Niagara, Ontario Citizen Among Recipients Of Prestigious Provincial Award

Ontario Announces Recipients Of 2016 David C. Onley Award For  Outstanding Accessibility Leaders

“Linda Crabtree is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and works diligently to improve accessibility.”

News from the Ontario Government

Posted June 1st, 2016 on Niagara At Large

(A Brief Note from Niagara At Large publisher Doug Draper – I first met Linda Crabtree more than 35 years ago when we both worked fulltime at the St. Catharines Standard. She is a great person and has always been a dedicated advocate for building better communities for all. Congratulations to her.)

Toronto, Ontario – Eleven champions of inclusion from across Ontario have received the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility.

Niagara, Ontario resident and provincial award recipient Linda Crabtree.

The annual award — named for Ontario’s 28^th Lieutenant Governor — recognizes individuals and organizations that have gone above and beyond to raise awareness of accessibility, while improving the lives of people with disabilities in their communities. Celebrating the work of this year’s winners helps promote the benefits of accessibility and nurtures a culture of inclusion across the province.

Her Honour the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, presented the awards today alongside the Honourable David C. Onley. Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services, delivered the award citations on behalf of Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

The recipients include:

• Linda Crabtree of St. Catharines, who received the Role Model Award for her pioneering work to raise awareness of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and improve accessibility throughout the Niagara region.

• Maayan Ziv of Richmond Hill, who received the Youth Leadership Award for her activism and social innovation that uses crowdsourcing to pinpoint the accessibility status of locations on an interactive online map.

• Mark Wafer of Ashburn, who received the Employee Engagement Award for hiring more than 130 people with disabilities and promoting the business case for accessibility to companies, labour organizations and governments across Canada.

• Eight organizations from across Ontario, who received the Champion Award for increasing accessibility in their communities.

QUICK FACTS

• The David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility was created in 2014 to honour the province’s first Lieutenant Governor with a physical disability.
• Mr. Onley served as the 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario and adopted accessibility as the overarching theme of his mandate.

 BACKGROUND INFORMATION

• Ontario’s David C. Onley Award Recipients

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

• Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act
• Nominate an individual or organization for next year’s David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility

QUOTES

“This year’s recipients of the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility have demonstrated extraordinary understanding and ingenuity in helping to ensure that Ontarians of all abilities are able to meaningfully contribute to our society. Due in no small part to their efforts, accessibility will increasingly become a way of life for many in our province. I wish them luck as they persist in seeking a future where all can achieve their full potential.”  — The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

“I am delighted to congratulate the worthy recipients of this year’s award. The leaders we’ve recognized today are helping to make accessibility a way of life in Ontario’s workplaces and communities. They are doing their part to help us build an inclusive province filled with social and economic opportunities for people of all abilities.”  — The Honourable David C. Onley, 28th Lieutenant Governor of Ontario (2007-2014), Special Advisor on Accessibility to the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

“I am proud to recognize the exceptional recipients of the David C. Onley Award for Leadership in Accessibility. As we continue to move forward in pursuit of an accessible Ontario by 2025, our government is working hard to build on our Action Plan commitments and encourage a culture of inclusion to take hold across the province. The champions we’ve honoured today will help inspire more Ontarians to embrace the benefits of accessibility and break down the barriers to inclusion wherever they work and live.”  — Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure

“Our government is committed to making Ontario a more inclusive province — one in which all Ontarians can fully participate in their communities. We’re honouring a terrific group of award recipients that inspire others to take action each and every day to make their communities more accessible. Their work is not only worthy of celebration — it is worthy of imitation. Congratulations on making Ontario a better place for all.”  — Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services

About Linda Crabtree, St. Catharines

Linda Crabtree is a passionate advocate for people with disabilities and works diligently to improve accessibility. In 1984, she founded CMT International, a registered charity dedicated to sharing information and raising awareness among thousands of individuals, medical professionals and families around the world. She wrote her first article on accessibility in the 1970s and for the past 20 years has written the Access Niagara column, which appears in the St. Catharines Standard, Niagara Falls Review and online. Linda has personally audited more than 200 venues for AccessibleNiagara.com, a website she created in 2002. It helps increase tourism in the region, while breaking down barriers for visitors and residents with disabilities. She holds the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario.

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