Dear Council Members:

Recently I was informed that on November 21 from 7 to 9 PM the Kiwanis Santa Claus Parade will be a stationary display for persons to drive through. I understand that the city is offering a bus tour of the parade on November 21 during this event. I believe the city bus will be organizing at the terminal and then touring the parade displays. I certainly encourage this idea of the attempt to be inclusive to provide an alternative for persons who may not have a motor vehicle to tour the parade displays.

I should point out that the city transit ends service at 4:00 PM on Saturdays. So should a person without a vehicle and wanting to enjoy the offer of the City they would have to wait downtown from 4:00 PM to 7:00PM. I am presuming the terminal will be closed during this time. The alternative would be for persons who generally do not have a vehicle and may be persons with a disability and families of a limited income , would have to hire a taxi to take them to the terminal to catch the bus and then again use a taxi to return to their home after the parade bus tour.

So this wonderful offer of the City to have a bus tour of the parade displays seems to have a flaw in its creation for those of us that would like to take advantage of the offer.

As a person who is blind I certainly would enjoy having the displays described to me during the City bus tour. I would like to point out that for the bus offering to be accessible and inclusive to persons with various visual and learning disabilities an audio description during the bus tour would certainly be appreciated as a welcoming and encompassing effort of the City to include all of its varied residents.

As I said at the beginning of my letter, the City's offering of a bus tour of the parade displays is a wonderful idea and perhaps with some further thought it could be even more of a Joyous Holiday for all of our residents of Owen Sound.

Sincerely,

Donald Anderson, Owen Sound