volatile in nature and breed hatred amongst community groups.

It’s 2024; we are all of equal value.

Susan Simmons Victoria