If hypocrisy was a virtue, then City of Powell River council would be righteous beyond all telling. In your extensive coverage of supermarket plastic-carrying-bag concerns [“City researches ban on single-use plastic bags,” February 17] you report the mayor proposes banning their distribution in the urgent, near future.
Yet physical accessibility for all persons within city hall remains an unresolved issue of non-existent urgency. One must mount a steep, two-story staircase (and descend same) simply to gain access to council chambers or the mayor’s office suite.
The cramped, ugly, mid-20th-century building has no elevators, having been built to neanderthal specifications.
When citizens and visitors with physical challenges enter city hall it is unmistakable they are not welcome. If concern for our universal environment is the name of the game, then council ought to realize the built environment of the people’s place of business dictates unequivocal access.
Even a local supermarket has an efficient, two-story elevator, for crying out loud.
Réal Saint Laurent
Powell River
