VIA Rail Supreme Court Decision
VIA Rail's inaccessible rail cars are not acceptable to court.
The Supreme Court of Canada has found that VIA Rail must make its Renaissance rail cars accessible to persons in wheelchairs. VIA has not yet replied.
On Friday, March 23, 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada decided that some of VIA Rail's passenger cars are not accessible enough to persons in wheelchairs.
VIA Rail has not yet replied formally to the decision.
Background
The Supreme Court of Canada's judgement sets out the facts.
- In 2000, VIA Rail purchased 139 European rail cars, called Renaissance cars
- Renaissance cars were no longer needed for overnight train service in the Channel Tunnel
- "These cars were inaccessible to persons with disabilities using personal wheelchairs."
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities complained to the Canadian Transport Agency. VIA Rail opposed the complaint.
In 2003, the Canadian Transport Agency gave VIA several chances to show cause why VIA could not or should not have to make the cars accessible.
VIA appealed the Agency's order to the Federal Court of Appeal.
The Federal Court of Appeal found that the Agency had acted unreasonably (this is not a term of insult, it is a legal term in this context). The FCA ordered the Agency to reconsider the matter, setting aside the original decision.
The Council of Canadians with Disabilities appealed the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal, and that is how this matter came before the Supreme Court of Canada.
Decision
Of the nine members of the Supreme Court of Canada who heard this matter, five decided to allow the appeal by the Council of Canadians with Disabilities and four dissented. The majority and dissenting decisions touch on matters of administrative law and procedure, the Agency's jurisdiction, and the interplay of human rights with economic reality.
The Supreme Court of Canada has concluded that persons in wheelchairs ought to be able to travel independently on VIA Rail, which is the national rail service provider.
The final decision is that the Agency's decision stands. Paragraph 192 of the Supreme Court's decision quotes the Agency's list of corrective measures. In summary, the Court has ordered VIA Rail to modify the Renaissance cars to provide at least one accessible car per train.
VIA Rail's Position
Via has not yet issued its response to this decision.
It is worth noting that VIA operates accessible cars on some of its routes, and does make accommodations for disabled passengers. They were not arguing that they should not do so.
The problem VIA faces is an economic one. The Renaissance cars were relatively inexpensive, and at the time of the purchase, VIA was losing money rapidly.
There is a political issue here which goes beyond accessible transportation, and that is whether Canadians want a rail network at all, and to what extent they are prepared to support it.
