Saskatoon voter frustrated over accessibility issues at polling station
Voting is a right every adult Canadian citizen has, but one Saskatoon man says his polling station wasn’t set up for him to enter in his wheelchair despite being led to believe it was accessible.
“The voter card said this site meets all 15 accessibility criteria for Roland Michener School,” Sikorski told CTV News.
The Elections Canada website outlines the criteria, which incudes level access to the entrance.
However, when Sikorski arrived to vote on Monday, he quickly realized he couldn’t get into the school gym door because the threshold was about seven centimetres high.
“Once I noticed it, I realized it was going to be no good for me to get in,” he said.
Sikorski says he was embarrassed as there was a lineup of people behind him and as someone who only began using a wheelchair in December, he’s only now starting to get out in after a brain aneurism left him paralyzed from the armpits down.
In an emailed statement, Elections Canada regional media advisor, Marie France-Kenny said she couldn't comment on the specific polling station.
However, she said the agency's returning officers "made every effort to choose polling locations that meet Elections Canada’s 15 mandatory accessibility criteria."
France-Kenny said changes required due to the COVID-19 pandemic have meant many locations used in the past were not available and returning officers needed to find bigger polling locations to allow for physical distancing.
"This means that polling places were sometimes in unusual locations or further from electors’ homes and may not have met all our accessibility criteria," France-Kenny said.
Sikorski doesn’t accept the explanation and says this particular school was his usual polling station in previous elections and is the usual location for voting in the neighbourhood where he’s lived for 14 years.
Sikorski says once the elections staff realized he couldn’t get into the gym where the polling was, they told him this accessibility concern was known to them.
“They said that they had identified it a week ago and no one did anything about it,” he said.
Sikorski did eventually get to vote, but he had to be escorted to the front doors of the school by his nurse and elections staff where there was a little ramp that he could get up, but then he was met by school staff.
“They didn’t necessarily want to let me in because of COVID and I said I was a parent and they let me in finally and I went through the entire school to get to the gym,” Sikorski said.
According to Elections Canada for the 2021 federal election, over 97 per cent of polling places meet its mandatory accessibility criteria or have level access. The same was true in 2019.
Sikorski is frustrated with the fact that despite the known issue, the site was still listed as accessible.
.He wants to bring awareness to the issue so that others don’t have to experience the same situation when heading to vote and he hopes to have the issue addressed for the next election.
He said he expecting a call from Elections Canada to hear his concern.
Elections Canada provides a link on its website for voters to submit feedback about accessibility issues at polls.
The agency encourages electors to provide feedback on accessibility to help improve its services.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. tenants evicted for landlord's use after refusing large rent increase to take over neighbouring suite
Ashley Dickey and her mother rented part of the same Coquitlam duplex in three different decades under three different landlords.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
Expert warns of food consumption habits amid rising prices
A new survey by Dalhousie University's Agri-Food Analytics Lab asked Canadians about their food consumption habits amid rising prices.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Charlie Woods, son of Tiger, shoots 81 in U.S. Open qualifier
Charlie Woods failed to advance in a U.S. Open local qualifying event Thursday, shooting a 9-over 81 at Legacy Golf & Tennis Club.
Ex-tabloid publisher testifies he scooped up possibly damaging tales to shield his old friend Trump
As Donald Trump was running for president in 2016, his old friend at the National Enquirer was scooping up potentially damaging stories about the candidate and paying out tens of thousands of dollars to keep them from the public eye.
Here's why provinces aren't following Saskatchewan's lead on the carbon tax home heating fight
After Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government would still send Canada Carbon Rebate cheques to Saskatchewan residents, despite Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe's decision to stop collecting the carbon tax on natural gas or home heating, questions were raised about whether other provinces would follow suit. CTV News reached out across the country and here's what we found out.
Montreal actress calls Weinstein ruling 'discouraging' but not surprising
A Montreal actress, who has previously detailed incidents she had with disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, says a New York Court of Appeals decision overturning his 2020 rape conviction is 'discouraging' but not surprising.
Caleb Williams, Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye make it four NFL drafts with quarterbacks going 1-3
Caleb Williams is heading to the Windy City, aiming to become the franchise quarterback Chicago has sought for decades.