The City of Montreal has spent $3 million on new self-cleaning public washrooms and so far there are 12 around the city, but they're not fully accessible for people with reduced mobility because of a maximum weight limit.
Jessica Cacciatore is an electric wheelchair user and she was not able to use the new bathroom next to Papineau metro. Her weight added to that of her chair surpassed the maximum allowed. The limit was put in place to ensure that only one person uses it at a time.
"Everybody needs to be counselled and thinking before you design this kind of bathroom [...]," says Cacciatore. "It's not because you're a big handicap that you don't need the bathroom."
Disabled rights activist Linda Gauthier from Regroupement des activistes pour l'inclusion au Québéc (RAPLIQ) says it's unbelievable that there are already 12 self-cleaning bathrooms around the city, yet this is still a problem.
"You're a second or even third class citizen," says Gauthier. "That's the message it's giving us."
She says that if the city doesn't do anything about this, her next step will be to contact the Human Rights Commission.
The City of Montreal has not responded to CJAD 800's request for comment.