A local business owner has taken a small but significant step in making Jasper more accessible.

Ever since she opened the Bear’s Paw and Other Paw Bakeries, Kim Stark has always known the stores weren’t wheelchair friendly.

“It always bothered me,” she said. “There’s that small step up that makes it hard to get in the door.”

Since she became a mom, similar barriers have become even more noticeable. Pushing a stroller around is a good way to find out which stores and sidewalks are accessible and which are not.

“It’s amazing how your perspective changes,” she said.

This fall, Stark got a new perspective on how she could address accessibility in her cafés. A musician entertaining guests as part of Via Rail’s Artists Onboard program noticed the Other Paw could do well with a ramp. Tim Moxam, a Toronto musician and carpenter, has been working with the StopGap Foundation to raise awareness about the importance of a barrier-free society. Moxam introduced himself to Stark, they took some measurements, and within a few weeks both of her bakeries had a bright red, wooden, moveable ramp where a step formerly acted as a barrier.

“It’s definitely an improvement,” Stark says, “although it still bothers me that the bathroom [at The Other Paw] is inaccessible.”

The StopGap Foundation will take the small win, however. Whenever the conversation about accessibility can move forward, founder and executive director Luke Anderson celebrates. 

Anderson himself lives with a spinal cord injury as a result of a mountain bike crash 17 years ago. An engineer by trade, Anderson was pleased that his office put in a moveable ramp so he could access the building with his wheelchair, but realized that he always had to ask someone to deploy the eight foot aluminum incline—hardly an indication of his independence.

“For eight years, every time I needed to get in and out I relied on someone else,” he said. 

That served as the tipping point for Anderson. Soon after, the StopGap Foundation was formed. Since then, Anderson and his partners have installed more than 2,000 ramps in more than 60 communities across Canada.

That Jasper has come on board with StopGap is encouraging for Jasper’s Justin Reidler. As a person who uses a wheelchair, Reidler knows all too well the barriers that exist all over town—especially with a foot of snow on the ground.

“It’s pretty hard to get around in this weather,” he said.

Before the snow fell, Reidler got a chance to try the new ramp at the Bear’s Paw. His thoughts?

“It’s a lot better than it was,” he says. “But it’s still not the best.”

The door, because it swings out, is hard to open while on the ramp. The door handle is awkwardly high. And the incline makes it tough to stay balanced while opening the door and a bit dangerous while coming out.

“If someone isn’t careful momentum could take them into the street or someone’s car,” he suggested.

Overall, however, Reidler is happy the effort is being made. And Stark was happy to get the feedback. Reidler knows that in a small town, with archaic infrastructure, it’s not always feasible for businesses to have a button-operated automatic door.

“I get it,” he said.

Allie Jenkins-Bennett gets it too. Jenkins-Bennett also uses a wheelchair—albeit a powered model. Although he lives in Calgary these days, Jenkins-Bennett grew up in Field, B.C. and lived in Jasper for several years. Small towns, more than cities, are more likely to have small but significant barriers to accessibility, he said.

“There’s so many places that have just a tiny little step,” he said. “It seems like nothing until you’re in a wheelchair, then it’s really hard.”

And it’s not just folks who use a wheelchair who can feel ostracized by community infrastructure. Elderly people, people with an injury, stroller-pushing parents and people whose jobs require them to push a cart or dolly are affected by barriers.

“Canadians have the human right to equal access,” Anderson says. “That’s what really inspired the ramp project.”

Anderson understands the reasons businesses and communities don’t address accessibility, which give him all the more energy to make change.

“Awareness is spreading,” he said. “A ramp lands in Jasper and it draws attention. It gets people talking. And hopefully there’s a domino effect.”

For local business owners or community members wanting to make their spaces more accessible, get in touch with the StopGap Foundation.

“We’re looking for advocates,” Anderson says.

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com