The federal Liberals say they will evaluate all existing and future government policies for their impact on disabled residents if voted back into power next week, The Canadian Press reports.
The pledge from Carla Qualtrough, the Liberals’ minister for accessibility issues, comes days before Canadians head to the polls on Oct. 21 and shortly after disabled voters raised concerns about the lack of discussion of issues affecting their lives during the current campaign.
The Liberals released a disability equality statement earlier this month, a document that was not in their original platform.
Qualtrough clarified its contents in an interview with The Canadian Press, saying the party was committing to applying a disability lens to government decisions, a formal consideration of how each would affect people with disabilities.
The Liberals mandated that all policies be subjected to a gender-based analysis over the past several years, assessing whether government policies are affecting men and women in different ways.
Qualtrough says the Liberals would take the same approach with disability, reviewing existing policies and studying new ones to make sure government moves don’t exclude or adversely affect anyone.
