Dear Editor: I am writing this letter in reference to a conversation I had on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2017 with Susan Brake, the Seniors Advocate for Newfoundland and Labrador. Our conversation focused on the closure of the Bank of Nova Scotia that was located at 62 Broadway, Corner Brook, and the inconvenience that this has caused to seniors, the handicapped and to all people in the area.
This move to the Corner Brook Plaza is causing havoc and undue stress for many people. Accessibility to this bank location at the Corner Brook Plaza is proving to be very inconvenient for some, the elderly and handicapped especially.
The No. 1 problem with this location is that there is no outside entrance to the bank. When I asked questions as to why, I was told this was a security issue. Another client was told it was because of fire regulations. I asked to speak to a manager, who said the reason for no outside entrance was a security issue and in the case of a robbery.
It seems the bank here in the Corner Brook Plaza has to follow rules put in place in the Toronto office.
We are living in a technical world. I’m sure the bank can put security in place for an outside entrance. We cannot compare ourselves to the city of Toronto. First of all we do not have the same demographics as Toronto and second if someone wanted to rob the bank it wouldn’t matter where the entrance was. Corner Brook is nothing like Toronto. The topic we are discussing is the inconvenience to the customers. Our population today is made up mostly of seniors.
We haven’t planned for the explosion of the senior’s population and the number of handicapped people this brings. Seniors are the pioneers of this country. Our money built it but now we are being discriminated against. We need an outside entrance that can be accessed by all. Seniors want to be classed as proud independent people, but how can this be when we are denied access to an institution that handles our money.
Using security as an excuse is pathetic and uncalled for. Proper planning was not in place when the renovation to the Bank of Nova Scotia at the Corner Brook Plaza was planned out.
There was nothing in place to accommodate seniors or the handicapped citizens. This is unacceptable.
Israel Hann, Corner Brook
