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Local advocate takes Orangeville council to task over accessibility issues

February 13, 2026   ·   1 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

The top of a new year is a good time to take stock and to re-evaluate the previous year’s tasks and how they were addressed.

Orangeville resident Tamara Limebeer uses a wheelchair, and she’s an accessibility advocate. She said during council’s Feb. 9 meeting that this is when municipalities typically review their respective accessibility advisory committees’ terms of reference.

She appeared before council this time last year to lobby on behalf of people with accessibility issues. She took guff at that time because she wasn’t an Orangeville resident.

She’s since become a resident.

Limebeer said she intends to keep municipal staff’s feet to the fire to ensure required measures for accessibility are met.

In 2005, the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act became law to prevent and remove barriers for people with disabilities.

She said she appeared before town council last year but felt she wasn’t welcomed by one unnamed councillor.

She said another unnamed councillor wondered aloud if Limebeer was happy that she’d gotten “her three minutes of fame.” People are allotted three minutes of Open Forum during council meeting to address the assembled elected officials or to speak on a topic.

“So I’m here again,” she said.

It’s unfair to paint all councillors and municipal staff with the same brush, she said. There are some amazing people at Orangeville Town Hall.

“And when my voice goes unheard, Mayor (Lisa) Post has always stepped up to listen and to delegate to the appropriate staff,” she said.

Limebeer asked if Orangeville’s Accessibility Committee members are providing input in the terms of reference review. She said the town’s terms of reference contain incomplete sentences copied from the provincial legislation. That makes them difficult to interpret correctly or easy to interpret incorrectly.

Further, there’s a legislated requirement that municipalities’ committees assess site plans to guard against accessibility issues. That’s something that’s seldom done, she said.

And that’s a problem.

“It’s a problem because public buildings are being built without proper accessible parking with access isles and signage, proper widths for sidewalks, or proper curb ramps,” Limebeer said.

It isn’t unreasonable to request improved accessibility. But expecting senior citizens and disabled people to accept inaccessibility – having to navigate a world of barriers – is extremely unreasonable.

“We are all just one accident or illness from becoming disabled,” she said.

Approximately 8 million people in Canada are disabled, according to Statistics Canada.

Many of the town’s recreational facilities were built before accessibility legislation was enacted more than 20 years ago. She asked when Orangeville will make those places more accessible.

“I know there are plans, but I’d like to know when, please,” she said.

Raylene Martell, the town’s clerk, said this is an election year. Residents will mark their ballots for a new council in October. Given that, the terms of reference review will be done when a new committee is assembled, she said.

“We won’t be conducting a review of terms of reference for any of our committees until after the election has concluded,” Martell said.

Heather Savage, the town’s community services general manager, said accessible parking at the Alder Street Arena has been in the capital plans for a while but has been pushed to 2027.

“There are no plans at Alder right now in the interim, but I will speak to facilities staff,” she said.

Savage said the town is redoing the parking lot at Harvey Curry Park, or Every Kid’s Park, on Lawrence Avenue, and adding more accessible parking spaces.

Whenever the town renovates an outdoor facility or a parking lot, accessibility needs are addressed, she said.

“I believe the standards are exceeded at Harvey Curry Park,” Savage said.

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