In the “give your head a big shake” department comes this alarming story of Paralympic curler Chris Daw who was visiting Tsawwassen Mills shopping mall before catching a ferry to return to Vancouver Island. Chris is in a wheelchair and obtained a local Delta Surrey Green Cab to transport his family from the mall to the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal. As Chris stated to Chek News he noticed that the cab fare was already being charged before he even got in the taxi. Calling it a “standard fee” , the company charges for getting disabled folks into taxi cabs.
“I phone the cab company and I said well what’s this all about? And they said this is a service that we charge disabled people to be strapped in. I was shocked, I was absolutely baffled,” said Daw.“So I did a little research and the fact is that it’s actually illegal to charge that fee for me to be buckled in,” said Daw.
British Columbia statutes indicate that charges can only commence once the taxi is actually moving and transporting people. So how many other disabled people have been charged extra for the simple task of stowing a wheelchair and opening a taxi door?
As Chris notes “If that’s happening in Vancouver, how many other cities across Canada are doing a similar practice? And often people with disabilities are fearful to speak out,” said Daw.
While the taxi company has agreed to review the matter, it brings attention to the fact that it is discriminatory to treat disabled customers as different from any other customer. You can see the Chek News feature on the taxi “service fee” here.
