Resident wins fight for Para Transpo service

Orléans' Ralph Beaudoin – whose low-vision impairment means he will never be eligible for a driver's licence – is a long-time federal worker with an office located in the city's south end. After 13 years of taking public transit each day, the strike didn't originally present a problem, Beaudoin explains, with rides available from a nearby friend. But with that friend finishing his work contract and headiing on holidays, Beaudoin was stuck without a means of transportation to his job and a limited amount of telecommuting due to the nature of his work. "Nowhere did I ever dream the strike (would last this long)," he says. "It became extremely problematic to me. I only have so many vacation days."

Beaudoin's wife, Karen, is typically the driver for the entire family, Beaudoin continues. However, a chronic illness has left her unable to work or do the long, daily trek of driving her husband from the east end to his south-end office. "She's the only driver in the house," he adds, with one daughter out of university on medical leave, and another now using school shuttle buses. "We make do ... but asking my wife to drive me to work every day is not a reality."

When Beaudoin heard Mayor Larry O'Brien discuss expanding Para Transpo services to help residents in need earlier this month, he thought he had found his solution. "There was a glimmer of hope," Beaudoin describes.

The city's initial response, however, was that the east-end resident did not qualify because he wasn't taking Para Transpo prior to the transit strike, Beaudoin recounts. "I normally do not qualify, and I understand that," he says. "But because normal bus service is not running (I need alternatives)."

After turning to Orléans Coun. Bob Monette for help, the elected official e-mailed city staff and helped bring his case before the city, Beaudoin explains, adding that he was notified Friday, Jan. 16 he will receive Para Transpo service starting this week. Council also voted last week to make another 20 vehicles available for ambulatory Para Transpo clients and residents "most affected by the strike." "I'm glad we didn't have to go through the route of meeting with the manager, the city manager," says Monette, citing Beaudoin's immediate need. "Reasoning and rationale came quickly."

The family, he explains, was "really stuck in their home. They couldn't do anything."

For any other residents in similar situations, Monette encourages them to get in touch with their councillors or the city to figure out what resources are available. "If you're in dire straits, we need to know," he adds. "We have to be helping our residents right now."

Beaudoin – who says options would have been slim without Para Transpo service, and might have resulted in leave from his job without pay – echoes the same sentiment, adding his thanks for the resource. "I hope other people will say, 'This is what we need,'" Beaudoin explains. "It's not okay there's a visually-impaired person in the city who can't get into work."