Victoria Silman | News Editor
Featured Image: Accessibility at York has been under scrutiny with the help of a viral video. | Fatema Ali
Getting to and around campus has been difficult the past few weeks, particularly with three major storms that have shut down operations, including one yesterday. As a result, accessibility at York has become an increasingly popular issue, particularly with a viral video of Osgoode student, Ali Imrie, struggling to move her wheelchair through campus following the snow storm.
The video, taken January 31, depicts Imrie’s friends helping to push her wheelchair through the snow, despite the fact that it was recorded the Thursday following the storm.
“This was a couple days after the snow storm, on my way to class Thursday afternoon. My friends had met me before—which is what I usually have to do to get to school; I usually have to rely on my friends to help me to get to class through the snow,” Imrie says.
“When I got to Osgoode, I tried to have meetings with people to talk about solutions, but nothing really came of it, so on the way home nothing had changed and nothing had been cleared. I asked two friends to come because I thought, given how much difficulty we had to get there, we would probably need two people to help us get back. While we were walking, I asked one of my friends to stop pushing and film us briefly instead, so that we could show people how hard it was to move around campus,” she adds.
She says this isn’t the first time this has happened either. According to Imrie, she’s been working on this issue for a while; however, it took a viral video to become the catalyst for conversation.
“This isn’t just this snow storm. This has been happening for a long time, and happens pretty much every time it snows. It wasn’t different than previous times,” she says.
In a response, Barbara Joy, chief spokesperson and director of media relations for York, says: “York is committed to preventing, minimizing, and removing the barriers to participation by persons with disabilities in the activities of the university including employment, study or social activity.
“Snow clearing, sanding, and salting of walkways and paths had been done multiple times, every day, since the storm on January 31, given the high winds and continued snowfall.”
“We are aware of Ali’s concerns and her video, and we do appreciate that she brought this to our attention. The path she uses was cleared and salted again that day, and staff made several visual checks throughout the day to ensure the path stayed clear. We will do better moving forward and will continue to stay in touch to ensure her mobility needs on campus are met,” Joy adds.
Imrie also points out that this isn’t just a York problem. “I think not enough attention is given to disabled people to get around in the snow. People have been stuck inside because of snowstorms. My particular experience was at York, but it’s definitely a much broader problem,” she says.
Addressing accessibility on campus, Joy says: “York also offers an accessible shuttle as an option for students on campus with mobility challenges.”
