The New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities wants Canada’s political parties to give their needs and concerns more attention.
Ahead of voting day, the coalition researched the party platforms and gave them each a grade.
The Liberal party get a B+, the NDP party get a B- and the Greens and Conservatives both earned a grade of D.
Coalition chairperson Shelley Petit said disabled people should be included more in the party platforms because they are Canada’s single largest demographic.
“In 2017, they did a census. 26.7 per cent of New Brunswickers 15 or older had two or more severe disabilities which means 26.7 per cent are all of voting age now,” Petit said.
Petit said most disabled people could work 10 hours a week but when they do, they lose benefits.
“So they punish us if we try to work, if there was some kind of job sensitivity that made it easier for us to work, the entire employment crisis going on in this country would not be occurring,” Petit said.
Petit said none of the people designing plans for making buildings accessible has brought in a person with a wheelchair to check.
She says nine out of 10 times these accessibility buildings that are put together are truly not convenient for persons with disabilities.
“The ramps are too steep or they are not wide enough. There is not enough turn space,” Petit said.
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