Reviews of Northern News (Painter)

short step

In a past issue of the Northern Daily News the Kirkland Lake town council announced it had past a bylaw saying that a person riding in a power chair or other mobile devices has to follow these rules or be fined $50. As I have thought about this over the last few days I got angrier and angrier. My husband and I are in power chairs and most of the rules I have no problem with. Like the one where you must ride on a sidewalk where there is one. Does this mean they will be fining people that are not walking on the sidewalk where there is one. Well I want to know if they are going to fix the ones that are so broke-up or rough. My back hurt days after going over them. The worst ones are the ones east on government to the hospital. Then there are a few that have posts or stairs in the middle of them. My chair has not learned how to go up and down or how to spit me out and up stairs. Now let's talk about the sidewalks that are not as wide as my chair. Thank god there are only a few of these. I am sorry but in all of the above cases I would chose to ride down the left side of the road facing traffic. The person that thought up the rules that I should have to pull the chair over to the right side of the side walk and stop for on-come walkers, I thank. I will thank them all the way to the ER. Ya, I said ER. Being worried about being fined $50, so I get over a little too far hit a small stone that sent the chair over the edge and dumps me into the street. That's, OK i was most likely on my way to an appointment at the hospital any way that I was going to be late for because I have to pull over and stop and wait for all the people coming towards me. But I should be able to get off ODSP when i get a lot of money from suing the town. I had a mirror on my chair and found it totally useless. Yes I could see behind me a bit but I had to look down at it because of where we could put it on the chair and run the risk of running into someone or something in front of me. It also made the chair wider than it already is. I knock it off every time I go through the house door. Besides i have been run into by people just not watching where they are going, I had a few back into me and almost land in my lap. So I will wear a hat with a rear view mirror on it when all the other people in town have to wear them. Now if all people would use common sense and be courteous we would not need stupid by-laws like this one. Or is this a make work project for the town. Maybe it is the way the town is trying to close us up in our homes once again. I am on ODSP and they DO NOT pay to put lights or mirror on a chair up north here. I know they will not pay the $50 fine and we already get barely enough to live on. I guess i will be going to New Liskeard to shop. I once was proud to say I lived in Kirkland Lake but that is no longer the case. If someone from out of town gets one of the fines,it will not be long before Kirkland Lake is known as the town that hates the handicapped and elderly.

Gawie Delport

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