PARKING PROTEST IN DOWNTOWN SUMMERSIDE
P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities takes over portion of downtown to raise awareness about use and abuse of blue parking spaces
Parking along Water Street in downtown Summerside was at even more of a premium than usual Monday morning.
Walkers, wheelchairs and other mobility aides occupied about half a dozen parking spaces for about two hours. Each had a sign on it with statements like: “I’m picking up a heavy item”, “I didn’t know I can’t park here” and “I’ll move if someone needs the space.”
Those are all excuses Devon Broome has heard before – both in her professional capacity with the P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities and as the mother of a young woman with spina bifida.
Broome’s family has a designated parking permit for their wheelchair-accessible van, which they use to travel with their daughter. On a number of occasions, they have encountered people abusing the blue designated parking space system – all to save themselves a small inconvenience.
It’s frustrating, she said, but she considers it an obligation to educate people about the consequences of their actions.
“Parking is just part of it. If someone is going to take the (parking) space of a person with disabilities, then maybe they are not considering the rights of people with disabilities or the challenges that they have,” said Broome.
Monday’s event was a form of silent protest adopted by the council to help mark the International Day of Disabled Persons.
It aimed to bring awareness to the abuse of blue designated parking spaces by people who either don’t have a permit and use the spaces anyway or the misuse of a permit issued to a family member.
That abuse speaks to a larger societal ignorance, said Marcia Carroll, executive director of the council.
This is the second year the council has blocked parking spaces with wheelchairs on Dec. 3. Last year it was done in a busy Charlottetown parking lot. This year the council wanted to bring awareness to another part of the province and chose downtown Summerside because good downtown parking spaces are already at a premium.
“This is just a way to bring light to the bigger issues,” said Carroll.
“We take up the spots just to make some people a little uncomfortable when they drive by looking for a parking spot, which will make them think (again) the next time they think about taking a blue spot.”
“Parking is just part of it. If someone is going to take the (parking) space of a person with disabilities, then maybe they are not considering the rights of people with disabilities or the challenges that they have.” Devon Broome