Disability advocates demand a more accessible Ottawa

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Good morning! 

I hope everyone had a nice long weekend. I had the pleasure of hosting my family this year for Thanksgiving dinner. While I’ve cooked for large gatherings before, they were by far the biggest spread I’ve put on. I’m happy to report that the food was delicious and no one went home with food poisoning!  

In this edition of the Lookout, we are looking at Ottawa’s challenges with accessibility for people with disabilities. While not a new concern, pressure is mounting again after a city councillor from Waterloo wrote Mayor Mark Sutcliffe a letter sharing her unfortunate experiences. We spoke with three Ottawa disability advocates about their experiences. 

It was a busy weekend for Ottawa Fire Services who put out over a dozen blazes. We have all the details. 

Enjoy reading! 

— Charlie Senack, [email protected]. 

PS - If you find this newsletter valuable, please consider forwarding it to your friends. New to the Lookout? Sign up for free.

WEATHER

Wednesday: 10 🌡️ -1 | ☁️

Thursday: 15 🌡️ 0 | 🌤️

Friday: 17 🌡️ 1 | ☀️

CITY

Waterloo councillor slams Ottawa for not being accessible

Stranded at the train station: A disabled Waterloo Ont. Councillor who was in Ottawa at the Association of Municipalities Ontario conference in August said getting around the city was so bad, she decided to pen a letter to Mayor Mark Sutcliffe about her experience. 

Coun. Chantal Huinin, who requires a wheelchair to get around, said she waited at the Tremblay Via Rail Station for over an hour and a half for accessible service before being able to get to her hotel. 

Two accessible taxi services she contacted never arrived, and booking Para Transpo was not feasible because customers are given an hour-long pickup window. 

• “It was very disheartening to me that accessible transportation is so unreliable in our nation's capital," Huinink wrote.

Huinink said she was finally able to leave after another wheelchair user told her to hop aboard the O-Train. It was an unsettling experience, she said, travelling with luggage in a foreign city at night with a vision impairment. 

• But those were not the only concerns: “I was disappointed to find several of the automatic door openers of businesses, media stations and restaurants in the downtown core to be out of order and even more to be completely inaccessible due to a lack of ramp or elevator access," said Huinink. 

The Mayor’s office was quick to respond, said Huinink, and they said they were looking into her concerns. The Waterloo politician said she fears potential future aspirations of becoming a federal MP could be squashed due to access ability concerns. In her southern Ontario municipality, accessible taxis can be booked in advance for service. 

Ottawa is not an accessible city, say disability advocates 

Longtime issues: Problems with Ottawa’s Para Transpo system are not new and advocates have been sounding the alarm for years. Still, little action has occurred, and they are frustrated. 

Wheelchair user Kyle Humphrey, who is the founder of the No Such Thing as Can't initiative, said he will no longer be polite with asks. His tone has changed to demands. 

Humphrey said he began using Para Transpo in his teens when he started his first job. Service was decent then, and served its purpose. But as the city grew, service did not keep up with demand and gaps started to form in the system. 

Unequal treatment: Para Transpo customers currently need to book service the day before. Even when it’s scheduled, buses are often late showing up because they break down. The online booking service was slow to be implemented, which resulted in 4,000 users calling the same number. 

Service can’t be cancelled unless it’s three hours before, and you need to wait a minimum of an hour and a half before you can have pick-up service. 

• “Para Transpo is a 45-year-old system and it still doesn’t work the way we need it to. We need same day booking. Para doesn’t offer the ability to just be myself and pick up a shift at work or go out with friends, schedule a date night with a girl,” Humphrey told the Ottawa Lookout. “These are all things I want to do, thousands of people want to do. I have nieces and nephews who want to see me a lot more often, but this service is trapping me in my home.”

John Redins, who uses a walker to get around, began using Para Transpo around 2010 when he began having medical issues walking. He said able-bodied people are able to access public transit whenever they want, and those with disabilities should be afforded the same treatment. 

His family has felt the negative impacts of lack of service firsthand. 

• “My wife had a major issue recently and she had to go to emergency, but we didn’t know if a bus would be available. So she had me book it for 6:00 a.m. the next morning and she was in the operating room three hours later. She couldn’t even walk,” said Redins. “One of these days if I have a medical emergency there won’t be any options available. What am I supposed to do?”

Sally Thomas moved to Ottawa in 1989 from Belleville Ont. to be in a more accessible environment. While parts of Ottawa are now easier to access in her motorized wheelchair, she said other components are not — especially transit. 

Last week she was late to her 3:00 p.m. doctor's appointment because it took 75 minutes to get picked up. Why? Because the bus broke down. 

• “That is becoming the new normal — or 45 minute delays anyway. Buses are breaking down at an alarming wait because they are well past their lifespan and there is delay after delay for getting new ones,” Thomas told the Lookout. “I’ve heard from a lot of drivers who say they had to sit in a drivers room and wait for a bus. A driver told me the other day he started his shift at 10 am. and didn’t get a bus until 2 p.m. The city is paying drivers to chat with each other. They make a good wage.”

Accessibility issues in the core: Thomas said issues with accessibility go beyond transit. She said there are many businesses in the downtown area — particularly the ByWard Market, that she cannot access. 

Pedestrian access to traditional OC Transpo buses can be a challenge, especially in the winter, due to where posts and lamp stands are situated. This is a problem that’s also been observed at shopping malls in Kanata where light posts are located in the middle of pedestrian sidewalks. On Bank Street the sidewalks are in good shape, said Thomas, but the curb cuts make it challenging for wheelchairs and other motorized devices. 

• “Places like the ByWard Market are tourist attractions. It’s somewhere where people gather for all kinds of reasons. There are bars you can’t get into, pot shops for those who need medical cannabis, restaurants you can get into, or if you can, the washrooms are upstairs or downstairs,” said Thomas. “It becomes tiring to have to constantly fight for access that someone without a disability takes for granted.”

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OTTAWA BY THE NUMBERS

🦃 17,000: The number of meals served by the Ottawa Mission this Thanksgiving. [CTV]

💍 $90,000: The financial value of jewelry stolen from One World Bazaar in Manotick.  A total of 3,000 pieces were taken. [CBC]

🚌 7: The number of school bus drivers the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) is currently short. [CTV]

NEWS

Ottawa Fire crews respond to over a dozen calls this weekend

Buildings ablaze: It’s been a busy week for Ottawa fire crews which have responded to over a dozen fires in the last week. 

On Saturday evening, a fire spread through a duplex in Lowertown, which displaced a couple, baby, and two cars, according to the CTV. 

Medical emergency: Then on Sunday, a fire broke out at the back of Alhalabi Restaurant restaurant on Bank St. near Heron Rd. There was a heavy first responder Presence in the community, and a man, who witnesses say was the owner, was transported to hospital after suffering a heart attack outside the restaurant. He is listed in stable condition. The business is currently closed due to extensive damage, reported the Ottawa Citizen. 

That same day, Ottawa fire crews also responded to two house fires. The first blaze broke out on the top floor of a single-family home in the 400 block of Arlington Avenue. Fire crews had to use a “fast attack” and initiated a hose line to get the fire under control. Less than an hour later, crews responded to a call of smoke and flames coming from an attached two-car garage in the 1000 block of Rotary Way, reported the Ottawa Citizen. 

• To cap things off, on Sunday evening, a fire was reported in the bathroom of a Tim Hortons on the 2800 block of St-Joseph Boulevard. It was quickly put out. 

Arson investigation: Earlier in the week two people were transported to hospital with “serious injuries” after a fire broke out at a home near Algonquin College. The blaze which broke out on the 1-100 block of Rossland Ave is being labeled as arson and police are investigating. Police are looking for anyone with doorbell camera or video surveillance footage of suspicious activity in the area between 3:00 am and 4:00 am on Oct. 8., reported CityNews.

HOME OF THE WEEK

I chose this beautiful brick home in Manotick because it reminded me of the original Home Alone house, located in Winnetka, Illinois. Built in 1991, it has four bedrooms, six bathrooms, and a private gym. Perhaps one of its most unique features is it backs onto a ravine.

For this price, which is not cheap, it could be yours.

House of The Week is a home selected by the Lookout team and is not a paid advertisement. All ads are labeled as such.

THE AGENDA

💣 A piece of Ottawa’s World War ll history has been declassified. Newly released documents show there are a number of highly explosive bombs sitting in the Mer Bleue Bog. Their location remained a mystery for decades, but officials say they pose no risk to public safety. The land near Carlsbad Spring was used as a bomb testing range starting in 1942. [Ottawa Citizen]

🚉 Testing is going well on Ottawa’s Trillium Line light rail system. Eight days into the two-week trial period, it’s averaging 99.6 per cent reliability. When this part of the process is complete, the system will enter a seven-day period of testing where emergency scenarios will be practiced. One mock emergency will take place at the airport and the other inside the Dow’s Lake tunnel. Volunteer city employees will play the role of transit riders. [Ottawa Citizen]

🏢 The public service union is calling for an investigation into the back to office three days a week mandate. The committee wants to investigate "the effectiveness and proper functioning of government operations." Treasury Board of Canada president Anita Anand reiterated that workers are more productive when they are in the office. [CBC]

🛍️ Downtown Ottawa businesses say they have seen an increase in sales thanks to more federal office workers being in the core. For some, it meant a 30 to 40 per cent increase. Even so, common complaints have to do with heavy traffic during rush hour and difficulty finding parking. [CBC]

❄️ Don’t shoot the messenger, but some light flurries could fall in Ottawa Wednesday. Have no fear, though, above seasonal temperatures will be making a comeback with a high of 18 C forecasted for Thursday. [CTV]

🪧 Five months after workers at Kanata’s Best Theratronics Ltd. went on strike, both sides are no closer to reaching a deal. Unifor, which represents the more than 40 employees on the picket lines, says the holdup is due to the company's owner who refuses to negotiate. [CTV]

🏫 A Kemptville High School has been closed five times now due to threats of violence. ”We completely understand that these incidents weigh heavily on students, parents, school staff, and everyone in the community. The OPP is continuing to investigate these incidents and is committed to locating those responsible and holding them accountable,” Ontario Provincial Police said in a statement. [CTV]

👮🏼‍♀️ Ottawa Police are investigating after students were chased with a weapon at Bell High School in Bells Corners. Few details are known at this time, and no arrests were announced. There were no injuries and the school was deemed safe. [CTV] 

ARTS

Theatre

Into the Woods | Les Lye Studio Theatre, 101 Centrepointe Dr | Oct. 24 to Nov. 3 | The story follows a Baker and his wife, who wish to have a child; Cinderella, who wishes to attend the King's Festival; and Jack, who wishes his cow would give milk | Ticket prices vary. 

Guilty Conscience | Ottawa Little Theatre | Oct. 30 to Nov. 16 | A brilliant, ruthless criminal attorney is now planning his own defence - if only he can find an ideal way to murder his wife | Tickets are $14 for students, $26 for those over 60, and $30 for adults

Movies 

Fall Nightmare | Mayfair Theatre, 1074 Bank St | Oct. 21 and 25 | Ottawa’s innovative artist O5EAN (formerly known as OC34N) is set to premiere his emotionally charged short film “34 Ways to Die” at "Fall Nightmare” | Tickets $33

Art

Art With Katya - Tour of the National Gallery of Canada | 380 Sussex Dr | Oct. 30 | Get ready to explore our stunning modern art collection and learn about the significance behind masterpieces | Free

Ottawa Art Gallery’s Fall Exhibition Opening 2024 | Ottawa Art Gallery, 50 Mackenzie King Bridge | Oct. 24 | The National Gallery of Canada and the Ottawa Art Gallery are engaged in a unique partnership to support Indigenous artists | Free

Music

Ottawa New Music Festival | Alma Duncan Salon, Ottawa Art Gallery 10 Daly Ave | Oct. 17-18 | ONMC's Artistic Directors SHHH!! Ensemble is joined by Ottawa-based violinist Erica Miller | Tickets start at $20. 

2024 Rockstar Music Holiday Concert | Arts Court, 2 Daly Ave |  Nov. 24 | Students of all ages/levels are invited to perform at the concert! | Tickets are $25.

Live Music Shows

Days on Parade | Avant Garde Bar, 135 Besserer St | Oct. 17 | St. Catharines’ four-piece, part of the thriving Niagara alternative scene, combining neo-psychedelic and garage punk.  Tickets $15. 

Kate Wyatt Trio | Gigspace, 953 Gladstone Ave | Oct. 18 | Pianist and composer praised for her musical prowess and compared to elite jazz performers like Brad Mehldau and Fred Hersch. Tickets $25. 

Claude Munson | Live! On Elgin, 220 Elgin St | Oct. 18 | Claude Munson, Woods of Light and Annie Martel team up for an evening of music, nostalgia, and indie-folk fantasy. Tickets $15-20. 

SHEAL | Art House Cafe, 555 Somerset St W | Oct, 19 | Singer-songwriter with evocative piano and honey-tinged vocals, exploring themes of love, fear, and motherhood. Tickets $19. 

Danny Brown | Bronson Centre, 211 Bronson Ave | Oct. 20 | Virtuosic hip-hop talent, blending paranoia, survivor’s guilt, and anxiety with hysterical punchlines and party anthems. Tickets $35.

Listings for music shows are provided by OttawaGigs.ca, the best place to discover live music in Ottawa. Check out Ottawagigs.ca for full listings across the city.

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COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

• Ottawa is looking to name 24 snowplows. You can submit your ideas now. [CTV] 

• Climate change is devastating communities in Canada and worldwide. Join Oxfam Canada in calling on the Canadian government to hold the biggest climate culprits accountable. [Sponsored]

• An Inaugural workshop uses improv to disrupt anti-Black racism. [Apt613]

• A new program in Stittsville is bringing kids and pets closer together. [Stittsville Central]

• A coffee shop in Brockville gave away hundreds of Thanksgiving meals over the long-weekend. [CTV]

• Volunteers in Ottawa are stepping up to tackle invasive buckthorn in local parks. [CapitalCurrent]

OTTAWA GUESSER

Do you know where today’s Ottawa Guesser is? The first five people to respond get their names mentioned in the newsletter.

Congrats to everyone who guessed last week’s Ottawa Quesser was Ledbury Avenue near South Keys.