A Vancouver resident is coming forward after experiencing what she calls senior abuse at the Bonsor Recreation Complex last week.

Monica Tam has been a member of the Bonsor 55+ Society for more than five years and has taken advantage of the many activities on offer. She was a Burnaby resident for more than 20 years prior to moving to Vancouver in 2003 (the rec centre is about a 10-minute drive from her home).

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On Sept. 18, she and nearly 100 others gathered at the complex to register for the 2016 seniors’ badminton season. The program, according to the city’s registration guidelines, guaranteed 189 spots for Burnaby residents and 81 spots for non-locals, all given out on a first-come-first-serve basis.

Registration, meanwhile, didn’t open until 4 p.m. that Friday afternoon. Due to the sport’s popularity, however, about 15 people lined up overnight, Tam told the NOW.

The piano teacher arrived at the recreation complex around 8 a.m., had her information taken down – her name, her 55+ membership card number, and her proof of age and residence – and was told to sit tight in a designated waiting room on the second floor. Out of the 81 spots, she was number 77.

“I was told that once inside, we had to stay inside. There were two Bonsor staff literally guarding the floor, making sure no one leaves, or be punished by immediately losing their spot,” she said. “People could not go outside for any reason – not to get their medication, their laptop charger, or simply to get food.”

One man, she noted, left for a few minutes and had his spot revoked. Another, who also spoke with the NOW, was working on his computer throughout the morning. Around 1 p.m., his battery died and he was denied permission to go to his car to grab his charger.

“I mean, what kind of logic is that? This is a person who still has to work,” Tam said.

She added many in the group got hungry throughout the 10-hour wait (Bonsor opens at 6 a.m. weekdays).

“People were starving,” according to Tam, who said members couldn’t even go downstairs to get a snack from the vending machine. “The two young staff members said they were just following orders; that they could not allow anyone to go out. Luckily, there were some Burnaby members who came up and found out, and so they ordered food in for us.”

Tam called the whole ordeal a “fiasco” and an “abhorrent arrangement,” similar to “little kids being grounded.”

“I find it to be totally ridiculous. When you’re subjecting your senior citizens, … some in their high 80s, … to such kind of treatment, it’s unbelievable,” she added.

Tam told the NOW she’s perplexed about why registration wasn’t opened earlier, as in previous years.

Eric Bientjes, manager of recreation services with the City of Burnaby, said the decision to move registration to the afternoon – a first since the program launched more than three decades ago – was made in an attempt to deter people from lining up overnight.

“Staff have been working with the seniors’ society, trying to eliminate this whole issue for several years,” he said. “It’s obviously something which the seniors place so much value on, that they’re willing to line up for it. The irony is that everybody got in (this year).”

Program organizers will be reviewing the process for next year, including whether or not to move registration back to the morning, according to Bientjes.

“Our goal really is we don’t want people lining up. … This puts a lot of stress on the staff, it puts a lot of stress on the participants, it puts a lot of stress on the seniors’ society. We don’t want them waiting that long. It doesn’t do anybody any good,” he added. “Every year, (we’ve) tried something a bit different. So far, we haven’t found the solution.”

Asked about implementing a no-line up policy before 6 a.m., Bientjes suggested it would be hard to enforce. As for the can’t-leave-the-room policy, he said the rule was created because members in the past have tried to take advantage of the system.

Even though everyone got into the badminton group this time around, Tam said that hasn’t always been the case. In 2013, she was number 20 on the waitlist and never got a spot. She arrived at the complex around 6:30 a.m.

Shifting the registration and having strict rules, Tam believes, was done with good intentions. However, she said she can’t possibly see how anybody could cheat.

“When we entered, we were given a number, our ID cards were checked and our names put on a list. … It doesn’t make any sense to me.”