For many people, every-day life activities are extremely challenging.

From the mother maneuvering a baby stroller through the double doors at City Hall, to the visually impaired student crossing First Street, the senior citizen with arthritis attempting the stairs at the Arena, or the citizen in a wheelchair needing public transportation, many of our citizens face barriers each day.

To ensure decisions made within the City of Medicine Hat Corporation include consideration of these most important issues, a Community Inclusion Strategy was developed.

Recommendations from the Report:

1. That City Council authorize a review of all disability related policies and a compilation of best practices to remove systemic barriers in employment, goods, services and facilities from internal and other similar sized cities, and that these best practices be endorsed by Council
2. That City Council direct that each Department evaluate its policies, programs and services to identify barriers and develop an Action Plan to remove the identified barriers.
3. That a communication strategy be developed for both internal and external use that supports the principles of inclusion.
4. That City Council adopts a set of accessibility guidelines for all City owned buildings and those that are on City owned land.
5. That City Council adopts a proactive response to accessibility issues with architects and developers.

The final recommendation in the Community Inclusion Strategy was to approve a dedicated staff resource to accomplish the recommendations in the strategy, and to

• facilitate community advisory processes through the Advisory Committee on Issues Affecting the Handicapped,
• develop and implement awareness and public education programs on access, equity and community inclusion,
• act as a resource for departments and agencies in the development and implementation of their action plans,
• liaise with community organizations regarding emerging issues,
• conduct research on the needs of persons with disabilities and to provide results to departments, committees and Council for use in service delivery and/or policy development.
• monitor legislative proposals for impact on people with disabilities,
• implement communication strategies to increase involvement and access to services,
• promote the City's position to other levels of government and external bodies