The downtown store installed poles to deter theft of grocery carts. Now, Donald Hinrichs can’t start shopping till staff help him get inside.
When retired professor Donald Hinrichs began using a mobility scooter, shopping at his local IGA grocery store off Place Dupuis was straightforward. He could pick up his favourite items, like pastries and sodas, without trouble. But that access changed when the store installed poles at its entrance, blocking scooter access.
“Now, I have to wait for someone to let me in,” says Hinrichs, 82. “I feel like I’m begging just to buy my groceries!”
Originally from Pennsylvania, Hinrichs moved to Montreal in 2004 after a long teaching career. He also taught sociology at McGill for a few years after moving to Montreal.
Hinrichs has been using a scooter for mobility for a few years following a hip-replacement surgery and recovery that he says did not go well. The IGA on Place Dupuis near the Quartier des Spectacles is his closest grocery store, along with a Metro.
Since raising his concerns about the poles blocking his access, he received little response, he says, even after following up in writing.
“My spouse even went in and spoke to them despite my asking him not to, and they said: ‘Oh yeah, we’ve had a lot of complaints.’”
Hinrichs finds it particularly frustrating he must rely on employees for help.
A spokesperson for the grocery chain says the poles were added as security measures because of rising grocery-cart theft. To ensure accessibility, staff members are always available to assist customers, she says, adding the store is installing a doorbell to alert staff when help is needed.
However, Hinrichs says staff are not consistently available to move the posts blocking the entrance. As for the doorbell solution, he feels it only adds to the problem.
“I shouldn’t have to signal for help every time I want to enter a store that’s supposed to be accessible to everyone,” he says.
According to Linda Gauthier, co-founder of the Quebec advocacy group Regroupement des Activistes Pour L’Inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), Hinrichs’s experience at IGA is not unique.
About 50 per cent of Montreal stores lack adequate accessibility for people with disabilities, Gauthier says. Barriers range from physical obstacles to poorly designed entrances, limited signage and insufficient staff training.
This situation persists despite about 11 per cent of Quebec’s population experiencing a moderate to severe disability, according to provincial data.
Gauthier notes Quebec’s regulatory framework for public accessibility lags behind that of neighbouring regions. Unlike the United States, where the Americans with Disabilities Act mandates stringent accessibility standards, Quebec laws only require “reasonable accommodations,” she says.
“It’s like we are treated as second-class or even third-class citizens sometimes. Dogs and cats have more rights than we do.”
In Hinrichs’s case, Gauthier argues IGA has the resources to make the store accessible to everyone.
Hinrichs contrasts his difficulties at IGA with his local Metro grocery store, which offers an accessible layout and doesn’t restrict his access.
“Shopping there is no problem,” he says.
On the broader accessibility issue, Hinrichs is unsure of the solution.
“The city has done a lot. When you go from the sidewalk to the street, they have ramps like driveways, but some are still pretty rough.”
“So I usually ride in the street,” he adds, “which drives my children crazy.”