Changes set to come into effect Oct. 31
Brooklyn Currie
CBC News
Posted: Oct 02, 2020

Any new sit-down restaurants and cafes starting up in Nova Scotia will need an accessible washroom, entrances and pathways to meet food safety requirements.

It’s part of the province’s commitment to being fully accessible by 2030, according to a news release.

In 2018, a group of wheelchair users argued equal access to restaurants and restaurant washrooms is a human rights issue.

A human rights board of inquiry ruled in their favour, saying the province discriminated against wheelchair users by not enforcing a regulation requiring restaurants to have accessible washrooms.

New Restaurants, Cafes in N.S. Must Be Accessible to Meet Food Safety Requirements full article

Bethany Lindsay
CBC News
Posted: Sep 17, 2020

A Nanaimo woman who has fought for accessibility improvements that would allow her to go to and from her home without help has won her human rights complaint.

A Vancouver Island wheelchair user who has spent years asking her strata for changes to make it possible to go to and from her condo safely and without help from friends has won $35,000 in damages and an order for action on her complaints.

Last week, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal ordered the owners at the Eagle Point Bayview complex in Nanaimo to begin the process of making their building wheelchair accessible, and to pay a penalty to 76-year-old Ada Jacobsen for injury to her dignity, feelings and selfârespect.

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal orders nanaimo strata to take action on barriers that trapped woman in condo full article

B.C. Human Rights Tribunal orders Nanaimo strata to take action on barriers that trapped woman in condo Bethany Lindsay
CBC News
Posted: Sep 17, 2020

A Nanaimo woman who has fought for accessibility improvements that would allow her to go to and from her home without help has won her human rights complaint.

A Vancouver Island wheelchair user who has spent years asking her strata for changes to make it possible to go to and from her condo safely and without help from friends has won $35,000 in damages and an order for action on her complaints.

B.C. Senior Who Was Called A ‘Loser’ for Demanding Accessibility in Condo Building Wins $35K full article

Mike Arsenault Video Journalist
Published Friday, August 14, 2020

WINNIPEG — Construction in Winnipeg can be a nuisance for many, but for people with mobility restrictions, it’s more than just inconvenient.

As the city works to repair roads and sidewalks, some have noticed it appears accessibility compliance rules aren’t being followed.

Allen Mankewich has to push his wheelchair through gravel and over curbs just to get into his condo.

Hargrave Street south of Ellice Avenue is getting road work done, and it’s making life for Mankewich very challenging.

“I’ve noticed they’re not necessarily creating accessible alternative pathways around construction zones,” said Mankewich.

Accessibility Compliance Not Being Enforced Says City Councillor full article

Post of wheelchair user unable to navigate area shared almost 1,000 times CBC News
Posted: Jul 09, 2020

The mayor of St. John’s says the city is working to improve accessibility at the new downtown pedestrian mall after a social media post drew attention to the numerous mobility challenges of the area.

In a Facebook post shared almost 1,000 times, Lisa Walters recounted her experience trying, and mostly failing, to visit downtown businesses while in her wheelchair.

“Between all the businesses with no ramps, the clothing racks, patios and bistro tables blocking off huge sections of sidewalk and the lack of access to accessible washrooms, the only real accessible activity you can do at the pedestrian mall is just stroll down the middle of the street,” she said in the post.

St. John’s Pedestrian Mall Accessibility Will Change, Vows Mayor, After Facebook Post Highlights Problems full article

By Jensen, Randy on June 24, 2020.
Tim Kalinowski
Lethbridge Herald
tkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com

While the City is taking several important steps in leading the way for greater accessibility and mobility in its business units, more effort is needed to apply the effort more evenly, explained City of Lethbridge Mobility/Accessibility Master Plan project lead Chris Witkowski.

“Compared to where we were just five years ago, we have come a long way,” stated Witkowski during Monday’s Communities Issues Committee meeting. “For a lot of the business units who deal with infrastructure it really is coming to the forefront of any project, and something which automatically gets built in. We do have a ways to go; especially with the backlog of some of the deficient infrastructure. We have to work on consistency of our mobility improvements. We can’t just have different improvements throughout different sections of the city.”

City Improving on Accessibility But More Can Be Done full article

Tyson Fedor CTV News Calgary Video Journalist
@CTV_TysonFedor Contact
Published Tuesday, June 16, 2020

CALGARY –Llano Gorman has lived in his Glendale Meadows home for more than 30 years.

He has had more than a dozen surgeries on his legs, which has made him rely on a wheelchair and electric scooter for mobility.

He says accessing sidewalks,or even crossing the street, can be a real challenge.

“We shouldn’t – as anybody that needs a ramp – (have to) fight the city for years to get it done,” said Gorman.

“It’s ridiculous.”

Gorman has wanted the access to wheelchair ramps at many of his neighbourhoods’ intersections, making progress on some, but not others.

Residents Complain About Lack of Accessibility for Wheelchair Users full article

By Shelley Steeves -Global News
Originally Posted May 1, 2020

According to the CNIB Foundation of New Brunswick, residents with visual impairments are struggling to navigate their communities amid coronavirus restrictions.

Christine Kennedy-Babineau, the program and resource development manager for CNIB New Brunswick, said some of the changes that have been made at grocery stores are presenting a challenge for people with vision loss.

“Now we have lines where you are supposed to go to line up and arrows directing traffic flow through stores and someone with sight loss who is blind or partially sighted isn’t able to see them,” Kennedy-Babineau said.

People With Visual Impairments Struggling to Access Essentials During coronavirus Restrictions full article