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A group of disabled people has complained to the Human Rights Commission about Edmonton's subsidies for public transit.
Right now, people on the provincial Assured Income for the Severely Handicapped program who are capable of using public transit pay $32 for a monthly pass. But those who require the city-run Disabled Adult Transit (DATS) because of their disability pay $81.50.
"I think it's very unfair because some of us have to use DATS, we have no choice," said Peggy Millenaar (pictured), who has multiple sclerosis.
"We're all on the same income, so it's not fair. Some who use transit can get the discount." she said. "We need it just as bad they do."
Millenaar has written to city council about the issue and said she plans to add her name to the list of complainants to the Human Rights Commission.
Others are about to follow suit, according to staff at Chrysalis, a charitable foundation set up to help those with disabilities.
"It definitely is unfair practice. You know they are on limited incomes every month," said Ruth Biollo-Ramos, program manager at Chrysalis. "It's significant. It comes out to $594 a year that a person would have in their expenses."
City officials refused comment on the issue because the matter is before the commission.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.