Wheelchair accessible: Vancouver 1, Toronto zero

Earlier this month the Sam Sullivan had a perfect photo op for Translink’s 100% wheelchair accessible system. I don’t know that we can credit Sam Sullivan for this breakthrough in Vancouver, but I have to admit that the city is making amazing progress with respect to making physical spaces accessible to people.

Mayor Sam Sullivan said being able to get around with ease and freedom is a luxury most people don’t know they have.
“It’s amazing to (now) be able to go into any bus in the city,” he said.
“I love the new buses,” McCain added. “I love the fact that you can back in and don’t have to lock your chair. You don’t need any help.”
“(This) will get more people on the transit system.”

What I liked about his quote is that it demonstrated that the busses are accessible physically and mentally. To be disabled sucks. Other than having the bonus of getting one of those sweet motored wheelchairs and with the potential of having wheelchair races (Seinfeld- George’s fake disability), not having mobility sucks. And with the new busses “you don’t need any help.” That like.. almost brings a tear to my eye how beautiful that is. Honestly. Like, how unempowering is it to need assistance ALL the time? It’s finally nice for a change that people who need the lift can get on like everyone else. Now I’m not going to admit that I won’t get irritated when I’m in a hurry- admit it, those lifts take a shit load of time. When I’m in a hurry it’s all the wheelchairs and baby strollers who want to come onto MY bus (whoa, that was a lot of hate in one sentence- but you have to admit that DOES go through your mind every now and then). Anyhow, point is, kudos.

And to all the haters of the new bus system- let me just let you know that they only really have a couple seats short of the old busses. Everyone complains that they have fewer seats- but I totally did the seat count on the cushy blue busses and the orange busses. It just seems smaller because the seats are a lot leaner.

Anyway, this sparked my interest also because of something I read in a Toronto indie-newsflash.

Toronto, a city that pales in comparison in accessibility needs to learn a thing or two about Vancouver. Now it isn’t their fault on a lot of fronts because the city was built a lot earlier and planners and architects certainly weren’t thinking about gimps back then. Most of the houses are old New York style walk ups (something some Vancouverites wanted –relaxing the building codes to make buildings cheaper- something I’m not a fan of). If we want to BE an inclusive city, we have to DESIGN it that way as well. So when I heard this anecdote I was freaked out by how insulting this restaurant was to this patron in a wheelchair:

To the Owner of the Everest Restaurant & Lounge...

My name is Aaron Shelbourne ….

I have been to your restaurant many times. One month ago, I went to your restaurant with a friend. We had a nice meal, and at one point I had to use the washroom. It was not wheelchair accessible and I nicked the door with my wheelchair on the way out. After I had finished my meal and left the restaurant, your manager, Ms. Karma Sanchok, ran out and told my friend that we were not welcome back at Everest. She said that the restaurant was newly renovated and wheelchairs aren’t welcome because they cause damage.

Your reaction to the ‘damage’ that I allegedly caused is discriminatory and totally unacceptable for a number of reasons. First, rather than speaking to me directly, you spoke to my friend and did not make eye contact with me. Rather than expressing your concerns to me, you ignored me. This behavior on your part was unacceptable because I am a person and I make my own decisions and deserve to be treated as such.

Further, your behavior is discriminatory because you overreacted to the ‘damage’ that I allegedly caused. Your restaurant provides a public service. You can not keep people away because you would rather not incur the normal wear and tear that goes along with assistive devices such as wheelchairs, walkers or canes. An appropriate response on your part would have been to recognize and acknowledge that your restaurant bathrooms failed to accommodate my needs, rather than blame me. If you were so concerned about possible damage to your restaurant, you should have thought to include wider bathroom doors and steel doorframes when you recently renovated your restaurant. A public service such as yours must adapt to the needs of people who use wheelchairs, rather than ask people who use wheelchairs to accept the barriers that able-bodied people create.

[…]

Sincerely,
Aaron Shelbourne

-abridged letter

Everest, a trendy type place on Queen West is restaurant I have been to, by the way, and I am not impressed with their service OR food. Anyways, to end, Vancouver 1, Toronto zero.