Dignity, Independence, and Choice: Welcoming Air Canada's Newest Accessibility Champions

Today is a wonderful day for accessibility in Canadian aviation. Air Canada has expanded its Accessibility Advisory Committee with new voices from across our community, and I could not be prouder to call these colleagues my own.

The thesis is simple: when a national airline brings more lived experience to the table, the entire community travels a little easier. The new members of Air Canada’s Accessibility Advisory Committee bring exactly that, and the words dignity, independence, and choice are no longer just a promise. They are the standard we now hold ourselves to.

A New Chapter for Air Canada

Air Canada’s Accessibility Advisory Committee was established in December 2023 to bring lived experience directly into the airline’s accessibility decisions. Members serve three-year terms. The committee meets quarterly and is consulted on new and ongoing accessibility initiatives.

Today, that committee got bigger and stronger.

We welcome:

Meghan Hines as our newly appointed Chair
Robert Cassius de Linval as our newly appointed Vice Chair
Ben Almond
Melanie Heroux
Yat Li
Jim Mann, LL.D.

These six new colleagues join Isabelle Ducharme, Paul S. Rogers, Joanne Smith, and me as the current voices of the Committee.

Three Words That Carry the Weight of a Movement

In her statement today, Kerianne Wilson, Director, Customer Accessibility at Air Canada, said something that stopped me in my tracks:

“Everyone deserves to travel with dignity, independence and choice.”

Three words. Dignity. Independence. Choice.

These are not buzzwords. These are the very words our community has been speaking, sometimes shouting, for decades. To hear them named so clearly by a national airline is meaningful. To see them backed by real action, by an expanded committee of people with lived experience, by quarterly consultations, by a public commitment to continuous change, is what gives those words their weight.

Christianna Scott, Director, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Employee Accessibility at Air Canada, reminded us today that accessibility comes to life through the people who do the work every day.

She is right. And the people doing that work include not just our Committee, but every Air Canada employee who shows up for travellers with disabilities, every traveller who shares their experience honestly, and every advocate who keeps pushing.

Welcoming Our New Members

Each of our new colleagues brings something this committee did not have yesterday. New perspectives. New networks of community knowledge. New questions we have not yet asked.

To Meghan and Robert, congratulations on your new leadership roles. The Chair and Vice Chair seats carry real responsibility, and I have every confidence that you will guide our work forward with the wisdom and the courage it demands.

To Ben, Melanie, Yat, and Jim, welcome. Your voices belong at this table. Bring everything you know. Hold us accountable. And know that you are not joining a committee, you are joining a community that has been building this work for many years and that will keep building it long after any of us rotate off.

A Word About What Comes Next

In January 2027, my own three-year term will conclude, alongside Isabelle, Paul, and Joanne. Four new colleagues will then step into our seats: Brad Bartko, Anne Mok, Michelle Mahoney, and Richard Marion.

That is exactly how this committee should work. New voices. New energy. A committee that grows.

For the months ahead, I am here. I am listening. And I am committed to making the most of this expanded committee, with all of you.

Where I Will Push, Honestly

Allow me to be honest with you, dear readers, in the way you have come to expect.

A committee, even a wonderful, expanded, talented one like ours, is not the destination. It is the runway.

The real work is what happens when the lights are off and no announcement has been made. The real work is the wheelchair that arrives at the same airport as its owner. The crew member who knows how to use a lift correctly. The aisle chair that is ready when it is needed. The mobility device that travels safely on the same flight as the person who depends on it.

Representation is necessary. It is not yet sufficient. And every one of us, including me, is accountable for closing the gap between our Committee’s words and the reality on the tarmac.

That is the spirit in which I welcome these new voices. Not as a finish line. As a fresh start.

What This Means for All of Us

For travellers with disabilities, keep telling your stories. Keep flying. Keep holding all of us accountable. Your experience is the data this committee needs.

For families, friends, caregivers, and allies, please share this news. Celebrate it. And keep your expectations high. We are stronger when more of us are watching.

For Air Canada employees, you are the reason this work succeeds or fails on any given day. Every one of you matters.

For other Canadian companies and institutions watching from a distance, this is what an Accessibility Advisory Committee can look like. Take notes.

In Closing

Our Committee just got bigger. Our voices just got louder. Our standard, dignity, independence, and choice, is now in writing, in public, and on the record.

Welcome, new colleagues.

Thank you, Kerianne and Christianna, for your leadership.

And to the rest of our community, keep going.

Together, we are making things better than possible.

Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA
Global Leader In Disability Rights, Digital Accessibility, And Inclusive Policy Reform
Turning policy into progress for people with disabilities.