There's a woman in the east-end fighting to get the bourough of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve to let her keep a plastic shelter for the wheelchair ramp outside her house.

Every fall, 54 year-old Lyna Vandal calls on a friend to put a sheet of plastic over her wheelchair ramp shelter to keep the snow and ice off the ramp. Without it, she says, her wheelchair is useless and she becomes a prisonner in her home until the spring thaw.  But the borough of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve recently advised that the thin sheet of plastic is a fire hazard and that she must get rid of it. Vandal says she can't afford the five-thousand dollars for a rigid shelter. 

Meantime, back at the borough office, mayor Real Menard says he's on the case. Menard says Vandal will be allowed to use a thicker plastic, such as that used on car shelters.  And if Vandal still can't afford that, Menard says the borough will look for a charitable organization or a government program that might cover the cost.  Hopeful news, says Vandal who will now watch for what happens next.