October 2015 - Auto Door Depot

Voters frustrated, upset over accessibility issues at Dartmouth polling station – Halifax

HALIFAX – Some voters in the federal election are disappointed and upset with a location of a polling station in Dartmouth, saying it is not friendly to those with accessibility issues.On Monday, voters cast ballots at a building behind St. Peter’s Church on Crichton Avenue. It sits on a hill and although there is a ramp at the back of the building, many voters were unaware and used the steps at the front of the building.Resident Roy Church said he was surprised the building was used in the first place.“It is a hill for the elderly to get around. Although you’re allowed to drive up, it’s not really marked that well,” he said.Voter Ross Osborne said he and his wife had to separate after casting their ballots. Story continues below advertisement “My wife has very bad knees. She said ‘I can’t walk back...

Advocate fights for more accessibility at federal election polling stations

TORONTO — Matt Wozenilek almost lost the chance to vote four years ago.Not because he wasn’t eligible. But because he couldn’t get in the door.Wozenilek, who uses a wheelchair, went to a Guelph school to vote in the 2011 federal election but couldn’t get into the building: A heavy door blocked his way.A passerby held the door for him and Wozenilek finally voted. But he decided then and there that he “shouldn’t have to put up with that.”“I have rights just like everyone else and so I decided to lay a complaint against Elections Canada through the Canadian Human Rights Commission,” he said. “I felt that it was an issue that it should be accessible.” Story continues below advertisement He filed a human rights complaint that went to the Human Rights Tribunal in Aug. 2014, which led to a...