A man with mobility issues hopes to see policy changes after his walking stick was taken from him at an event at the Burton Cummings Theatre on Tuesday.
David Vamos was attending the "Haters Roast The Shady Tour" at the theatre. After he and a friend had sat down, he said a security guard approached him and demanded he surrender the walking stick as it wasn’t a certified mobility device and could be used as a weapon.
Vamos said in an interview that he gave the security guard the walking stick with the understanding it would be brought to him when he needed to use the washroom or go to the concession.
At intermission, Vamos said his friend went to speak to staff about getting the walking stick back, but wasn't successful.
“They were insistent it could be used as a weapon,” Vamos said.
When Vamos’ friend asked how he would be able to get to the washroom, they said someone from the staff would escort Vamos there.
“That was a blow to my dignity,” he said. “They were not the folks that I wanted to escort me to the washroom.”
Instead of staying to the end of the show as he had planned, Vamos and his friend left early to avoid the crowds.
“That could potentially be a really unsafe situation for me, so we wound up leaving early,” he said.
True North Sports and Entertainment (TNSE), the company that owns and manages the Burton Cummings Theatre, said in a statement: “True North works hard to ensure people who attend concerts and events at our venues have an enjoyable and safe experience, and thousands do on a weekly basis. Our events team receives ongoing customer and patron services training, though in this incident, we did not provide a level of service consistent with our values.”
It added: “Accordingly, we have reached out directly, apologized, and offered to host this customer and a guest at an upcoming event of his choosing at the Burton Cummings Theatre. We will also be reviewing the incident with our event leaders and their teams to ensure an interaction like this with a patron does not occur again in the future.”
Although Vamos said he appreciates the gesture, he just wants to see changes made to their policy and for people with disabilities to face fewer barriers when attending public events.
He wants TNSE to ensure all staff receive persons with disabilities training, review the layout for the lobby to ensure people with mobility issues can more easily enter and exit the building, and to recognize that mobility devices can look different for different people.
“An object that’s being used by a person with a disability to enhance their mobility is a mobility device. That’s in keeping with the Accessibilities for Manitobans Act,” Vamos said.
