Q&A Excerpt: Remembering David C. Onley and His Legacy

Posted by Dean Askin | Reading time: 8:00 | Filed under Inclusive Hiring, Accessibility

In North America, the disability inclusion conversation — the fight for equity, has been going on for over 50 years.

Here in Ontario, the name David C. Onley is synonymous with championing disability inclusion in employment and accessibility.

He wrote best-selling science fiction novel about the NASA space program.

He was the first working television journalist in Canada, and the first Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario, who had a visible disability.

And he was a tireless, passionate champion for the rights of people who have a disability.

His continuous advocacy efforts changed the fabric of society in Ontario. He played a key role in the 2005 passage of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act — the first accessibility legislation in Canada.

He educated and informed; he influenced and encouraged; he challenged the business community and the the government to rehink disability.

David Onley was a changemaker and passionate supporter of access to not only the built environment, but also of access to opportunity.

Canada lost its legendary disability inclusion and accessibility changemaker on January 14, 2023. David Onley was 72.

He left a remarkable legacy that made an impact on so much and so many.

We wanted to get some deep personal insights about David Onley and his legacy, to start off National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) 2024.

Episode 27 of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D aired September 24. It’s an emotional conversation with three people who knew David Onley well:

This is our most-downloaded episode during NDEAM 2024. Here’s an excerpt from the conversation.

JEANNETTE CAMPBELL: Who was David Onley to you, and what impact did he have on you?

Mike Bradley:  He took his public position and championed for all those that didn’t have champions, and it was amazing to watch…when I found out about his passing was on the late news on a Saturday night, I was just stunned. He had so much more like to give back to this province.

Lorin MacDonald: To me he represented perseverance and dedication…And his life inspired me to reflect on the importance of disability inclusion and the power of resilience, and he significantly impacted how I view leadership and advocacy… David…was so good at interacting with people at all levels of society, and I particularly admired his love for intellectual rigor. The more complex the problem was, the more he enjoyed talking about it with me as a human rights lawyer…his curiosity certainly made me think more outside of the box, and his compassion and empathy are legendary.

Robert Onley: He was my dad…I think for first and foremost, he was just a warrior. He he just had to put his armor on every day and to put his braces on just to get through the day….He saw the injustice everywhere, the lack of focus, the lack of attention, and he just called it out because he had to do that to just get through his days…he basically just didn’t take no for an answer when it came to making sure that everyone had the right access to what they would need to have to achieve their full potential, which is, you know, what his model was as Lieutenant-Governor.

DEAN ASKIN: How would you describe David Onley’s legacy?

Robert Onley: I think…his legacy was to show love to others by advocating for them and to telling people that it’s not okay to continue to maintain these barriers in our society. We have to enable people to achieve their full potential by eliminating these barriers by ensuring people have employment opportunities and opportunities to participate fully in society and the scripture that’s on his tombstone.

Lorin MacDonald: What I saw [David] doing is providing an awareness as well as a blueprint for as people do get older, they may acquire a disability, more than likely, but I see David’s legacy as a profound dedication to public service and disability rights advocacy and breaking barriers.

Mike Bradley: To me, the legacy is ongoing. It didn’t end with his passing…the legacy that we’re obligated now to try to make sure it happens, especially in this coming year.

JEANNETTE CAMPBELL: What do you think is the most significant impact that David Onley made overall? 

Lorin MacDonald: For me, it was how he encouraged everyone to take small steps, wherever they may live, to advance accessibility and inclusion…David was also very humble and trying to say, you don’t have to be a Lieutenant-Governor, or you know the mayor of a city, or you know this high profile person, you can make change happen in whatever part of the world you are in…he was very good at mobilizing people to believe in themselves and believe that they can be the change.

Mike Bradley: I think the fact we’re doing this podcast tells the story…And the one thing that always makes me think of his legacy, and I know this may sound trivial, it was when he was on Rick Mercer and they had the scooter chase that I share that with so many people, because it was so David…I still think that was always defining to me, because it was a great way to reach the average Canadian.

Robert Onley: I think my dad, most of all, was successful in just raising the awareness that disability is an issue that can impact everybody at any time of their life.

DEAN ASKIN: Do you think he achieved his own full potential? Or was there still a lot more he felt he could want and really needed to do to advance accessibility and disability inclusion?

Robert Onley: He definitely was surprised and frankly, extremely disappointed that more had not been done to achieve his recommendations in the AODA report. I think he was realistic about maybe the speed with which things could have been accomplished, but I think ultimately, he was very disappointed and surprised that it hadn’t been really taken up with some sincerity and intensity to try to achieve At least, I think, you know, the built environment codes and stuff that I think is tangibly achievable and readily achievable…I think he probably ultimately wished that he could have put in another decade of probably more, maybe more, written advocacy. I think he he talked often about writing a book that would have been a bit of a memoir.

Lorin MacDonald: I think if you ask any disability advocate and leader in that country that question, the only time we think about the work we have done is on an award night, when we’re being vetted and given some shiny award or whatever…because as advocates and as leaders, we’re always thinking ahead about what it still to be done. We don’t think about what’s already been done, because we’re not done yet.

JEANNETTE CAMPBELL: How optimistic are you about how far we are in 2024, and about what will be accomplished in our lifetimes? 

Mike Bradley: I certainly don’t want to be negative in the sense that there has been a lot accomplished…I think next year is going to be brutal for governments, because they’re going to have to defend the lack of progress in certain areas…I think we’ve moved away from the patronizing approach [to disability inclusion in employment] to the reality…I’m thinking next year will could be a really good opportunity to push some of the things that we have not got done yet.

Lorin MacDonald: I can add that, because I was involved with getting the AODA to happen way back, back in 2005 when the AODA was passed, we all felt that 20 years was with totally doable and but very quickly have learned. And you know what? This is not a negative comment on the particular government. It’s across all parties. They all mess up federally, municipally, maybe not me and Mike’s area, but in provincially, no party has gotten it completely right… we have to consider what has happened over the past 20 years, and that we now have a legal and policy framework that is protecting the rights of people with disabilities…We’ve made strides in improving accessibility and combatting discrimination, there’s greater awareness of barrier, leading to the public recognition of the importance of accessibility and inclusion.

JEANNETTE CAMPBELL: What are some of the main things that still need to happen to help get Ontario to this place of accessibility?

Robert Onley: I think the challenge maybe perpetually, frankly, for the issues of disability and accessibility is getting them on the front burner because they just don’t have the same resonance as a lot of the contemporary geopolitical issues that are resulting in protests and that sort of thing…some people will call that being woke or wokeness, or what have you. And I think there’s a there’s a lot of little elements to it that you can maybe pick at on that concept of wokeness. But I think it’s okay to be woke about disability issues, and it’s okay to keep it in people’s front burner.

Lorin MacDonald: It’s going to require people who have power to be personally affected by disability to move the dial…I think that’s what it’s honestly what it’s going to take, because you’re quite right that disability issues are constantly being pushed down the line…And it honestly is going to take, in my view, somebody with power to be personally impacted, either themselves or a family member working alongside allies who also hold the case about it.

Mike Bradley: What I will say right now, it’s very difficult to govern the rage that’s out there…I expected after Covid, we’d have like parades in the street, like they did after the Second World War. You know, liberated we’re free again. None of that happened, and engagement with the public has become much more difficult…the empathy is way down, whether it be the homeless, the addicted, you name it. And trying to restore that, to me, is a key mission to build on what we need to do.

JEANNETTE CAMPBELL: What’s one thing you want people to take away from this conversation? 

Robert Onley: I think that we can get caught up in all of the negativity and the storm of, frankly, what’s happening in the world right now. I was dismayed, frankly, to learn the other day that there are more wars happening in the world right now than there ever have been since World War Two. So, you know, we can get kind of caught up in a lot of that spiral of negativity, and I think it’s coming out of this conversation. It’s to not lose hope. It’s to focus on the opportunity before us here as a society and as individuals.

Lorin MacDonald: There was no single [thing] when it came to David, because everything was so intricately intertwined when it came to his advocacy, his life.

Episode 27 is our most-downloaded episode during National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2024. Take in the full, emotional conversation on Podbean.

Dean AskinDean Askin is the Communications Strategist for the Ontario Disability Employment Network, and the Co-Host and Associate Producer of ODEN’s You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D podcast.