Federal Disability Act in Canada

Federal Disability Act in Canada
Name
Institution

Introduction
The existence of disability in the Canadian society remains under-exposed to the general populace. This leads to no consideration and overlooking of issues affecting the disabled especially when important policies are being formulated by the administration. There is an urgent need to bring together individuals, institutions and organizations concerned so as to initiate the process of formulating pieces of legislation that would ensure the disabled people are part and parcel of the decision making process, economic development and the future of the country. This paper discusses the need to formulate and pass a federal disability act as one of the means that would be used to achieve equality for the disabled people in the country.
Why there is need to enact a federal disability act
The lack of a proper legislation that would help the disabled people live at par in terms of quality of life with non-disabled citizens is quite evident. There is urgent a need for the enactment of legislations that would alleviate their current predicament.
The disabled people have been experiencing circumstances that are evidence of the need of such legislation. In a report authored by Prince, citizens with disabilities who lived in a city housing complex were dismayed to find that there was no ramp for them at a school that was a designated polling center for provincial elections in the state of Alberta. Similar occurrences were reported in other areas of Manitoba in 1982. In other scenarios, returning officers had to order that ballot boxes be brought out into parking lots or even into homes for ease of access by people with disabilities. A person with disability was quoted requesting that all polling stations be made accessible. Also, among those who participate as candidates in elections, there has been quite a notable under-representation of the disabled. In particular are those that require communication alternatives such as, alternative media, sign language and other types of support. This only shows part of an array of challenges the disabled people have been facing over time in their attempt to participate in democracy, economy and other spheres that constitute the general Canadian experience.
Conclusion
Notable developments and improvements have been made based on a ‘when need arises’ concept. There is no clear federal act that provides for implementation of laws to ensure that the disabled people in Canada participate in all areas of Canadian life with equal footing as the other Canadians. Life expectancy in...