Saskatchewan group advocates for accessibility — starting in their neighbourhood

Barrier Free Saskatchewan is a group that wants to see better accessibility in the city.

Group member Rodney Sawa is one of the residents hoping to bring attention to the Demarco and Second Avenue area after concerns were been raised about the sidewalk and road conditions, including severe cracks in the roads, unevenness and drainage concerns.  These concerns have been brought to the City of Regina’s attention for years, but nothing has been done to fix the situation.

Sawa and fellow group member Terri Sleeva are both people with disabilities and have encountered many issues getting around the city. Sawa wasn’t always disabled and shared that he found the city inaccessible even as an able-bodied individual.

“The city has been ignoring our communities, especially our older neighbourhoods, and they’re spending money on other projects that I feel is not more important,” Sawa says.

Dating back to 2024, Sawa has sent out emails to the city, getting back responses indicating plans to fix the issues on his street. But, over time, the City of Regina changed its mind and said there’s nothing to fix.

Get daily National news

Get daily Canada news delivered to your inbox so you'll never miss the day's top stories.

Sign up for daily National newsletter Get Started

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“They’re aware of the issues but the city still isn’t doing anything about it,” he says.

Sleeva’s caregiver has also seen the issues in the city first-hand.

“It’s always a difficult thing to wheel someone or even walk as a person who is able to walk because there’s cracks or whatever on the sidewalks,” says Evelyn Nsohbono, a caregiver for the past three years.

She says she believes being a caregiver is a beautiful thing, but it can be incredibly difficult when you need to take your client outside and face inaccessibility head-on.

Although Barrier Free Saskatchewan is bringing attention to the Demarco and Second Avenue area, they see accessibility as a larger issue in the city and want to see more ramps, accessible bathrooms, automatic door openers and handrails.

“Why aren’t they prioritizing? Because big money speaks first and people with disabilities, a lot of people live in poverty,” Sleeva says.

The City of Regina says its accessibility plan outlines several measures to strengthen sidewalk and pedestrian infrastructure and funding has been approved for 2026 to increase sidewalk and maintenance, expand snow removal and add more pedestrian ramps.

But Barrier Free Saskatchewan says they won’t be keeping quiet until the changes on the street are made.