Hey…Where’s My Bus? A Profile of Advocacy in Action

If you’ve ever felt frustrated waiting for a bus that takes forever to arrive, we’ve all been there.

But changing the system can seem daunting – until we remember that we have strength in numbers!

In late July, Champlain SCI Solutions Alliance Coordinator Nathan Hauch received a call: the route 106, which goes to and from The Rehabilitation Centre at The Ottawa
Hospital, would stop at the General Campus over 400 metres away during “non‐peak”
hours after September 4th. This meant that from 10 to 3, consumers and others would have to make their own way. This would be both hazardous and difficult – especially in the winter.

What, the member asked, could be done?

He spoke with the City of Ottawa, but the bus routes had been revised following
consultations months beforehand: the status quo would remain.

Nathan reached out to CPA Ontario members and Peer Support volunteers to hear their voices, and encouraged them to speak to others about the impact of the route changes. Nathan and other Alliance partners spoke to the media. Community organizations, seniors’ advocates and others were mobilized to keep the issue on the public agenda. A number of letters were sent, and a petition calling for the reinstatement of service widely circulated.

As the Ottawa Citizen editorialized on August 30th, “Access to health care means more
than having a doctor. It means having physical access to the hospital as well.”
The City responded with a compromise: it would pay for accessible taxi cabs to take
consumers from The Rehabilitation Centre. Catherine Gardner, Co‐Chair of the City’s
Accessibility Advisory Committee emphasized that this would result in a host of other
challenges such as possible queues for service.

The bus, it became clear, was essential.

On Friday August 2nd, the City held a press conference: a bus ‐ or shuttle service – would go between The Rehabilitation Centre and the bus stop at the General campus stop every fifteen minutes.

The solution will be reviewed further in the new year. While there will be no shuttle
service for evenings, weekends or holidays, the end result is far better than what was
initially planned.

In the end, through research, collaboration and old fashioned perseverance, meaningful change occurred.

“It was the response from the community – including CPA Ontario members that made all the difference,” says Hauch. “This victory is just another example of how important it is for our members to get involved. Working together, we can do so much more.”

To find out more about how to get involved in membership initiatives, contact Ann
Kennedy, Membership Coordinator, at 1.877.422.1112 Ext. 249 or
Ann.Kennedy@cpaont.org.