On September 11 and 12, the RAPLIQ presented, in collaboration with the Action des Femmes Handicapped (Montreal), the first edition of the Accessibility Days in Montreal. In total, more than 400 businesses were visited by teams of participants on Mont-Royal Avenue and on Masson Street. Shops that do not present significant barriers to entry were assessed according to different accessibility criteria. Shops with inaccessible entrances, often due to a simple walk, received a letter informing them of existing programs to help them remove architectural barriers.
More than 75 people took part in the mobilization on Mont-Royal Avenue on one of the sunniest Saturdays. Politicians participated in the event, targeting numerous businesses in a wheelchair. Mr. Luc Ferrandez, mayor of the Plateau Mont-Royal borough, as well as Ms. Louise Harel, head of the official opposition at the Montreal City Hall, spoke.
The next day, Accessibility Day moved to Masson Street. Over 60 people gathered. Mr. François Croteau, Mayor of the Rosemont-Petite-Patrie Borough, Mr. François Limoges, City Councilor, Ms. Louise Beaudoin, Member of Parliament for Rosemont, Mr. Bernard Bigras, Member of Parliament for Rosemont and Ms. Françoise David, co- spokespersons of Québec Solidaire, did part of the journey with the participants.
The RAPLIQ is very proud of the great success of the first edition of the Journées de l’Accessibilité in Montreal. The organizing committee and the participants provided incredible energy throughout the weekend. Together we have shown that accessible Montreal is possible!
To see more photos, check out our album on Flickr.
Everybody talks about it!
The media coverage of Accessibility Days was impressive!
Television media:
V express, news bulletin. (at the start from 1:30 am)
Radio-Canada, téléjournal avec Pascale Nadeau. (it introduces us at the end of the 1st third and we are there at the start of the 2nd third)
CTV News. (to access the video, click on the right of the article)
Radio media:
CJAD, Activists for disabled rights rank merchants.
CIBL, Claiming for normality.
Written media :
Journal de Montréal, 175 businesses inaccessible on Mont-Royal Street (also appeared in the 24 heures newspaper and on canoe.ca)
Journal le Plateau, We opened a lot of eyes today (also appeared in the Journal de Rosemont)
Thank you to all of our sponsors!
Your support is precious! With your support, accessibility will become a natural value!
Allô Copie, Mr. Amir Khadir (Member of Parliament for Mercier), Arrondissement Plateau Mont-Royal, Arrondissement Rosemont-Petite Patrie, Center Lafond, Courtiers Multi Plus Inc., Intermarché (Mont-Royal / Boyer), Jardins Valmont (des Érables), Jean Coutu – Valérie Marcouiller (1370 Mont-Royal east), Loblaws (Angus), Maison André Viger, Maxi, Metro Chèvrefils, Petites mains, Restaurant Amir (1337 Mont-Royal east), SAQ (Mont-Royal and Papineau).