Particle.news

Alberta NDP’s Accessible Alberta Act Reaches Second Reading

The bill proposes a lived-experience committee to design provincewide accessibility standards for daily life.

Overview

  • Alberta remains one of only two provinces without overarching accessibility legislation, a gap supporters say the bill seeks to close.
  • Bill 206 would require the government to create a committee with a majority of members who have disabilities, alongside legal experts and supporters.
  • The proposed standards would address public transit, employment accommodations, access to health care, housing and education.
  • Assisted Living Minister Jason Nixon raised objections over limited roles for businesses and Municipal Affairs and said many of the bill’s aims are already underway.
  • Disability advocates Bean Gill and Zachary Weeks detailed daily barriers and pressed MLAs to adopt a framework, though private members’ bills rarely pass.