Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods (CAN) was formed in 2005 based on the need to have an organization to advocate for a transit inaccessibility issue. Our founder, Heather McCain (they/them), was excited to finally have a power wheelchair which would allow them access to their friends, medical appointments, volunteering, and the broader community. At least half of the time, when they tried to take transit, drivers acted as gatekeepers and misinformed Heather that the ramps weren’t operating. Heather lived in Maple Ridge, where the buses only came once an hour, this severely impacted Heather’s ability to access their community.
Heather wrote letter after letter to TransLink with no response. They tried to find an organization who would help but was unable to. At the time, Heather ran a Chronic Pain Support Group. They were discussing this issue and the lack of organizations to take on issues like this. A member of the support group suggested that Heather could create an organization to fill the need – or at least address this 1 transit issue. Heather looked into it and it seemed fairly simple. They appointed members of the support group as board members and registered Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods (CAN) a non-profit society.
Following the incorporation of Citizens for Accessible Neighbourhoods, Heather wrote the same letter they’d already sent to TransLink but this time they wrote Executive Director under their name and 1 week later they received a response.
Heather found out that TransLink had a policy that addressed this. They worked with TransLink to ensure drivers and passengers knew about the policy.
