For Yellowknifers with disabilities, discrimination lives. Their ability to move freely is frequently restricted. Too often, both the lack of accessibility in public spaces and the ingrained thoughtlessness of many non-disabled people bars their way.
Let's say you're in a wheelchair and you want to go to dinner downtown.
If you don't have a car, the latest you would be able to access public transportation is 7:10 p.m., which is when the Yellowknife Accessible Transit Service (YATS) ceases its service. Needless to say it does not run on Sundays.
If you make it downtown, you might not be able to enter your chosen establishment because it does not have a usable ramp or the business might be located up a flight of stairs.
And then, if you are even able to enter, you might be relegated to a corner, the aisle or a back room. In pubs with high tables and high chairs, you might be forced to have conversations at eye-level with other people's crotches. To add insult to injury, you might not be able to use the washroom.
These are the everyday struggles that can make life difficult for Yellowknifers with disabilities.
And part of the reason they struggle is the National Building Code of Canada, which the city adheres to, contains a grandfather clause exempting buildings that already have permits from having to comply with more current accessibility regulations. This makes many buildings in Yellowknife accessible in name only.
If this state of affairs continues, navigating the streets of Yellowknife will remain difficult for many citizens.
And that is a shame because, according to the NWT Disability Strategic Framework: 2017 to 2027, people living with disabilities make up a substantial – and growing – portion of the population.
Data collected in 2012 showed that in the NWT, more than 2,700 people aged 15 or older reported a disability, which was about eight per cent of the population.
The vast majority of these individuals were elderly or Indigenous.
By 2035, some 4,600 people ages 15 years and older are projected to be living with disabilities, which could be more than 12 per cent of the NWT population.
Many Yellowknifers with disabilities have been fighting a long-running battle with indolent business owners and indifferent bureaucrats. According to the 2016-2017 NWT Human Rights
Commission's annual report, 63 per cent of the territory's human rights complaints included an allegation of discrimination based on having a disability.
These people are not charity cases. These are valued members of society, many of whom work and pay taxes like everyone else.
Some understanding is in order here. This is a frontier city built on the craggy surface of the Canadian Shield in a very unforgiving climate.
It owes its existence to gold mines and fortitude. It's plain to see why accessibility fell by the wayside.
But now Yellowknife is a territorial hub, complete with a Walmart and two McDonald's restaurants and with prosperity comes responsibility.
Furthermore, the city is becoming a destination for tourists. Figures show that about 70,000 of them visited the city in 2016 and spent more than $90 million.
If the city is to continue growing into a tourism hub, it will need to become more accessible.
With the creation of the new disability framework – which makes inclusion and accessibility one of its goals – progress could be made.
In addition, the city is conducting an accessibility audit on all its facilities. The audit – being conducted by SPH Consulting out of Toronto – is in its final stages of completion. Lets hope the city puts it to use.
There are also business owners out there making the extra effort to make their operations accessible.
They include people like Suzane Defosses, owner of the new Tim Hortons on Old Airport Road, who has committed to building a wheelchair ramp in her parking lot, once the snow melts.
But inclusive thinking and design will continue to be the exception in this city, not the norm, so long as property owners content themselves with the bare requirements for accessibility.
For people living with mobility issues, the world can be an obstacle course every time they leave their homes. Let's not throw more obstacles in their way.