'A real shame': N.W.T. organizations not tapping into federal accessibility fund

A Yellowknife woman with multiple sclerosis says it's a shame people in the territory aren't tapping into a federal accessibility fund available to them.

The Enabling Accessibility Fund was created in 2007, but Elizabeth Portman says there have only been 27 applications from N.W.T. organizations to date.

The Canada-wide fund has an annual budget of $15 million and provides money for small projects that improve accessibility for people living with disabilities.

Projects can include renovations, retrofits, or the installation of accessible technologies.

But Portman is concerned few people are even aware of it.

"Nobody knows about this funding and it's not being promoted," she said.

"It's a real shame because the building code that we have here results in infrastructure that has barriers in the design. There is money to fix it but we're not being told about that."

• A Yellowknife woman's torturous bathroom trip, and ensuing legal battle 

• Yellowknife woman encourages accessible transit users to demand money back from City Hall

Portman recently submitted an access to information request to find out how many N.W.T. organizations have applied for funding from the Enabling Accessibility Fund.

She was shocked when she discovered only two projects have received money from it since 2007, and neither were in Yellowknife.

"The fund always has more applicants than money," Portman said. "Fifteen million a year [budget] sounds like a lot, but the number of applications that don't get approved just shows how far we have to go."

Anyone can apply

Portman says private citizens, business owners, municipal governments and even the territorial government are eligible to apply for funding.

She says there are plenty of buildings in Yellowknife in need of accessibility upgrades, including tourism centres, offices and restaurants.

"I don't know of a single restaurant in Yellowknife that's fully accessible to persons with disabilities," she said.

"We are shamefully overdue and the barriers that exist and continue to be thrown up are discriminatory."

Portman says she's made the City of Yellowknife and the N.W.T. government aware of the Enabling Accessibility Fund.

The federal government is accepting applications for funding until July 26. Portman is encouraging people to contact N.W.T. MP Michael McLeod's office to learn more.

Employment and Social Development Canada has not responded to an interview request.