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Heidi Riedner/Metroland
Greer Atkinson shows Georgina students portraits of her ancestors and shares their story as part of the first-ever Treaties Recognition Week.
NEWS
’We should be way ahead of where we are’ LISA QUEEN lqueen@yrmg.com
Mike Barrett/Metroland
Newmarket’s Steve Foglia is vice-chair of the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee. As part of this year’s National Access Awareness Week, the YRAAC hosted a forum entitled Building Livable Accessible Communities.
Steve Foglia sat discouraged in his wheelchair outside a Newmarket coffee shop for half an hour one day this week. A car was parked legally in the handicapped spot, but the design of the parking lot meant the vehicle was blocking the cut-out in the curb that would have allowed him to navigate his wheelchair up to the sidewalk. Even when the car moved, Foglia had to wait until someone held the door open for him because there was no automatic opener. While the curb cut-out is built to code, it’s an Ontario standard that doesn’t work
practically for people with disabilities, he said. "In 2017, that this is actually still happening is very frustrating. We should be way ahead of where we are . As a citizen of this community, I have the same right as any able-bodied person who pays their taxes and lives in this community to access the same features in our community as anybody else," he said. "Just because I got put in this chair for circumstances beyond my control doesn’t mean I have to stay in my house 24-7. And a lot of people do because they’re scared to go out." Being excluded from life’s simplest moments has been a challenge for Foglia since a car accident in 1999 crushed his chest and put
him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. "I lived my first 37 years as, I guess, a ’normal’ human being, being able to come and go as I pleased. Everywhere I wanted to go, I was able to go," the Newmarket resident said. "Then, once the accident put me into this chair, I realized my world closed off very quickly. There were a lot of places I could not go, especially places I used to attend before. That really upset me." Foglia has spent years working to make York Region more accessible for people with disabilities. He is vice-chair of the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee, l See MY, page 10
Vote for your council with the click of a mouse Technology and accessibility reasons Aurora is making switch to online voting AMANDA PERSICO apersico@yrmg.com Instead of checking the ballot, Aurora residents will be clicking a mouse instead during the 2018 municipal election. Residents will have the option of voting online from the comforts
of home during early voting days leading up to the October 2018 election. The 2018 municipal election will be a mix of old and new, with at least half a dozen traditional voting stations and online voting. Aurora has been using electronic vote tabulators since the 2000 municipal election. Initially, town staff recommended an Internet only option for next year’s election. Concerns were raised about security and voter fraud, so council opted for a hybrid option. "Aurora was not ready to make that leap," said the town’s chief administrative officer Doug Na-
doronzy said. "This is our compromise version." With the fast pace of changing technology, town-owned tabulators are outdated and it made more economical sense to rent tabulators for the next municipal election. "Technology is changing all the time," Nadoronzy said. "We don’t know what technology will be available for the 2022 election." Allowing online voting breaks down some of the barriers and makes democracy more accessible, said Nadoronzy. "Now, it’s easier for someone l See YOU, page 10
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Aurora will allow internet voting for the 2018 municipal election.
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