Premier Ghiz and Marcia Carroll of PEI COD, with those connections why is more not being done
PEI Council of the Disabled tries to divert attention from failure to respond to UPEI disabled parking
This story is as old as the Charlottetown Transit system. You can similar stories from 2005 onward on the Internet.
When Trisha Clarkin was the President of the PEI Council of the Disabled (PEI COD) she surveyed the buses. They were not accessible then.
The ever-genial Mike Cassidy, manager of Trius the transit contractor, made the same hollow statements.
Related stories
Bad wheelchair ramps no good for city transit
Inaccessible Transit in P.E.I.
PEI COD survey 2006
Why is the Council now making a big press splash about this issue?
Then need a positive public relations event to recover from the disaster at the Canada Games.
Two weeks ago Disability Alert tried to get help from PEI COD and the government to install disabled parking at UPEI for the Canada Games. The Council tried to do it themselves and discredit our efforts. Council of the disabled try to grab spotlight
UPEI and Canada Games played divide and conquer. PEI Council Disabled deceived – 8 new disabled parking spaces missing at Canada Games
PEI COD got nothing like assistance from UPEI and Canada Games. They failed.
This week the Council public relations recovery machine needs something. It weakly trots out this old tired horse. Look PEI, PEI COD is working for the disabled.
Now that they have woken up, maybe they will try to get accessible parking at UPEI.
It is never too late to mend your ways with good works.
CBC print this stuff because they don’t want to cover disability stories that matter. They like soft stories like this one or new buses at Pat and The Elephant.
Not all Charlottetown buses wheelchair accessible
The head of a group representing Islanders with disabilities says city buses are still not all wheelchair accessible.
“There’s buses out there with accessibility features that work, and that run all over this country. Why can’t we have them in Charlottetown?” said Marcia Carroll, executive director of the P.E.I. Council Of People with Disabilities.
‘Why does the City of Charlottetown feel it’s acceptable for some of its citizens not to be able to use the public transit system?’—Marcia Carroll
Under the city’s agreement signed with Trius Transit four years ago, all 10 buses were supposed to be wheelchair accessible, she said.
But one-third of them aren’t.
“So, the question for me is, why does the City of Charlottetown feel it’s acceptable for some of its citizens not to be able to use the public transit system?” said Carroll.
Mike Cassidy from Trius blames the problems on the original lifts that came with the buses.
“I’ve literally taken out the original manufacturer’s slider, handicapped system that has caused us nothing but grief for 3½ years, and we’re putting in our own system,” said Cassidy.
The lifts do break down occasionally, making it tough for some people, agreed Donna Waddell, Charlottetown City Hall’s director of public services.
“It’s not just for people in wheelchairs. It’s for elderly people. It’s for people who have had surgery. That’s a big step to make,” said Waddell. “So we are very sympathetic and working towards it being the exception, rather than the rule.”
For now, no one will be left behind, assured Cassidy.
But, unfortunately, the only way people using wheelchairs can get on the non-accessible buses is if the bus driver either wiggles the chair onto the bus or lifts the person out of the chair and carries them up, he said1
Scott
Well that is great for the people in wheelchairs the fact the lifts don;t work.
I wonder if Cassidy would be so non concerned about the problem if his wife or daughter or mother were in a wheelchair wanted to get around.
I am always amazed at people like cassidy and others who have many excuses about why things are not the way they are supposed to be and don;t really give a damm either.
I would just have to wonder if say the Premier’s Mother or Grandmother was confined to wheelchair and was complaining that they couldn;t go out because the buses were inaccessible wonder how long would it be before Casidy got a call from Ghiz.
It really shows what person is made from when they don’t take the same stance on a issue that doesn’t affect them as opposed to their stance on one that does.
Shows great deal about is inside the person and what they stand for.
Cassidy & Ghiz cut from the same cloth if it doesn’t affect us directly than we don;t give a damn about it the people in wheelchairs can just deal with it.