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Disability exists in the shadows of public awareness and at the periphery of policy making. People with disabilities are, in many respects, missing from the theories and practices of social rights, political participation, employment, and civic membership. Absent Citizens brings to light these chronic deficiencies in Canadian society and emphasizes the effects that these omissions have on the lives of citizens with disabilities.Drawing together elements from feminist studies, political science, public administration, sociology, and urban studies, Michael J. Prince examines mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion, public attitudes on disability, and policy-making processes in the context of disability. Absent Citizens also considers social activism and civic engagements by people with disabilities and disability community organizations, highlighting presence rather than absence and advocating both inquiry and action to ameliorate the marginalization of an often overlooked segment of the Canadian population

Disability exists in the shadows of public awareness and at the periphery of policy making. People with disabilities are, in many respects, missing from the theories and practices of social rights, political participation, employment, and civic membership. Absent Citizens brings to light these chronic deficiencies in Canadian society and emphasizes the effects that these omissions have on the lives of citizens with disabilities.Drawing together elements from feminist studies, political science, public administration, sociology, and urban studies, Michael J. Prince examines mechanisms of exclusion and inclusion, public attitudes on disability, and policy-making processes in the context of disability. Absent Citizens also considers social activism and civic engagements by people with disabilities and disability community organizations, highlighting presence rather than absence and advocating both inquiry and action to ameliorate the marginalization of an often overlooked segment of the Canadian population

Background: While governments draw on survey data to inform policy choices, the design, application, and interpretation of surveys can generate certain images of disability and ignore many others.
Aims and objectives: This article draws attention to social circumstances of people with disabilities often unacknowledged in research evidence: hidden figures of disability.
Methods: Selected results from the Canadian Survey on Disability are examined with a focus on working-age youth and adults (aged 15 to 64) with a range of disabilities.
Findings: Five figures of disability and corresponding conceptual models are identified. These hidden figures of disability are the uncounted, those with needs unsupported, youth in multiple transitions, potential workers, and what may be called 'the fearful'. Several models of disability are identified intersecting with the evidence. These are the absent citizen, biomedical model and charitable model, social and economic integration model, human rights and full citizenship, and psycho-emotional model of affective disablism and ableism.
Discussion: Hidden figures of disability are more than statistical tests and texts; more than calculations derived from quantitative research where people become a data point. The function of drawing hidden figures is to disclose and describe the bodily experiences of people with disabilities in their social positions and structural contexts.
Conclusion: We need to see the production of evidence for policy not as painting a portrait but as portraits in the plural, and appreciate not only what is in the frame but also what faces and forms of knowledge get glossed over or brushed aside.

The Harper government and most national political parties are committed to a federal act for dealing with accessibility rights for persons with disabilities. The purpose of this article is to identify progressive lessons from countries with similar legislation for consideration by Canadian authorities. Countries surveyed are the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom. While disability rights legislation is widely accepted to be a necessary policy initiative in light of ongoing barriers and exclusion, experience suggests that such laws are far from a sufficient response to promote access. Other policy instruments required include supportive employment programs, tax incentives, and the direct provision of basic supports.

From a disability perspective, what might a vision for the "good city" look like at the start of the twenty-first century? What does the idea of "inclusive city life" mean? This paper argues that the city is under-theorized by Disability Studies, and therefore suggests the field needs to reflect more about city life; examine the interconnections between urban settlement and disablement; and imagine the possibilities, within specific social contexts, for enhanced inclusion and citizenship in city spaces. I use Michael Ignatieff's work on the solidarity of strangers and Iris Marion Young's conception of city life as "a being together of strangers in openness to group differences" to examine ideas about social differences, democratic politics, and inclusion in the public realms of urban Canada.