People with disabilities complain that they cannot access many businesses in Quebec City due to a lack of facilities for their wheelchairs.
Access ramp absent or too steep, doors too narrow, steps, broken or missing automatic doors: several reasons prevent wheelchair users from visiting the restaurants, shops and other businesses in Quebec City.
In some cases, the entrance to the restaurant is accessible but the inside bathroom is not, regrets Raynald Pelletier, executive chairman of the Disability Action Committee (CAPVISH).
“We always end up going to the same places because the bathroom needs to be accessible. I think it’s not normal in 2023 to call the restaurant and ask if I can go to the bathroom,” says Mr. Pelletier, who suffers from spina bifida.
The director of the Regroupement des organizations de personnes handicapes de la Capitale-Nationale agrees. “I don’t see many places, neighborhoods, where a person in a wheelchair can go about their daily life,” says Olivier Collomb d’Eyrames.
Difficult in Old Quebec
And the problem is “big” in Old Quebec, but also in rue Saint-Joseph and rue Cartier, to name just these thoroughfares, where several buildings, including some heritage ones, are totally inaccessible.
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Here they come across an inaccessible entrance on Rue Saint-Joseph.
A situation that Simon April, spokesman for CAPVISH, cannot explain.
“We were told in Quebec that as it is a heritage we cannot change access, but I visited the entire Colosseum in Rome. It seems to me that there is no greater heritage than the Colosseum in Rome! And it was fully accessible! shows the 41-year-old man suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder characterized by bone fragility.
Photo courtesy of Simon April
Simon April at the Colosseum in Rome, fully adapted, with his partner Jessica Lauria.
Additionally, the growing number of cruise ship passengers arriving in Old Quebec should encourage the city to “take action,” he believes.
The City of Québec also doesn’t have a register of the number of accessible businesses on its territory, regrets Véronique Dallaire, local councilor and spokesperson for the opposition on universal accessibility.
She believes that the city government should include accessibility in their next property review so that accessible locations are finally featured on the city’s website. “Merchants who don’t show up may have an incentive and want to be part of an accessible store,” she says.
No billing
There is also no regulation on accessibility standards, neither for new buildings nor for existing buildings. Instead, the city has created a “Best Practice Guide to Universal Accessibility.”
“These are recommendations, not policy,” spokeswoman Audrey Perreault said.
A program has also been introduced to allow store owners to adapt their facility to accommodate people with disabilities (PAE). But in 2022, only two projects have used the scheme, Ms Perreault confirms.
No penalties
- There are no penalties for owners of businesses that are not accessible to people with disabilities.
- 14.9% of Quebec’s population has a disability; there are 88,550 people
Accessibility for people with disabilities
Recourse to the Régie du Bâtiment
- 2022-2023:
21 complaints and 9 correction notices - 2021-2022:
34 complaints and 7 correction notices - 2020-2021:
23 complaints and 14 correction notices
Sources: Régie du Bâtiment and Quebec Office for Disabled Persons
reactions
“ On cruises, it is often the elderly or people with limited mobility. You arrive in one of the most beautiful parts of Canada [le Vieux-Québec], but they have trouble visiting it. »
– Simon April, Spokesperson for the Disability Action Committee (CAPVISH)
“ Our biggest problem is that we don’t have a picture of how companies can be reached. »
– Véronique Dallaire, first councilor of Québec, in the Saules-Les Méandres district
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