Tonight I will be hosting a campaign launch party for friends and family. This is just the start of the campaign. There has been some criticism that I chose a business that is not accessible. As a member of the OAAC I am committed to accessibility issues. I want to be very clear being accessible is NOT just about getting in the door. Its about having accessible bathrooms, automatic door openers, enough floor space to maneuver different types of assist chairs, tables that meet the height requirements for different assist chairs. Even the height of the service desk, bar etc can affect accessibility. Its also about staff being trained to accommodate people with disabilities including those with hearing impairments and people who are blind. Its about accommodating service animals etc. I am also committed to supporting local downtown businesses. The Moustache Club is a venue that allows for small concerts and is fully equipped for supporting musicians. I had a friend donate his time to do a mini live concert and this was the venue that suited his needs. And The Moustache Club is a newer business in the downtown. There will be many more events throughout my campaign that will be fully accessible. And tonight I will have a meet and greet in the Hub, if anyone is interested. But just like a lot businesses in the downtown, the bathrooms unfortunately are downstairs. If people really want to have a discussion about accessibility. Lets have a rationale discussion. If some just want to attack me me to use it as an election issue fine. But lets be very clear, most of the businesses and buildings in the downtown are not accessible. And because of older infrastructure will have a hard time converting to the requirements set out by the province to meet by 2020. It is why there is a huge focus on new builds. It is far easy to build for accessibility than to retrofit for it. If people want me to boycott downtown businesses who unfortunately can not be accessible today, I am sorry I am not going to. I am proud to support both and will do my best throughout this campaign to host events and meet and greets that fit the needs of many different residents.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 15:56:41 +0000
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