One of Nova Scotia’s prominent accessibility advocates has passed away earlier this week.
Alex Peeler of Conquerall Bank spent a great deal of his time fighting for changes throughout the province, and also served as the Event Coordinator for the Town of Bridgewater.
He was responsible for events such as the Music on the Riverbank series, the town’s first Virtual Canada Day celebration, and the Best of Bridgewater video series among others, said mayor David Mitchell.
“Alex was very much a filmmaker,” he said.
“It was his passion and very much his talent, and so he brought that unique perspective to the Best of Bridgewater online video series as well as to our virtual Canada Day celebration we held this year.”
Peeler suffered from a rare case of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and used his Youtube channel as a platform to discuss and highlight life with the disorder. He also premiered a short film at the Atlantic International Film Festival last fall detailing his daily life and efforts to bring more accessibility to the South Shore.
As the youngest member of the provincial advisory board on accessibility, Peeler pushed heavily for change not only in his hometown, but throughout the province.
“Engineers and experts designed the buttons you see at crosswalks to allow you to cross, but it was actually Alex who pointed out that the ones installed, he can’t use,” said Mitchell.
“They aren’t accessible for him, so despite all the experts saying this is where these buttons need to go, its someone like Alex to said, ‘These aren’t working for me, these need to change.'”
Mitchell said he wouldn’t be surprised if people began to notice a change in those buttons across the province in the near future.
Peeler was 27 when he passed Monday morning, and flags were flown at half mast outside town hall Tuesday in honour of him.