Month: September 2025

In this illuminating episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes longtime mentor and accessibility leader Denis Boudreau for a wide-ranging conversation about how he “accidentally” found his calling. Denis traces his path from early-2000s web development to discovering W3C accessibility guidelines, then defining “inclusive communication” with a deliberate focus on disability, visible and invisible. He unpacks who gets left out when we design by assumption, explaining why accessibility benefits a far larger slice of the population than many leaders realize, from older adults to neurodivergent colleagues and people with color-vision differences.

In this illuminating episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes Sonia Gangopadhyay, who leads the Canadian Transportation Agency’s Center of Expertise for Accessible Transportation, to unpack how the CTA protects the right to accessible travel across federally regulated modes, from airlines and interprovincial buses to terminals and screening/border services. Sonia traces the agency’s evolution from early railway oversight to today’s regulations and tribunal decisions (including One Person, One Fare and mobility-aid coverage), explaining how rules, guidance, and codes become enforceable obligations. She lifts the curtain on her team’s day-to-day, running the accessibility helpline, building training resources, collaborating with ICAO/IATA, and supporting regulatory development, then details “on the ground” compliance: designated enforcement officers, inspections across modes, investigations when violations occur, and administrative monetary penalties up to $250,000, alongside a new program that shadows travelers with disabilities to observe real trips end-to-end.

In this inspiring episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes social-justice elementary educator Velvet Lacasse for a conversation about how lived experience becomes curriculum. Lacasse traces a path shaped by her grandmother’s courage, a deafblind father, and Toronto’s queer activist community, roots that inform a pedagogy centered on belonging, “relationships as the curriculum,” collaborative learning, and helping children see themselves as change-makers. The two revisit Lacasse’s Grade 5 class joining Donna’s 2010 Charter challenge, students wrote to the Prime Minister and learned to spot real-world barriers, illustrating how authentic advocacy builds critical thinking and voice.

In this wide-ranging episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan sits down with Toronto Pearson’s accessibility lead, Kathy Saliba, to unpack how one airport is turning “independence, dignity, and delight” from slogans into daily practice. Sparked by Donna’s 2021 feedback, Saliba traces Pearson’s curb-to-cabin choreography, where airlines provide assistance but the airport orchestrates consistency, and highlights the Rick Hansen Foundation Gold certification earned after multi-year retrofits: accessible self-serve kiosks, hundreds of tactile attention indicators, more quiet spaces, and 100+ hearing loops. They spotlight people-first programs that change staff behavior (the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower lanyard, now embraced by Air Canada and WestJet) and traveler-first tools (a pivot from little-used wayfinding beacons to the Aira Explorer service, plus work to personalize Pearson’s accessible app and digital maps). Training across contractors, collaborations with CATSA, and a new “travel rehearsal” program round out the playbook for reducing friction at the most stressful points of the journey.

In this heartfelt episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes her mentor, friend, and advisor Louise Gillis for an intimate conversation about resilience, leadership, and the power of community. Louise traces her path from nursing in Cape Breton to national advocacy after sudden vision loss in the late 1990s, describing how volunteering with CNIB and the Canadian Council of the Blind ignited a full-time commitment to barrier-busting. She shares a mentoring philosophy rooted in listening first and matching advocates to the issues they care about, from transportation and health systems to hospital accessibility, and reminds listeners that White Cane Week is a year-round mindset of education and celebration.

In this engaging episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan sits down with Robert (Rob) Lattanzio, Executive Director of ARCH Disability Law Centre, for a candid conversation about how durable partnerships between community advocates and lawyers are built on trust, shared values, and a relentless commitment to disability rights. Rob traces ARCH’s roots as a Legal Aid, funded, test-case poverty law clinic founded in 1979/1980, now in its 45th year, explaining its unique mandate: systemic litigation, law reform and rights education grounded in lived experience, alongside direct legal services and free, confidential advice for Ontarians with disabilities. He and Donna unpack ARCH’s holistic approach to choosing test cases, the importance of long-standing community relationships, and how a provincial mandate can yield national impact.

In this episode of Remarkable World Commentary, Donna J. Jodhan welcomes Elections Canada changemaker Paul Jorgenson for a candid look at how accessibility is woven into Canada’s federal elections. The two revisit their first collaboration at the 2019 coast-to-coast disability town halls and unpack why Elections Canada grounds its services in lived experience, from Canadians with disabilities to Indigenous communities, youth, newcomers, and electors experiencing homelessness. Jorgenson explains his remit as Assistant Director for Stakeholder Mobilization, a role that is busiest between elections as his team builds partnerships, runs consultations, audits programs, and keeps the agency ready to deliver whenever a vote is called.