Exclusive: Senate access farce

A senior Human Rights Commission employee could not attend the Senate debate on anti-discrimination laws for gay people — because Cabinet Office has no disabled access.

Lisa Reed, the executive officer of the Human Rights Commission and a wheelchair user, said: “It would have been fitting for me to attend — but it’s not wheelchair accessible, so I could not attend.”

Two flights of stairs

The Senate meets on the first floor of Cabinet Office — up two flights of stairs. The Cabinet also meets on the same floor, while the Premier’s office is on the ground floor.

Ms Reed — who was able to visit the House of Assembly when MPs debated the amendment to include gay people in human rights legislation because it has a lift — added Bermuda needed a “mind shift” on access.

She said: “When I think about access and human rights, it’s about building a society that ensures no person is excluded.

“My friends always say to me that it’s only when I’m with them that they know where to boycott because they’re not making it accessible for me.

“It’s really having a total mind shift because if we as a society build a society that’s inclusive we don’t have to think about it.”

The Human Rights Act, which is now amended to extend basic anti-discrimination protection to gay people, also includes sections protecting disabled people from discrimination.

Exceptions

The law, however, does make exceptions where making modifications to suit disabled people would be “costly, disruptive or extensive”.

Clerk to the House of Assembly Shernette Wolffe said that, although Senate is part of the legislature, Cabinet Office did not fall under its control.

She said: “That would be a question for the Cabinet Secretary – a lot of buildings don’t have wheelchair access, although there have been some improvements. It’s unfortunate Ms Reed could not attend the Senate debate.”

She added: “Senate should be housed in the same building as the Lower House and that will probably come. That’s something I hope to see in the future.”

Cabinet Secretary Donald Scott yesterday confirmed that wheelchairs could only access the ground floor of the Cabinet Office building.

He added: “There is no elevator in Cabinet Office —  that has been looked into. The cost is prohibitive. That’s all we can say at the moment.”

He added that disabled access to many public buildings was a problem.

Mr Scott said: “In some cases, they are simply not suitable or the cost is too high.”