Now that Vancouver has the 2010 Olympics where do we go from here ?
Who will keep an independent eye on the activities of the organising committees, sponsors, environment, contracted workers and many other aspects of the games ?
City looks at improving access before Games Vancouver already a winner for disabled mobility, but changes are required
Camille Bains
Canadian Press
Monday, October 06, 2003
Vancouver is already a winner when it comes to providing accessible facilities for disabled people but the city must do more before hosting the 2010 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games, say advocates for the disabled.
"It's night and day compared to anywhere else in the world, even compared to places that consider themselves enlightened, like Toronto," said Brad McCannell of how much Vancouver has changed over the years to accommodate people in wheelchairs.
Much of the credit goes to Rick Hansen, whose 40,000-kilometre around-the-world wheelchair trek in 1987 raised awareness of disabled people's needs.
But there's a way to go before thousands of disabled visitors and athletes land in Vancouver for the Games, McCannell said, adding accessibility must go beyond venues in Whistler, where the Paralympics will be held.
"Often, if you go to a bank you'll see the segregated counter where all the gimps have got to go," said McCannell, who's been in a wheelchair since a car accident in 1980.
"What always happens, of course, is the segregated counter is off to the side and people can't see you and you wait for the teller to become available but you're not in a line."
McCannell, president of Barrier Free Design, has worked with the Vancouver International Airport for the last six years, helping the facility to be recognized as a world leader for its accessibility.
The airport is currently considering recommendations that all new retail construction exceed national building-code requirements to enhance access for the disabled.
That means counters, for example, which can be so high that they force people in wheelchairs to reach over their heads at cash registers, would have to be lowered by 10 centimetres for use by everyone.
"As an able-bodied person, you probably won't even notice that the counters have been modified," McCannell said.
Stephanie Cadieux, a program coordinator at the B.C. Paraplegic Association, said few motel and hotel rooms in Vancouver are wheelchair accessible.
"They call them accessible but they're not really accessible because there are no real standards."
Doors are often too heavy to open and wheel-in showers are a rarity, as are rooms wide enough to manoeuvre a wheelchair around the furniture, she said.
"If you're going to call yourself a truly accessible city you would have rooms that have everybody's needs met," said 30-year-old Cadieux, who became a quadriplegic at 18 after a car accident.
Vancouver's building code, which exceeds the national code, currently calls for full accessibility only in a hotel's public areas and one room out of every 40, said John Robertson, the city's chief building official.
Cadieux said booth seating in restaurants doesn't accommodate people in wheelchairs and neither do tables that are too low and placed too close together.
There also need to be more wheelchair-accessible change rooms in clothing stores, she said.
"Even though most stores have a disabled room, often they're used for storage."
City council is considering various ways of making Vancouver more accessible for the disabled and may adopt changes to the national building code, said Brent MacGregor, deputy city manager.
Sam Sullivan, a quadriplegic city councillor, said Vancouver is ahead of other jurisdictions in Canada when it comes to accessible transportation, including a large number of taxis that permit wheelchairs.
All SkyTrain stations -- but for one that's currently being renovated -- accept wheelchair traffic on the region's trains. And a fleet of trolley buses that don't have lifts for wheelchair passengers will be replaced by 2007, Sullivan said.
By 2010, all sidewalk curbs will also be ramped to accommodate wheelchairs.
But some transit frustrations still need to be addressed, Sullivan said.
The HandyDART vehicle service offered to the disabled by TransLink, the Vancouver area's transportation authority, is inadequate because it requires passengers to prebook as many as six days in advance, he said.
TransLink spokesman Ken Hardie said the number of HandyDART vehicles, which allow at least two wheelchairs and several seated passengers, will be increased to 304 from 246 by 2007.
A central booking system is also being developed to make maximum use of the fleet in eight regions that currently operate independently, Hardie said.
