Disabilities advocate wins battle for ramp at voting site

Randy Dickinson smiled as wheeled up to the Elections New Brunswick returning office on Prospect StreetFriday afternoon.

Construction on a ramp for the front entrance of the Fredericton WestHanwell returning office was well underway.

"I'm really happy now. The other day I felt like I was punched in the stomach as a second class citizen," he said.

• Rampless returning office and province's response felt like a punch

Dickinson is the chair of the Premier's Council on Disabilities and a past chair of the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

He says when he arrived at the returning office on Tuesday, he found a front entrance with five steps, but no wheelchair ramp.

He posted a photo on social media and contacted Elections New Brunswick.

Dickinson was originally told a ramp would be built on Wednesday.

But later that day Elections New Brunswickspokesperson Paul Harpelle said the problem had been solved by giving people with disabilities access to a side door at the building.

"The building already had an existing wheelchairaccessible entrance, so the landlord had a door installed that now provides access to our returning office. It had been blocked off when Horizon Health took over a portion of the building," Harpelle said on Wednesday.

But Dickinson wasn't happy with the solution.

As someone with a disability as well as underlying health conditions, hesays he wasn't comfortable going through the same door used by Horizon Health employeesalongside a COVID19 testing site.

Construction on a ramp began on Friday morning.

Dickinson saidhe's happy it's being installed, but disappointed it took public outcry and complaining to get it done.

"As the chair of the Premier's Council on Disabilities, we'll be using this example to deal with the next incoming government to get amendments made to the current elections act to define more clearly the requirements for accessibility to the main entrances of all future voting facilities, whether it's a returning office, polling stations or election day locations itself," Dickinson said.

Dickinson has been considering making a formal complaint tothe human rights commission to draw attention to the issue. He says a person has up to 12 months to file a complaint after an incident, so he'll wait tosee how much progress is made in the coming months.

He willgoback tothe returning office early next week to use the new ramp and cast his ballot.

"Now I feel my hope in democracy and my feeling that people are listening and trying to do the right thing is back on track and we'll keep watching for other situations like this," Dickinson said.

In an emailed statement to CBC News, Harpelle said Elections NB is happy the issue was fixed.

"We are pleased that the landlord was able to move quickly to offer a more suitable solution that provides additional accessibility to the returning office."