Via said their train would be accessible. It wasn't. So Ont. woman, grandparents cancelled the trip
CBC
For a year, Brittany Prudhomme had been planning to travel this summer by train with her grandparents, Hazel and Ken Luce, from Ingersoll, Ont., to Miramachi, N.B., to visit family.
The couple use walkers, so Prudhomme had called Via in advance to ensure the train was accessible. Despite assurances from the railway, it wasn't.
"I had called and made sure everything was accessible, talked about accessible bathrooms, made sure we had wheelchairs when we got to some of the bigger locations," said Prudhomme, 27, of Thamesford, Ont.
"We got there, we were waiting and the train arrived and there were about five steep steps."
Hazel, 85, and Ken, 88, of Hanover, Ont., can't climb any number of steps.
"I asked, 'How do we get on?'" said Prudhomme. "They said, 'We don't have anything for you guys to get on the train.'"
The Via Rail website page for Ingersoll is also somewhat unclear, especially for people who don't regularly take the train. It says the platform is accessible by wheelchair, but goes on to say there isn't a wheelchair lift.
When Prudhomme realized her grandparents wouldn't be boarding the train, Via Rail agreed to call the trio a taxi in hopes of getting them to Union Station in Toronto in time for the next leg of their trip.
They said the cab would be accessible.
"The taxi that arrived was a little Toyota car and there was no way they could get into it."
That's when Prudhomme said they decided to pull the plug on a trip they'd been planning for more than a year.
"They were extremely upset," said Prudhomme of her grandparents.
"To know that we still aren't an accessible country is extremely disturbing to me. And to basically just say that they can't travel places because it's not accessible. It's super disappointing and upsetting."
Via Rail fully reimbursed the family and, in an emailed statement to CBC News, the corporation said it regretted hearing about the situation.
London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) is getting rid of unlimited mental health benefits for staff, blaming ballooning costs and former administrators for implementing it without proper due diligence or oversight.
Netflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros. Discovery's TV and film studios and streaming division for $72 billion US, a deal that would hand control of one of Hollywood's most prized and oldest assets to the streaming pioneer that has upended the media industry.
CBC Calgary kicks off its annual Make the Season Kind campaign this morning at Fratello Coffee Roasters.
CBC Newfoundland and Labrador is kicking off its annual holiday campaign, helping to raise money to support local food banks.
If all goes according to plan, at 6 a.m. AT on Saturday people working at the IWK Health Centre will become the test case for a generational change to Nova Scotia’s health-care system.
One month after Prime Minister Mark Carney announced what he called "generational" military spending, New Brunswick’s defence ecosystem is on high alert.
Miranda Mirlycourtois, 34, looks directly at the camera and makes a confession.
Saskatoon city hall says police spending is projected to be $2.6 million over budget this year. That pushes the city into a $1.2-million deficit position, according to a report that will be considered by city council next week.
Students at the University of Regina are days away from deciding whether a newly formed student association should become their official representative body.
All public schools on P.E.I. are closed Friday and thousands of Maritime Electric customers are without power as strong winds create hazardous travel conditions across the province.
Prince Rupert, B.C., residents are celebrating the holidays this year with coastal flair.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.