Wheelchair user says ‘discriminatory’ Habs policy forced him to beg for tickets

With the Habs falling just shy of reaching the Stanley Cup final last spring, Joey Racanelli, like most fans, couldn’t wait to buy tickets for the upcoming season. 

But when single-game tickets went on sale in early September, his excitement was short-lived.

As a wheelchair user, he buys tickets in the Bell Centre’s accessible seating section. He typically goes to four or five games a season. But without warning, he says the Canadiens quietly changed their policy on reduced mobility seats, limiting him to one match for the entire season.

“I don't think it's their goal,” he added, “but it certainly feels discriminatory.”

Unlike other customers who can purchase tickets online, customers who want reduced mobility seating don’t have that option. They have to call or go in person to the Bell Centre ticket office. 

Racanelli described the experience on the phone with the agent as he tried to get to the bottom of why his access was being restricted as embarrassing: “I basically had to beg for more tickets and I still couldn’t get them.”

Steven Laperrière, the general manager of the disability advocacy group Regroupement des activistes pour l'inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), says setting different limits to the number of tickets a disabled person can buy could amount to a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“You cannot discriminate against persons because of their handicap, you cannot do that.” Laperrière said. 

He also takes issue with the policy at large. “Why would a person be only allowed to have only one game per season? We’re in a free country, right?” 

CBC confirmed through several other Habs fans who use wheelchairs that Racanelli's experience was not isolated.

Quebec wheelchair user says new ticket policy at