Category Archives: Accessibility

Amherstburg’s Open Air 2022 Barriers To Inclusion Part Two

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Amherstburg is not Bogota.

This is a continuation of photos showing the barriers to Amherstburg’s downtown due to its ‘Open Air’ event where open streets are closed to vehicular traffic on the weekends from May to September.

barriers to Murray Street in Amherstburg, Ontario during the weekends of summer months

Amherstburg’s Open Air event where, for the third year, barriers prevent the almost 5,000 persons with disabilities from equally participating in their community: barriers to the post office, banks, hair salons and parking to allow for games, patios, entertainment to occupy the streets.

Reader letter: Artwork should have been on display at accessible site

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As published in the Windsor Star July 23, 2022.

Re: Amherstburg gets a closer look at Group of Seven artwork, by Dave Battagello, July 2

Not everyone will get a closer look.

The exhibition was being hosted in a downtown bookstore owned by Richard Peddie.

Victoria Little, chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Art Windsor-Essex, stated recently, “AWE regrets hosting this exhibition in a space that is not accessible in Amherstburg.”

In her letter, Ms. Little explained: “AWE also undertakes partnerships when our overarching goals for a program align with those of community visionaries, such as Richard Peddie.”

But if the goal was to bring this exhibit to Amherstburg, AWE could have selected accessible locations like the downtown Gibson Gallery or the Libro Centre.

The livability of communities cannot be improved if persons with disabilities continue to experience discrimination because of attitudinal and physical barriers.

AWE needs to adopt an accessibility policy and align its goals with legislation that ensures every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to services, goods and facilities without discrimination.

Ms. Little asked for my “patience and understanding that the organization operates within the broader systems of obligations that may conflict with our overarching accessible vision.”

I have been more than patient as I have advocated for improved accessibility for over 30 years. There’s the Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2001, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act 2005, the Human Rights Code, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, along with the goal of a fully accessible province in 2025.

Yet, a public art organization decided it was okay to exclude persons with disabilities with this recent exhibition. Linda Saxon, Amherstburg

River Bookshop Barriers

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Richard Peddie co-owns River Bookshop in Amherstburg, built in 1885 and restored to honour the building’s heritage. Peddie requested and received heritage designation in 2021.

The website states, “Our second-floor event space is a very important part of our ambition to create a powerful and popular “Third Place” in our community. Consistent with our River Bookshop our values are to educate, inspire, engage and entertain.”

Twenty stairs that Peddie says you just walk up poses a barrier to people with disabilities. Shameful. There is also a raised threshold that I got stuck on and issues with the website.

twenty stairs to second floor river bookshop in amherstburg, ontario a barrier to persons with disabilities.

Peddie’s Pop Up – am800 Interview

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Dan Macdonald, am800, interviewed Richard Peddie, River Bookshop owner and Jennifer Matotek, Executive Director Art Windsor Essex (AWE), formerly Art Gallery Windsor about the Group of Seven Pop Up Exhibit. Read the article or listen to the interview.

Peddie mentions the event is free and you just walk upstairs because the event is on the second floor, called a hole in the wall. He explains that it’s an 1887 building and they weren’t accessible in those days.

Yes, but it’s 2022.

Meanwhile, Matotek is ‘looping in some’ team members and asking if they can work on some language for the show around access, ‘so we can be transparent with the public about the lack of access for this space.’

Being transparent about a lack of access is not the same as equal access.

Amherstburg Town Hall Displays Wheelchair Access Symbols

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Amherstburg town hall displays the inaugural Essex County Accessibility Flag for National AccessAbility Week along with the ‘accessible entrance at back’ lawn sign.

The 54 year old wheelchair access symbol was intended to indicate access. A more inclusive symbol to display on a flag would be the Hidden Disability Symbol Canada.

amherstburg town hall accessibility flag with access at rear lawn sign

Amherstburg’s Open Air 2022 Barriers To Inclusion

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Sunday, May 29, 2022 – the start of National AccessAbility Week; inclusive from the start is this year’s theme and this photo is my contribution to raising awareness of the need for inclusion in our community.

barriers that restrict access to Downtown Amherstburg during its open air event on weekends

Amherstburg’s Open Air event where, for the third year, barriers prevent the almost 5,000 persons with disabilities from equally participating in their community: barriers to the downtown core, including the post office, banks, hair salons and parking to allow for games, patios, entertainment to occupy the streets.

Feedback Wanted for the County’s 2023-2027 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan

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Unlike Amherstburg, Essex County is allowing plenty of time for feedback – almost 7 weeks!  You have until June 30. Not days like Amherstburg and then it closed early.

The county’s administrative team and the Essex County Accessibility Advisory Committee will review the feedback received during the preparation of the 2023-2027 Multi-Year Accessibility Plan, which will then be presented to county council for final approval.

The Town of Amherstburg approved a DRAFT plan. Shameful.

 

Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee Could Use Tips

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I watched today’s rescheduled Amherstburg Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting.

Committee members still stray off topic, but did finally have a discussion regarding keeping track of money allocated to projects and decisions regarding the same. For quite some time I have wondered why resolutions were not passed and recorded in the minutes for reference. In the future, an unfinished list of sorts will be used. Why it took so long I have no idea, especially when a few members sit on other town committees.

I didn’t hear the committee members deal with an AODA Alliance tips for committee members that I forwarded through town clerk Valerie Critchley. I also sent it to members of council so they would be better informed; see below.

“This Update gives members of AACs and SEACs practical tips on how to give as strong a voice as possible to disability issues. We identify seven areas of concern and then provide a fuller explanation for each point below. In summary, here is what all members of AACs and SEACs should know:

1. AACs and SEACs should set their own meeting agendas! Don’t let city staff or school board staff set their advisory committee’s agenda or tell them what topics are “in order.”

2. Members of AACs and SEACs must remain free to also be disability advocates in private and public.

 3. Inaccessible virtual meeting platforms and application forms are not allowed.

 4. Public deputations to an advisory committee should not be artificially limited to five minutes.

 5. Municipal and school board bylaws cannot hog-tie the work of an AAC or SEAC.

 6. Members of the public are free to talk to or exchange emails with advisory committee members about accessibility issues, including those on the advisory committee’s agenda. (emphasized for council’s attention).

 7. AACs and SEACs have an absolute right to have their recommendations and advice shared directly with all the city council or school board trustees whom they are appointed to advise, and not just to a sub-committee.

Please share this Update with members of the AAC and SEAC in your community. Urge your member of city council and school board trustee to read this and to send it to all members of their AAC or SEAC.”