Canadian Senator and 14-time Paralympic gold medallist Chantal Petitclerc is speaking out after falling on a Montreal sidewalk on Halloween. In an interview, Petitclerc, who uses a wheelchair, said she was on her way home with her 11-year-old son and a few friends and family when she hit a major crack in the pavement on St-Hubert Street in the Ville-Marie borough. “It was more of a big hole, a couple of inches deep,” Petitclerc said. “Deep enough for my little front wheels to fall into it instead of riding on top, and that just threw me out of my wheelchair.” She sustained multiple injuries during the fall. “The first day was just a big bruise and a bump on my forehead, but it turned into a major black eye that lasted about 10 days and left some scarring. That’s the part I’m not too happy about,” she said. Petitclerc emphasized the need to address the poorly maintained sidewalks and the daily challenges faced by people with reduced mobility. “Because of the holes, the cracks, the uneven or missing ramps, and the construction sites, it seems to me that no one is really thinking about how to make sure these street and sidewalk conditions don’t have a disproportionate impact on people with disabilities, and that’s the case,” the senator explained. Petitclerc said that on a day-to-day basis, she carefully considers where to go and which streets to take because of the condition of the sidewalks. She added that she sometimes avoids going out, even for routine activities like picking up her son, because of the constant obstacles and the need to watch her every step. “I’m very mobile and independent and that’s why I decided to go public with this,” she said, noting that she even had trouble voting during last month’s municipal election because of construction. Walter Zelaya with Moelle épinière et motricité Québec (Mémo-Québec), a provincial advocacy group for people with spinal cord injuries and mobility impairments, said Petitclerc’s fall highlights a systemic problem: people with disabilities are routinely overlooked in urban planning, despite facing disproportionate risks on damaged sidewalks. He said years of warnings from advocacy groups have gone unheeded, leaving thousands of people with reduced mobility navigating obstacles that shouldn’t exist in 2025. “People with disabilities are among the forgotten in our society,” Zelaya said. “Unfortunately, it takes a public figure ‘falling on their face,’ as we say, for anyone to pay attention. But there are dozens of people facing the same problems every day.” He noted that addressing the problem will require action across all levels of government and society, with accessibility treated as a priority rather than an afterthought. In a statement, the City of Montreal said it sympathizes with Petitclerc following the accident. “As soon as we were informed of the situation, we went to the site to assess the condition of the sidewalk, and our crews carried out the necessary repairs so the area would be safe for all users,” said Hugo Bourgoin, a spokesperson for the City of Montreal. “This section of the sidewalk will be rebuilt when weather conditions allow, next spring.” Bourgoin also urged residents to report safety issues on streets or sidewalks by calling 311 or using the Montréal – Services aux citoyens app, noting that no complaints were filed about that stretch of sidewalk in the past five years. “I think it’s not acceptable. As a Montrealer, as a taxpayer, and as a person with a disability who has rights, it’s not asking a favour,” Petitclerc said. “I feel that when my right to live in a city and to carry out my activities, my work, and my responsibilities as a parent is blocked because of the condition of a street, it becomes a question of human rights.”
