Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #3: Remembering Donna's Charter Challenge

Transcript

Remarkable World Commentary Episode #3: Remembering Donna's Charter Challenge · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

• 0:00
  [Music]
• 0:13
  Greetings Donna J Jand LLB ACP and MBA
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  invites you to listen to her bi-weekly
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  podcast Remarkable World
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  Commentary. Here Donna shares some of her
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  innermost thoughts, insights, perspectives
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  and more with her listeners. Donna
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  focuses on topics that directly affect
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  the future of kids, especially kids with
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  disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate,
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  author, sight loss coach, dinner mystery
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  producer, writer, entrepreneur, law
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  graduate, and podcast
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  commentator. She has decades of lived
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  experiences, knowledge, skills and
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  expertise in access technology and
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  information. As someone who has been
• 1:00
  internationally recognized for her work
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  and roles, she just wants to make things
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  better than possible. Hello there, my name is Donna
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  Jill Jan. I am an advocate, author, blogger,
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  sight loss coach, dinner mystery producer
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  and writer, or writer and producer,
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  entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast
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  commentator.
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  You know, having the ability to produce
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  podcasts is a very exciting thing for
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  me. Let's go back to about a year ago and
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  this was really not possible. A because I
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  was not thinking about it and B I didn't
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  have the resources or the people to push
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  me to do it. Fast forward to today and I do have
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  all of this in place now and this is my
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  third podcast,
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  Remarkable bi-weekly World
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  Commentary. Welcome to this
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  podcast and for today I am going to go
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  back a bit in my memory bank and talk
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  about a very memorable day in
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  history, November
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  29th
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  2010. A very special day,
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  a day when the Low Court of Canada
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  handed down a decision in my favor that
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  mandated the Canadian government to make
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  all of its
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  websites accessible to all Canadians,
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  especially so to those with
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  disabilities. As a blind and vision
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  impaired
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  Canadian, nothing could have been more
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  I'm not sure what the words are
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  but nothing could have been more
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  grateful,
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  humbling, and simply exciting for me and
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  for my
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  community. Yes indeed, November 29th
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  2010, that was a typical fall day in
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  Canada in
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  Ontario and on that day I remember
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  waking up, waiting and waiting, not sure
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  if the announcement would come down, but
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  it sure did. And when it did, it was such
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  an exciting moment for me. First to get
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  the news from David Baker, my lawyer, then
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  from Kathy Powell of the
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  CNIB, then from Melanie my friend and
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  Richard Quan, the late Richard Quan, who
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  tweeted
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  "A landmark victory for all
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  Canadians" and this is what it was,
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  exactly what it was, a landmark victory
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  for all Canadians. November 29th
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  2010, well it didn't stop there because
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  then I had to get ready in a
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  hurry and after a lovely breakfast
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  provided to me by my mom I speeded down
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  the highway with Jerry and up to my
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  lawyer's office to be ready for press
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  conferences, to answer all kinds of
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  questions from across the
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  country. I had never done this in my life
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  before. I had never expected
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  this but what was so very special about
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  this day in addition to everything else
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  that was going
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  on is the fact that now the Canadian
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  federal government was mandated to make
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  all of its websites
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  accessible and you may be thinking that
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  this could not have been
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  possible but believe me when I tell you
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  that it was going to be possible not all
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  at once but on a working basis.
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  Okay, what was the fallout? Really the
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  fallout is that in my mind I felt that
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  this was not
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  just a victory for not for me but for
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  my community, for all Canadians with
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  disabilities, for our kids, especially the
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  kids of the
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  future and those kids with a disability,
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  a victory for everybody. And I was just
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  very
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  humbled that I was the one to have
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  launched this Charter challenge with the
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  help and assistance of my mentors, Robin
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  East, Charn Aot, and the late John
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  Ray. Yes indeed. Fast forward to
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  2024, almost 11 years later, and there's
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  still a lot of work to be
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  done. Okay yes, we've had the fallout. Yes
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  we've had a lot of things take
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  place. Yes, this went worldwide. It was
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  recognized in the United Kingdom, in the
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  United States, across in Europe, and even
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  in places like India, and thanks to my
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  good friend Sam who helped promote the
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  news in her native country of
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  India. More work needs to be
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  done. We need to have greater
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  accessibility of
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  websites, not just lip service but real
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  service, not just a duty to
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  accommodate but it must be done in order
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  to protect,
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  recognize, and ensure that the rights of
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  all Canadians with
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  disabilities are adhered to and nothing
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  will stop this. What we have to do is to
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  keep speaking up and speaking
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  out. This is definitely going to affect
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  such things as online
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  banking, online
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  shopping, online complaint
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  systems, travel
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  websites, and this extends way beyond
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  just
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  websites. This is going to build
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  awareness and break down
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  barriers, also to build
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  bridges. In short, it is time to make it
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  better than possible. As Prime Minister
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  Justin Trudeau said shortly after he
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  became Prime Minister in
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  2015, it's all about making it better
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  than
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  possible. This is what this memorable day
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  November 29th
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  2010 meant to me, and every time I think
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  about it, it just sends shivers up my
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  back. It makes me
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  lightheaded. I am so proud to have led
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  this team that made this
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  possible, a Charter challenge that was a
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  landmark victory for all
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  Canadians. I'm Donna J Jan wishing you a
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  great
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  day. Donna wants to hear from you and
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  invites you to write to her at Donna
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  Jand
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  gmail.com. Until next time
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  [Music]