May 1st 2019 - Bill C-81, An Act to ensure a barrier-free Canada - Various Witnesses
Senator Poirier: Thank you both for being here. My first question is for Mr. Folino. It is a follow-up to Senator Eaton. You mentioned that when you go to the doctor you call a bunch of different access centres, they set up the appointment for you in advance, and when you get to the doctor there is somebody there who can provide sign-language interpretation so that you will be able to speak to your doctor.
Being from a small community in rural New Brunswick, I was just wondering what the services are in those kinds of areas as compared to urban Canada. Do you know if services are available throughout Canada? I’m just wondering, in certain areas, how accessible would it be for a doctor to have somebody come in and provide that service. Are you aware of the percentage, if it is available, for services across Canada equally?
[Interpretation]
Mr. Folino: Thank you for your question. We have a national association, the Canadian Association of Sign Language Interpreters, CASLI. They have roughly 800 to 900 members, professional sign-language interpreters, who serve the ASL community. For the French LSQ community, there are roughly 200 interpreters who are under the Association québécoise des interprètes en langues des signes, AQILS. They are both professional associations. So there are 800 ASL English and 200 LSQ French, which is approximately 1,000 interpreters in Canada.
Yes, I recognize that’s a small number. When this bill is passed, the support will be in place to grow that capacity and support programs to produce more sign-language interpreters. That will then provide more opportunities of employment for interpreters in the Deaf community in order to facilitate communication.
To answer your question about rural areas, there are definitely challenges for in-person interpreting, depending on where they are located, but they could access video-remote interpreting. They could connect via video to an interpreter at those appointments. At the same time, it is undeniably true that we need more sign-language interpreters, and we need to grow that capacity. Recognizing ASL and LSQ will help with a barrier-free Canada.
[English]
Senator Poirier: On a different subject — and the question is for both of you. The legislation proposes that there be four different bodies responsible for dealing with complaints related to accessibility. From what we’ve heard, advocacy groups and accessibility experts have expressed some concerns regarding this and how it might lead to some confusion.
Do you have any concerns about the proposed complaints framework in the bill? If so, why?
The Chair: Who wants to answer that question?
[Interpretation]
Mr. Folino: Yes. We have similar concerns. Along with the disabled community, the Deaf community is also concerned about where they would lodge their complaints. If there are four entities, it can become confusing where to lodge a complaint. There needs to be one door where they can facilitate where those complaints go. That will be more efficient and solve the problem, instead of putting the onus on us to go to the various bodies and then being told that we’ve lodged our complaint in the wrong place. That just prolongs the process, and it may take two, three or four years to resolve. That’s our concern.
So we would like one standard, one door through which to lodge our complaint.
For instance, the chief accessibility commissioner could receive those complaints and then triage them. That would help. A streamlined complaints process would lessen the anxiety for the disabled and Deaf community.
[English]
Ms. Wang: I absolutely agree. Having a very streamlined process will be very useful.
From all the research we have done related to accessing services for assistive technologies and rehab services, having multiple channels where people access services becomes very complicated. People are indicating that they have to repeat their stories multiple times to multiple people. In many cases it is an assault to their dignity, because they have to keep repeating the same thing to different people who, at every stage of their discussion, may or may not fully understand what their concerns are.
Having one access point where it is triaged in the background or where their complaint is put through to the right channel is definitely something that can improve the lives of people with disabilities.