Although the community is becoming increasingly more mindful of creating accessible public spaces, at times, certain features of the environment that pose as a challenge slip through the cracks. Some things are difficult to see without lived experience. Because of this, it’s essential to hear the voices of those who make use of accessible spaces. In Morden, a few influential citizens are not only making the effort to listen to those with accessibility concerns, but also putting themselves in their shoes.
Mayor Nancy Penner and Corn & Apple Festival Chair Nathan Knight teamed up with Phillip Duncan, a long-time community member, retired teacher, and accessibility advocate, to learn what navigating through the city in a powered wheelchair entails. The Morden Corn & Apple Festival that took place this past weekend was the perfect backdrop to test out downtown Morden's accessibility — both community leaders got into a chair themselves to get a firsthand perspective.
“It's definitely a different experience,” says Knight. “We do try as a festival to make [it] as accessible as possible, and while we do succeed in some areas, I don't know if I say we fail in others, [but] we're just ignorant to others because we don't know what this is like. So to be able to have this experience, it's nice to open our eyes to things we can improve on and things we can try to make better.”
Accessibility is always important, but for the Corn & Apple Festival, which draws in 80,000 people over its three days as the largest street festival in Manitoba, it’s an integral part of welcoming every type of visitor to Morden. For Knight, on his trip through the festival, there were some obvious challenges.
“The first couple of minutes were a little on the unnerving side — negotiating some of the approaches with the curbs [can be difficult], and some streets are a lot easier than others,” he says. “As a pedestrian walking, you would never notice that one approach onto a sidewalk is different from the other, but in a powered wheelchair, it’s very different.”
Knight says there is also the concern of crowds and equipment.
“You have the people aspect, where you know, if you ever want a crowd of people, there's no better place to get a big crowd than the Corn & Apple, and then all the wires from the vendors and everything else. It can become a bit challenging,” he says. “But I will say this: it was a little easier than I was kind of worried about . . . . [even though] it was eye opening.”
Over the past few years, the Morden Corn & Apple Festival has prioritized making accessible changes to the fair’s structure.
“Last year was the very first year we had reserved accessible parking,” says Knight. “We [also] made a fairly large investments last year in more rubber mats to be able to cover up all of the wiring and while it does seem like a small thing, it really makes a big difference for people with mobility issues.”
Knight also acknowledges that more changes are needed.
“I do know there's still more that can be done, [such as] making sure vendors stay within their allotted space,” he says. “It's easy for someone walking to go from the street to the sidewalk . . . if they need to go around something. It's not as easy if you're in a motorized wheelchair.”
For Duncan, who has recently begun using a wheelchair due to MS, the exercise of using a motorized wheelchair breeds empathy.
“I would never have thought of [this] experience [before using a wheelchair], but [since] I know that it's changed my perspective, I just want that perspective to be shared and grown with other people,” he says.
Duncan says that he is glad there was interest in the accessibility exercise.
“I am just thrilled that for them to have been open to this experience . . . . I have so much gratitude for that because there are so many people who do live their life in a chair or with a walker,” says Duncan. “We all know people who are walking around with the walker, [and] they're facing the same kind of accessibility issues. So, if we're having the conversation [and] important people are having the dialogue with me, we all know that's the best way to move forward.”
The experience was also enlightening for Duncan, who found that both participants received similar treatment.
“When I was going downtown with Mayor Nancy, she of course knows so many people, [so] I let her lead the way. [Lots of people said,] ‘oh, what's happened to you? Nancy, are you okay?’ All of that concern [was] a perspective that I didn't think that they would get, and the same thing happened to Nathan — there's a little bias,” says Duncan. “If everybody is saying that to you constantly, how does that make you feel? So again, that immersive experience that I wanted them to achieve was even more successful than I initially thought it [would] be.”
Morden’s mayor, Nancy Penner, was happy to take up Duncan on his offer of experiencing Morden through his perspective.
“I have a number of friends with MS, all in various stages of the MS journey . . . so I said, ‘yes, absolutely,’” says Mayor Penner. “So, off we went, and we started on the sidewalks.”
Mayor Penner’s route began at Video Visions on the west side of Morden on Stephen Street and headed toward the information booth of the Corn & Apple festival.
“I was really taken aback,” she says. “All [the] city curbs [were] sloped . . . . I didn't realize how tippy they were and unless you hit them dead on, it's very tippy on the wheelchair. As a pedestrian, you walk and you sort of keep tight to the sidewalk, and you don't put yourself out into traffic, but on [Duncan’s] motorized wheelchair, to get that angle right so you don't tip, you have to come almost into traffic.”
Mayor Penner got a new perspective on the roads from her experience on the motorized wheelchair.
“That was an eye opener for me,” she says. “I didn't realize how far into traffic you had to come. There were a couple of times where I had to sort of back up and take a run at the ramp getting back up onto the sidewalk, and [Duncan] was very patient and guided me.”
One positive thing that stood out for Mayor Penner was the community’s interest in helping. She says that many people who saw her challenges with navigating the motorized wheelchair asked her if she needed assistance.
“I was very encouraged by how courteous people were,” she says. “I thought, ‘wow, we do have a good [community] here.’”
For Mayor Penner, while the city is aware of the accessibility requirements that the province has, she says that her motorized wheelchair excursion has made it clear that accessibility should be a further priority in Morden.
“I need to learn a little bit more [about] what all is involved in the city's accessibility mandate, and I think we as a city have to maybe pull up our socks a little bit more on our accessibility standards,” she says. “I have to get more involved in that, especially as mayor, I should be more aware of what . . . we need to be fully compliant.”
Mayor Penner says that addressing some of the standards may pose as a challenge in Morden.
“It is a difficult situation when we are an older city and our Main Street is not a new build. We have to modify some of our older stores in terms of accessibility,” she says. “Some of our public buildings have ramps incorporated into them . . . , but a lot of the retail buildings don't. I know some of . . . the store owners will accommodate clients, but accessibility is huge and until you're in that position, you often don't realize the limitations that are before you.”
One thing on Mayor Penner’s immediate radar is more accessible restrooms at the Corn & Apple Festival. The restrooms only have stairs — no ramps.
Ultimately, Duncan is pleased with how the trips with Knight and Mayor Penner went, as well as the interest that the broader community shows in accessibility.
“I'm so proud of this community for being open to all the people,” he says. “I reached out to two of the leaders and both of them enthusiastically stepped up to hear my concerns. I feel like I'm a very valued citizen of this community, even though I don't directly live here anymore, so thanks to everybody who participated.”
To learn how to do your part in creating accessible spaces in the community, find the Manitoba Accessibility Office’s resources here.
~With files from Robyn Wiebe~