My Journey With Health And Fitness – Yet Another Rant

Today was strength day and it was working on deadlifts. Now I have been doing some form of these for 2 years but I have learned that I have been doing them wrong. I have also learned there is a lot to have to think about while doing them correctly. Bend down, butt out, weight on your heals, chin tucked in, lock in your lats, pull in your stomach, big inhale and then push through your legs to pull up the weight (today was multiple reps at 80 lbs). By time we hit the 4th set I think I had mastered it and am quite sure that by next Saturday I will be back to square 1.

This weekend is the BC Day long weekend which means it is Sea Festival and Semiahmoo Days (Semiahmoo being our local first nation). My husband, sister and I planned to head down to the beach, walk the promenade and scope out the vendors, grab some lunch and finish up with some no sugar added gelato. However, Wednesday I learned that massive barriers had been set up to make this difficult.

While I was out walking I saw notices posted on the bus stops. This was important because using the transit system is how my sister would get to the beach. I started scoping them out and realized the planned detour of buses made it impossible for the Persons Living With Disability (PLWD) community. Here’s some examples, from the area we planned to be at to get a bus back near home my blind and mobility challenged sister would have had to walk more than a kilometer then climb up a steep hill to get to the bus stop. WTAF! Better yet, to get a bus at the stop a little west from there she would have to climb 4 blocks up the dreaded Oxford Hill (you know, the one I use for intense training). Who the hell came up with these detours because they obviously are completely able bodied.

So, I recruited an advocate from the PLWD community who reached out to the City. The City advised that all they did was advise the bus company of the closure of our Marine Drive and it was the bus company who decided on the detours. They also said that because they were closing a couple of the beach parking lots they were going to add many additional handicap parking spaces (a note here, I walked all of those parking lots this morning and there was NOT ONE additional handicap space allocated). I then phoned the bus company who said no, they fully advise the City of the planned detours and the City has to approve them. The kind fellow from the bus company suggested maybe my sister could take a taxi home. Great solution that because the City is throwing a party that my sister who lives in abject poverty because of the pittance they give her while on disability should spend money because our City has decided not to make it an event accessible. I have filed a complaint with the bus company.

My next steps, I am going to contact the City directly. I will start by calling them out on the misinformation they have provided about additional handicap parking. I will then ask them why they are so out of touch with the PLWD community. I will demand that on the planning committees for all future City events that the PLWD community be represented. Finally, I will let them know that if this ever happens again I will gather everyone I can to file a complaint through our Human Rights Tribunal.

While I am able bodied, because of my siblings I am very cognizant of accessibility issues. From that I continue to be an advocate so that they have the opportunity to participate in the events in our City. By the way, there is a parade tonight and the City has arranged to transport able bodied participants from the parking area to the parade staging area. Maybe, just maybe, they should have thought of providing a shuttle from our uptown to the beach area for PLWD so that they too would have easily been able to join in the fun.

Oh, and the sugar free gelato was amazing!