Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), a disability rights advocacy group, is lobbying to increase wheelchair access in metros and trains in Montreal.
On Friday, a Superior Court decision authorized the group to represent all handicapped people in Quebec in a class-action lawsuit against the City of Montreal, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the Agence métropolitaine de transport (AMT).
The group is claiming up to $1.5 billion in damages for as many as 20,000 handicapped people.
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RAPLIQ argues that the lack of wheelchair access in metros and trains is discriminatory.
At a press conference on Monday, Gilles Gareau, one of RAPLIQ’s lawyers, noted that “there are only 11 metro stations that have elevators out of 68 stations.”
The city has 30 days to appeal the decision.
If the city doesn’t appeal or loses on appeal, there could be a trial on the merits sometime in the next year or two.
At that trial, the judge would have to decide whether disabled people have been discriminated against as a result of limited wheelchair access in metros and trains.
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