Thunder Bay short on accessible hotel rooms, athletes say

An advocacy group for people with disabilities says Thunder Bay needs more accessible hotel rooms if it wants to hold events like the National Wheelchair Curling Championships.  

Persons United for Self-Help Northwest said the event provides an economic boost for the city— and athletes deserve fully-accessible accommodation.

Donna-Lynn Wiitala, who is the chair of PUSH Northwest, said wheelchair events bring a lot of money to Thunder Bay. She said hotels need to be prepared if the city wants to host more national tournaments.

"If we want the sledge hockey to take place here, we definitely need to look at accessibility," Wiitala said.

Corinne Jensen, who plays for the British Columbia wheelchair curling team, said her hotel room's bathroom counters posed a particular challenge.

"No matter what height your wheelchair is, you cannot roll underneath to be able to lean over to spit your toothpaste in the sink," Jensen said. "I end up dribbling all over the place and making a mess."

Older hotels need to upgrade

Jensen, who often travels to the U.S., said American accessibility legislation is far ahead of Canada's. She noted that older hotels were built at a time when wheelchair accessibility wasn't really considered.  She said in the U.S., legislation dictates that newly-built rooms meet certain accessibility standards.   

Dozens of wheelchair athletes travelled to Thunder Bay to compete in the recent curling championships.

Organizers chose the Valhalla Inn to accommodate them. The hotel has four accessible guest rooms, and staff removed the bathroom doors in other rooms so wheelchairs could get through. 

Jensen said the hotel did everything it could with the rooms it has, but people still experienced troubles.

"I had to get a commode chair because the toilets are so low, to transfer from my chair on to the toilet and to get back up again," Jensen said "And there's no grab bars to give us any leverage to pull our bodies."

Jensen also noted that, with an aging population, more people need accessible rooms — and hotels should consider making that the standard.