Calgary taxi driver fined, suspended after refusing to give ride to a blind woman & her guide dog 

A Calgary cab company has fined and temporarily suspended one of its drivers for refusing to give a ride this week to a blind woman and her guide dog.

Kim Kilpatrick is from Ottawa and just so happens to be in Calgary with her guide dog, Ginger, to perform a show downtown about living with guide dogs.

"It's a really sort of shocking experience," Kilpatrick said. "I don't just have a dog in the car for the heck of it, she's going to get me from the car to my destination."

Kilpatrick said she used an app to book the taxi after her show last Sunday afternoon at Lunchbox Theatre, located at the bottom of the Calgary Tower.

She said when it arrived the driver told her the dog wasn't allowed in the vehicle because he didn't want any dog hair inside.

Kilpatrick said she told him that was illegal and he had to take the service dog.

Kilpatrick eventually cancelled the ride and booked another taxi from the same company without any problems.

Kilpatrick said she later called dispatch to complain and was told to order a pet-friendly taxi next time.

"Like it was my fault," she said.

Kilpatrick complained to Vehicle For Hire, the city department that oversees taxis and rideshares. It confirmed it is in the midst of an investigation.

A spokesperson for the taxi company, Calgary United Cabs, initially said he wasn't aware of the incident. But after looking into it further, he said they've temporarily suspended the driver pending the results of the city's investigation. 

"This is not supposed to happen with any human being," said Rajeev Gopinath, marketing manager for Calgary United Cabs.

Gopinath said he plans to apologize directly to Kilpatrick.

On Wednesday evening, he said the driver was fined $700 and would need to redo in-office training in order to reactivate his vehicle following the suspension. 

The suspension is set to last until noontime Thursday.

Layers of protection

The rights of a blind person and their service dog are protected under both municipal and provincial legislation.

The Alberta Human Rights Act also states that no one can be denied accommodation, services, goods or facilities that are available to the public, based on their physical disability.

Complaints are handled through the Alberta Human Rights Commission.

The Blind Persons' Rights Act, and the accompanying Service Dogs Act, both provincial legislation, state that "no one shall discriminate against or deny accommodation, services, or facilities where the public is admitted or charge for the use of them, because the person is a blind person accompanied by a guide dog."

Related fines are worth up to $3,000. Complaints can be filed with local police.

And then there are specific municipal bylaws. Calgary's bylaw states "a driver must not refuse a passenger because they require that their service dog accompany them." The specified penalty is $700.

A city spokesperson said this topic is covered in a driver's mandatory training. And they encourage anyone who's been refused a trip to report it through 311.

"There is no excuse for refusing a guide dog as our municipal legislation states," said Cory Porter, acting deputy chief for Vehicle for Hire, in an email to CBC News.

'Happens all the time'

A spokesperson for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB) says they receive complaints almost weekly from guide dog handlers who say they've been denied access somewhere - whether that's a taxi, rideshare, restaurant or grocery store.

"This kind of thing happens all the time, and it needs to stop happening," said Larissa Proctor, manager of guide dog advocacy at CNIB.

Proctor said it's a matter of businesses educating their employees about the laws that protect people with disabilities.

She says guide dogs are not pets; they help people get to doctor appointments, job interviews, pick up their children, and anywhere else they need to go.

Proctor, who is blind, said she's experienced similar incidents to what happened to Kilpatrick.

"It never stops being embarrassing. It never stops being shocking. It never stops making you feel like you are less than everyone else around you because you can't get from point A to point B," Proctor said.

She said there may be times when a service refusal is legitimate, such as when someone is allergic to dogs. She says in those cases, it's important to ensure it's on record with the employer and accommodate the customer appropriately.

Kilpatrick hopes her experience can serve as a lesson for service providers.

"I don't know, they could come to the show, and they could find out," she said. 

Meanwhile, Gopinath says the company has now issued a message to its entire fleet, notifying them of the law and saying they must accept service dogs. If they don't want to, the message says, they will lose their job.

"We are giving more importance to humanitarian consideration, we value that," Gopinath said.