I have a bit of first-hand experience here. If you could see the font of my speaking notes, you would believe me.
For people with visual impairments, the challenge is often that the disability is hidden. It's not obvious sometimes that someone can't see you. It's not obvious sometimes that people can't read the material you're providing them.
So along with some more concrete accessibility measures, such as our recent introduction in the House of a law to eventually ratify and accede to the Marrakesh Treaty, for which I thank all of you for your support, we need to again challenge the assumptions made around people and their abilities.
There are feelings of severe social isolation that come with not being able to visually participate in the world in the same way as others. There is also a lack of comprehension of how people interact with the world.
In sport, for example, which is my other passion, we know it takes a child who is as legally blind as me—that is, someone who has less than 10% corrected vision—seven times longer than a sighted child to get the same benefit from an experience. It's not enough to teach someone how to run. You have to give them seven chances to do the same skill, and this creates some barriers to inclusion.
We know there are 800,000 Canadians who are visually impaired. Referring back to the Marrakesh Treaty, we know that not having access to printed material in alternate formats means there are barriers to education, employment, and to full participation in political and social life.
I can tell you personally that there were some times during the campaign when I couldn't participate in a debate because they handed out questions that were in a small font, or I had to ask for help, which made me feel very vulnerable. It's off-putting when you're nervous in a new situation.
I think it's important to take the opportunity provided by the consultation process to educate ourselves on the various forms of disability and impairment that our fellow Canadians experience, while being a little more open-minded about their potential and the way people contribute to our society. The more access we have, the more we can contribute. I would encourage everyone to be more open-minded.