LannaK

Hey @cityofedmonton, I’d really appreciate if you could tell us why a service dog team was refused access on Public Transit yesterday? According to the handler they were on the Valley Line northbound LRT platform at 66th st & 38th Ave. When the train pulled in the driver announced over the loud speaker that dogs were not allowed. The dog was clearly identified as a service dog by it’s vest (although the provincial Service Dog Act does not require this) and the handler has a Province of Alberta Service Dog ID card. The driver wouldn't open the doors and the train drove off leaving the Service Dog team AND about 20 other passengers (witnesses) on the platform. That must have been an incredibly humiliating experience. The incident was reported to 311 and the operator questioned if the dog was vested, displaying a clear lack of training about Service Dog Legislation. I’d like to know why, if there was any question of the dog’s legitimacy, they were never asked for the Govt ID card? The incident has been reported directly to the director of the provincial Service Dog Program and I've offered to assist with filing a human rights complaint. This team trained with a government qualified service dog training organization I work with, so I have a personal interest in this and want answers. This isn't the first Transit issue brought to me. A team recently shared how a bus driver loudly made the comment “if it's a REAL service dog it will sit” when the handler had the dog standing on a bus so it would be in a position to offer balance support as the handler was standing. Transit employees, like most other city departments, require training on disabilities, accomodations, and ableism. I've personally experienced driver’s that don't even lower the bus before dropping the ramp and have almost had a wheelchair tip over because of the grade. I've had driver’s intentionally engage with a service dog attempting to get it’s attention. City council members like @michaeljanz and @AshleyASalvador keep promoting Transit but continue to do nothing to address the issues the disabled community face trying to access and utilize it. These issues could all have been prevented with proper training. I’ve asked you over 200 times to implement this! How many more times do people with disabilities have to be cut off from their community, be humiliated or discriminated against before something is actually done? It’s been a full week since I've been able to access businesses less than 250 meters from my home because of the city’s snow clearing policies. I've had rec centers that have no idea where their pool deck wheelchair is and have no appropriate surface for a person with a disability to get changed on. Tax dollars funded Janz's events where there was no accessible entrance!Many of us get penalized $2 a bag every time we order groceries because we can't pick up a box from a wheelchair, while using a walker or might be missing an arm. Your accessibility policy states the city is committed to identifying and removing barriers. I've done part of your job and identified a bunch for you. Now do your part and remove them. Do we need to have a line of wheelchair users go down the road because we can't have winter sidewalk access? Would bringing 50 service dog teams to city hall with protest signs help motivate you? Personally, I don’t bother dealing with about 90% of access issues, barriers, ableist slurs etc that I encounter as there's so many and it's exhausting, but if need be we can start hitting 311 with each one and filing human rights complaint every time. I can assist other disabled community members in doing the same. Today, I'm going to ask everyone I know to reach out to the city on social media, DM council members, call, email, write etc and request that city immediately take steps to implement a disability training policy for all city employees, managers and council members, form a dedicated disability and accomodations team. Not next year. Now.