Polling stations were lightly crowded in Montreal on Saturday. But, for Louisane LeBlanc, exercising her right to vote was not easy. Going to the voting booth was a “combatant’s path” for the woman whose two legs are partially amputated.
“I’m tired of having all the time to fight over things that should be simple,” says the woman, in an interview with Press.
Earlier, she had gone to the Collège de Rosemont with her brother to exercise her right to vote in municipal elections. First obstacle: the entrance which indicated where the polling stations were had a step. By law, polling stations must be accessible to everyone.
I managed to enter because I was accompanied. Otherwise, there was no one to answer my questions at that entry.
Louisane LeBlanc, who came to the polling station in a wheelchair
She then went to advise the employees that the entrance was not accessible.
“At the Collège de Rosemont, there are votes that take place in the gymnasium and in the cafeteria,” explains the citizen. We were sent to the gym, even though we showed them it was written [sur ma carte de rappel] that we had to vote in the cafeteria, ”she continues.
Once at the gym, Mme LeBlanc is informed that she must not vote there. “And there, inevitably, it was not on the same floor,” she laments.
A key was needed to access the elevator, which only a security guard had. “It is fortunate that I was accompanied by people who have their two legs and their two arms who were able to run after the security guard”, recalls Mme The White.
She was finally able to vote afterwards, but it was “a combatant’s path, Asterix and the 12 works”, she recounts. “In addition to that, there are candidates with disabilities, how is that? She wonders.
Despite everything, the obstacles that were put in Louisane LeBlanc’s path do not correspond to what marked her the most in this experience.
PHOTO OLIVIER JEAN, THE PRESS
Louisane LeBlanc
What pissed me off was people talked to me like I was 4 years old. I am 45 years old, I am doing a doctorate, can I be addressed as if I were a human being?
Louisane LeBlanc
At the end of the day on Saturday, Elections Montreal confirmed that the situation had been “restored” and that people with reduced mobility had been able to vote at the Collège de Rosemont. Everything is on the same floor, and a ramp allows people to enter the building, evokes the organization.
Not an isolated case
Louisane LeBlanc is not the only one to have had to deal with difficulties when it comes to voting. Last Sunday, Francine Deshaies, a resident of Brossard who uses a wheelchair, went to vote. There was a step outside the polling station, and it had to leave the building through the entrance.
She feels that her situation was not a “big problem”, as she was able to easily leave the polling station because it was low traffic.
“That’s why I went to vote in advance, because I wasn’t sure if it was accessible. Another year I was gone, and I had to pass […] by trash cans to get to the room, ”she says. “This year was okay,” she says.
“Unacceptable”, according to Ensemble Montreal
For Lise Poulin, Ensemble Montréal candidate for the post of councilor in the Lachine borough, the situation Louisane LeBlanc experienced is “unacceptable”.
The issue of universal accessibility is dear to Mme Poulin, who uses a wheelchair herself.
This is kind of the reason why I decided to introduce myself. I really try to implement the possibility of having people with disabilities in all levels of decision-making.
Lise Poulin, Ensemble Montréal candidate
Even though it is the Chief Electoral Officer who sets up the polling stations, she believes that the more people with disabilities occupy decision-making positions, the more they will make the institution aware of the concept of universal accessibility.
Projet Montréal was not available to comment on this situation.
Calm in the polling stations
During this time, calm reigned in the various polling stations visited by Press Saturday afternoon. Voters were heading in dribbles to Notre-Dame-de-l’Assomption school, in the Hochelaga-Maisonneuve sector, to vote. Citizens did not have to wait before going to the voting booth.
The same scenario could be seen at Jeanne-Mance school, located on the Plateau Mont-Royal. Yves Fouquette, who will vote in the Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie borough on Sunday, was waiting for Richard Casavant at the exit of the polling station.
” There is no cat ! »Exclaims Mr. Casavant, joining his friend. The man decided to give his vote to Denis Coderre. “I think he deserves a second chance,” he says.
Before entering a polling station in the Rosemont sector, where the voting operations were going smoothly, Marie-Ève Bolduc rather affirms that she will support Valérie Plante. “I think she may not have had her chance because of the pandemic,” she says.
Balarama Holness vote
PHOTO PASCAL RATTHÉ, THE SUN
Mouvement Montréal leader Balarama Holness voting on Saturday morning
The leader of Mouvement Montreal, Balarama Holness, called on Montrealers to “vote with their hearts” on Saturday morning, before going to check his name in the voting booth, in the polling station located in the Holiday Inn hotel in the center. -city of Montreal.
“It’s an exceptional moment for us. We worked day and night for six months, ”Mr. Holness said at the outset. “We would like Montrealers to vote with their hearts, vote with their conscience and vote for the only progressive voice in Montreal, which is Mouvement Montreal,” he continued.
Denis Coderre and Valérie Plante will go to the polling station on Sunday morning.