There are many easy ways to make a building more accessible to people with physical disabilities, like changing a door knob to a lever or lowering a door bell. 

“Very simple little things like that,” said Art Erikson, community development co-ordinator for the Alberta chapter of the Canadian Paraplegic Association. “Everything that we do helps.

“People, just because they use a chair, they’re no different than anyone else. They want to be employed. They want to be involved. They want to be a part of their community.”

Erikson presented this and other information to Jasper town council last week. He told councillors that it is their responsibility, as the leaders of the community, to develop policies that encourage accessibility for all members of the community and to provide support programs that ensure access to transportation, home care, housing, employment and full community involvement.

To help council achieve that goal, he offered to do an accessibility audit for all of the municipal buildings and facilities in Jasper.

The audit would include ways for the municipality to make its facilities more accessible, not only to people with spinal cord injuries, but also to parents with strollers, seniors with mobility issues and people with sports or work injuries.

“I certainly welcome that offer,” said George Krefting, Jasper’s municipal manager. “We’ve had people from your association assist us in the past, but another look never hurts.”

Krefting noted that one of the reasons the new gym at the Jasper Activity Centre was moved out of the basement was to make it accessible to all people.

Erikson said the first things he noticed entering the Jasper Emergency Services Building was that the entrance had a door knob and the doorbell was well out of reach of someone in a wheelchair. 

He said door knobs are difficult for people with muscular dystrophy and for quadriplegics because they often don’t have use of their fingers. A quick fix to that is installing a lever, he said.

With the budget process set to begin in the coming weeks, Mayor Richard Ireland asked Erikson how quickly he could respond to an audit request.

“Something as simple as changing out a door knob to a lever – that kind of thing can be done fairly quickly, but it’s got to be in somebody’s budget,” he noted. “We need a little bit of lead time to deal with those sorts of issues.”

Erikson committed to reviewing his schedule and getting back to the municipality.

“If I have a free day on my calendar in the very near future, I’d be quite willing to come in.”

Ireland also suggested Erikson meet with Parks Canada, since it has jurisdiction over land use development in Jasper and thus would be responsible for providing incentives to developers who construct accessible buildings.

The mission of the Canadian Paraplegic Association is to assist people with spinal cord injuries and other physical disabilities in achieving independence, self-reliance and full community participation. 

The Alberta chapter is celebrating it’s 50th anniversary this year. It has offices in Edmonton, Calgary, Grand Prairie, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, St. Paul and Fort McMurray.

The association provides people with physical disabilities with the support they need to transition effectively from their injury to community, home and employment. It also provides peer support and guidance from someone who is living with the same type of physical disability and connects people with the information they need to access appropriate services.