HALIFAX–EASTER SEALS HAS BEEN HELPING CANADIANS WITH DISABILITIES FOR EXACTLY 100 YEARS. BUT THE ORGANIZATION’S WORK IS FAR FROM OVER.
On March 24, the not-for-profit’s Nova Scotia chapter held a 400-person gala to mark its birthday (Easter Seals began operating in this province 91 years ago).
It is fitting that Easter Seals marked its history at a time when society is changing so much in terms of accessibility.
Joanne Bernard, former provincial cabinet minister and president and CEO of Easter Seals Nova Scotia, says she has seen a lot of advancement toward businesses and workplaces becoming more accommodating. That’s important, considering Nova Scotia has the largest number of disabled people per capita (26 percent) in the country.
“As businesses become more aware of what they need to do in their workplace, they reach out to us more,” said Bernard. “It doesn’t happen overnight but it is moving forward. I see it all the time.”
A major Halifax law firm recently moved to a new office building and asked Easter Seals to examine the property’s level of accessibility–a sign of progress.
Bernard says the Nova Scotia business community has been willing to work with Easter Seals to help get people with disabilities into the workplace. In the past five years, the organization has helped 70 clients get employment.
“This is a workforce that’s needed and untapped, and I think more employers are starting to understand that,” Bernard said.
But for every two steps forward there is often one step back. Easter Seals and people with disabilities are now facing new workplace challenges in this new covid world.
Working remotely has become accepted, even encouraged in the pandemic workplace. Many have exalted the convenience of working from home, or some type of hybrid model.
Bernard, however, says the experiment hasn’t been a good one for most disabled people in the workplace.
“Many folks may need assistance while they’re working. We can do that in a workplace but we can’t do that in a home,” she explained. “We don’t have our staff going to homes; we simply don’t have the ability to do that.”
“A lot of people work with their hands; they may not be able to work with a computer. You also have to remember that a person living with a disability is already socially excluded, so not being in a workplace really takes away from their social activity during the day.”
Remote working isn’t the only big change happening when it comes to accessibility in Nova Scotia. In 2017, the Liberal government passed a law that will make the province completely accessible by 2030. This means sidewalks, public spaces and, yes, even businesses.
Bernard was the Community Services Minister responsible for that piece of legislation five years ago.
She says there are grants available to businesses to help them make the transition that is eight short years away. She also wants businesses and property owners to see this as an investment opportunity, not an inconvenient cost.
“I know that if someone here can’t go into a restaurant, their whole family doesn’t go,” said Bernard. “So how much is it costing you not to be fully accessible?”
“If you’re not offering it to everyone, why are you open?”
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