I would like to thank all of you who made it out to the Toronto Disability Pride March, and those whose supported us. It was an excellent event. From the speeches at City Hall, to the chants of “Equal Access, Equal Rights!” and “No Cuts! No Way! Tell Rob Ford we’re here to stay” as we took to the streets, and the warm welcoming we recieved at Occupy Toronto. This past weekend we took a huge step forward in increasing the visability of people with disabilities in Toronto, but there is still much work to be done.

Many issues were raised at the march that we can work together to address. Some of the key issues are:

• The need for a more progressive International Persons with Disabilities Day
• Tying the funding for Toronto Police to disability awareness training.
• My favourite poster ~ Build Ramps, Not Bombs, how do the disability movement and the peace movement relate?
• The need for standards that take a more holistic approach to disability issues including healthcare, social assistance, housing, and issues faced by women with disabilities.

I’m sure there are others as well.

What I suggest to you is that we continue to keep the fire burning that was lit at the march.

The best place to start is International Persons with Disabilities Day, which is a month away. I’ve heard there’s some interest from Ryerson and other groups to put this together, and I believe that together we can make this happen.

I have created a listserve and facebook group for us to communicate, but please do not consider me your leader. In the spirit of Occupy Toronto we’re all going to have to come together to make this happen, so let’s get started!