Make Your Dollars Count for Access

By Raymond D. Cohen

It was a real pleasure seeing the components of this issue’s major feature on housing, "Homeward Bound," come together -- gratifying to know that government, industry and the non-profit sector are working hard to help houses become HOMES for people with disabilities, that accessible doesn’t have to mean institutional, and that places are springing up that cry out welcome to everyone -- not just the able-bodied.

In spite of this -- or perhaps because of it -- I can’t help but think back to last July when the manager of Toronto’s Plaza Theatre told Michelle Amerie to leave that inaccessible venue before the police were called. In that moment, Michelle joined the ranks of several other Canadians with disabilities refused access by Famous Players, including journalist Barbara Turnbull and television producer Ing Wong.

Scotiabank’s Tom Proszowski can make it independently from his office to the subway station using his wheelchair. From there, in theory, he could travel to any one of ten locations throughout Toronto’s underground transit system that have escalators. The only problem is that staff refuse to simply turn a key that would reverse the direction of the escalator, allowing him, along with all the other humans, down to the actual subway platform.

Of course, the Toronto Transit Commission could make a quantum leap in the level of accessibility by simply allowing people with disabilities to take the same risk as able-bodied TTC travellers. Using the escalator is something that Tom and many other wheelchair users are fully capable of doing.

And then you have the national retail chains... It is beyond me why they’d want to deny themselves the "disability dollar" -- because, in fact, there are lots of disability dollars to be had! The Royal Bank, founding sponsor of this year’s "Wellsizing the Workplace" Conference, points out that people with disabilities in Canada have an estimated $20- to $25-billion in disposable income. Its report goes on to state that "this presents obvious potential to companies specifically targeting the needs of people with some form of limitation, but also means that firms targeting more general needs also have incentives to tap into this market."

So why would an uncalculated number of retail clothing stores, music shops, theatres and restaurants go about establishing themselves WITHOUT taking accessibility into consideration?

And how about them heritage buildings, eh? Do you know we have actual laws that say that only able-bodied people are allowed to enter those historic facilities? Okay, maybe the laws don’t say that exactly. But they do limit the opportunities for making those buildings accessible.

There exists a myriad of legislations, policies and bylaws that must be unravelled prior to attempting to create accessibility in heritage-designated buildings. Municipal bylaws, provincial building codes and human rights legislation may all apply, and issues relating to whether the building is public or privately owned, the nature of a given renovation, the purpose of the building, the extent to which the public makes use of the property, and whether the whole building or only certain features are designated heritage, all become considerations.

In general, it seems, heritage buildings can only be altered when the nature of their operation changes. Therefore, an office structure, restaurant or place of entertainment, if it is in a designated heritage building, remains inaccessible for as long as it IS an office structure, restaurant or place of entertainment. After all, these buildings, without exception, were designed and erected at such time as Canadians with disabilities had no choice but to live out their lives locked in family homes or warehoused in institutions.

So why is it that giant retailers are often actually able to spoil the ancient faces of these magnificent structures -- by drilling holes into the walls in order to erect giant banners harkening to one and all to their stores -- but somehow it’s still not okay to put a simple ramp in position to allow
wheelchair users to enter?

Remember that $20- to $25-billion in disposable income? Let’s put it to good use! Readers might make a point of offering their patronage to restaurants, theatres and corporations that are going the mile creating access for EVERYONE.

As more and more people with disabilities -- and their friends and families -- choose to spend their dollars where they can be assured of dignified and equitable service, it will be the businesses that haven’t strived to accommodate this market that will lose out. With increased pressure, it may be, in the long term, that the "good-business" argument will be the final straw -- and places of dining, service and entertainment will at last be open to all.