Over 100 staff and students gathered on Nov. 22 for a virtual town hall to share their thoughts on the McGill Accessibility Strategy (MAS), the university’s proposed plan to increase accessibility for disabled community members and to address ableism on campus. There, attendees provided input on a draft document outlining the MAS and discussed the institutional barriers that inhibit disabled people from full participation at the university.

The town hall was one of the four community consultation meetings the university convened for the development of the MAS. Meetings for administrative staff, academic staff, and students took place on Oct. 22, Oct. 25, and Oct. 28, respectively. 

Executive Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) Christopher Manfredi began the meeting by stressing that the attendees’ feedback matters to the process of implementing the MAS, as they shape both the short- and long-term efforts by the university.

“Your feedback today is key to making sure we’re creating something that has a real impact, something that not only makes our spaces more accessible, but also fosters a community where everyone feels that they truly belong,” Manfredi said.

For the remainder of the town hall, community members discussed a wide array of opinions on the draft document and shared accessibility concerns across the university as a research and learning environment. 

Samuel Ragot, a PhD student in the School of Social Work, drew attention to the language of the draft document. Ragot noted that the definition of disability in the document does not reference “barriers” against people with disabilities or the idea of “social participation,” terminology that is commonly used in disability policy. He also proposed that the draft document incorporate the “nothing about us without us” principle—the idea that decisions should not be made without the involvement of those impacted. 

Ragot went on to speak on the importance of recognizing the societal ableism in Quebec. 

“Disability discrimination is still the number-one cause for complaints to the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse,” Ragot said. “There is huge work on this to be done.”

Some attendees drew attention to the way that disabled graduate students are often left behind by McGill’s regulations surrounding disability. They cited the lack of a centralized way to apply accommodations they receive as a student to work they perform as an employee—for example, in a lab or as a teaching assistant. 

Many also emphasized the importance of giving disabled staff and students the chance to provide input in the creation of the MAS. During the meeting, organizers from McGill clarified that following the town hall, the draft document will be revised and then be sent through the university’s governance structures to be put before the Senate and the Board of Governors for approval. 

Shari Brotman—associate professor in the School of Social Work and the Interim Chair of the Subcommittee on Persons with Disabilities within McGill’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee—urged the university to consider “reintroducing” the document to the community for more feedback before its submission to the relevant governance bodies.  

“It really is my perspective that there needs to be more consistent and ongoing communication with the broader community of people with disabilities at McGill, since there were a lot of important suggestions and recommendations for strengthening the Strategy raised at the Town Hall,” Brotman said.

Assistant professor in the School of Population and Global Health, Ananya Banerjee, underscored the need for the draft document to reflect a disability justice lens. This framework recognizes that those with disabilities are not a monolithic group, and that Indigenous, racialized, queer, and other marginalized individuals are at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression that shape their experiences with ableism. Banerjee also discussed the ways that McGill’s health insurance fails to adequately serve staff and students with disabilities, as those under the plan might still pay significant out-of-pocket costs for medication and other medical needs.

For Banerjee, although equity, diversity and inclusion efforts have done important work at the university, disability remains “an oversight.”

“On paper, we’re trying to be more inclusive […] but the reality is that it depends on our schools and our departments if they are willing to put in the work to support all of us,” Banerjee said.