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Today, Government officials announced support for two local housing initiatives built for low-income families and persons with disabilities. Please click on the attached web link for the full news release.
http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=2326c3d8-d3fb-4f80-a39d-621a13dff635
In these sessions you will learn:
Eligibility requirements
Application process
What services/goods are eligible for funding
Where and how to get cost estimates
Tips on writing a cover page
What to do with the money once you receive it
Dates / Times:
Tuesday, July 6, 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m.
Tuesday, August 10, 10-11 a.m.
Tuesday, August 24, 10-11 a.m.
Contact:
Chasity Berast
chasity.berast@usask.ca • 966-2669
Session will take place in Room G17 in the Library Learning Commons
Canadian Transportation Agency uses new communications tool to improve service to persons with disabilities. Selected print publications from the Canadian Transportation Agency are now available as digital talking books – a major service improvement for persons with impaired vision or who cannot use print media.
The Agency is currently one of the few federal government departments to make available some of its key publications in the latest version of the Digital Accessible Information System, or DAISY 4.0. Publications such as the Agency’s Code of Practice: Aircraft Accessibility for Persons with Disabilities are now available in the DAISY format.
The Agency is responsible for ensuring that the federal transportation network is accessible. It has developed several Codes of Practice in close consultation with the Canadian transportation industry and the community of persons with disabilities.
The Aircraft Accessibility Code addresses the physical accessibility of passenger aircrafts used by Canadian air carriers. It provides guidance on many issues, including floor space for service dogs, tactile row markers for persons who are blind or have a visual impairment, storage space for passenger-owned wheelchairs, and more. The Code now becomes more widely accessible in its DAISY format.
"Our goal is to keep our stakeholders informed on the initiatives we have in place to ensure an accessible federal transportation network in Canada," says Geoff Hare, the Agency Chair and CEO. "We feel that making our publications available in DAISY 4.0 will go a long way to meet the needs of Canadians who are blind or have a visual impairment.”
The DAISY format improves on traditional audio books through its navigation and search functions. A user can jump from point to point in the publication, just as a sighted user can flip from page to page. In traditional audio books, the user can move forward and backward, and bookmark content in certain players, but the user cannot search the book.
In addition to its Codes of Practice, the Agency has issued a DAISY 4.0 version of its popular travel publication Take Charge of Your Travel: A Guide for Persons with Disabilities. This handy guide helps Canadians with disabilities to travel with greater ease and confidence. It describes accessible services and features available to travellers with disabilities.
Along with Take Charge, the Agency’s Reservation Checklist for Persons with Disability – a unique step-by-step travel checklist– is available in the new DAISY format.
To view these publications, visit the Canadian Transportation Agency’s website at http://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/ For more information on DAISY, visit http://www.otc-cta.gc.ca/eng/daisy
Today, Pat Martin, NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre, will introduce a Private Member’s Bill calling for an accessibility audit of federally regulated transportation systems. This initiative results from a high school student competition called Create Your Canada, where students were asked to draft a bill to change the way our country works. Sam Unrau, a Grade 12 student with disability at Argyle Alternative High School in Winnipeg, is the winner of the competition and his proposed Bill focuses on requiring the Government of Canada to undertake an accessibility audit of all federally regulated transportation systems.
“Sam Unrau, as a high school student, has demonstrated considerable understanding of the barriers people with disabilities face in travelling across Canada. He gets it, and his good work creates an opportunity for Members of Parliament to address the erosion of access for persons with disabilities in federal transportation systems. We applaud his efforts and those of Member of Parliament Pat Martin,” said Marie White, Chairperson of CCD.
“If students understand the need for improved access, why doesn’t the Minister of Transport” asks Pat Danforth, Chair of CCD’s Transportation Committee. “The disability community has been frozen out of any dialogue with Transport Canada for almost 4 years. CCD’s repeated requests for a meeting with the Minister of Transport over the last four years have all been denied,” stated Danforth.
CCD members have identified numerous recent access issues. They include:
· Greater use of small planes that cannot carry a standard wheelchair in the cargo hold.
· Small plane use means less access to boarding ramps and deplaning onto the tarmac.
· Inadequate space for guide dogs in flight.
· Even after winning a 7 year legal battle with VIA Rail over their purchase of inaccessible passenger cars a member of CCD could not travel by train from Toronto to Vancouver for the Paralympics; she had to travel through the United States because their system is regulated for access, in fact they purchase some of their passenger rail cars from Bombardier in Canada because of their accessibility.
· Introduction of body scanners without any study or determination if they will be accessible. If not accessible, people with disabilities will be required to submit to the ore intrusive “pat down.”
· Installation by airlines of inaccessible entertainment systems. The system was accessible to persons with vision impairments before but the new system is not.
· Although ordered to do so interprovincial bus systems that span neighbouring communities refuse to call out bus stops.
Canada, once a leader in accessibility, has lost considerable ground. Britain, Australia and the United States all have enforceable access regulations and service providers know what they must do. Here in Canada we continue with “voluntary codes of practice” and people with disabilities are left with a system where through the complaint system they have to remove one barrier at a time.
“Sam Unrau’s accessibility audit idea is a good one. We applaud his understanding and the support of Pat Martin. Let’s hope others in the Government of Canada will take note and act to improve access through the establishment of enforceable regulations,” said Laurie Beachell, National Coordinator of CCD.
For more information contact:
Pat Danforth, Chairperson CCD Transportation Committee – 250-383-4443
Marie White, CCD National Chairperson – 709-739-8233
Laurie Beachell, CCD National Coordinator – 204-947-0303
Sam Unrau, Student Argyle Alternative High School – email: lancer12@shaw.ca
Living with Chronic Pain, or working with someone who is. This seminar will present some information about how to manage chronic pain. Included in this discussion would be various topics, such as, pain basics and definitions, chronic versus acute pain. As well as, different models of pain-management, different psychological approaches to pain management, and concrete strategies for coping with chronic pain. There will also be information on pain-related resources. For example, books, websites, and community-based resources.
LOCATION: REACH Canada, 400 Coventry Road, 3rd Floor (Enbridge Building) Ottawa
A light lunch will be served!!!
Don’t miss this unique learning opportunity.
A new group home for people with intellectual disabilities officially opened today in Regina thanks to multiple funding partners, including the Government of Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, the City of Regina and the Kinsmen Foundation. Please click on the attached web link for the full news release.
http://www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=7efc69b5-3567-418a-b944-1e40ff54ae27
A 17-unit apartment building located in Pleasant Hill, a core neighbourhood of Saskatoon, is officially open for persons with mental illness, both singles and couples, following an investment of $1.6 million.
Of that amount, $1.3 million in funding was provided by the province through Saskatchewan Housing Corporation, with $160,000 from the City of Saskatoon and $131,000 from the Saskatoon Housing Coalition. The project was undertaken by Saskatchewan Housing in partnership with the Saskatoon Housing Coalition, a non-profit organization serving individuals with chronic mental illness since 1983.
"Our government is committed to putting vulnerable people first in this province," Saskatoon Sutherland MLA Joceline Schriemer said on behalf of Social Services Minister and Minister responsible for Saskatchewan Housing Corporation Donna Harpauer. "We are proud to have contributed $1.3 million in funding for this initiative and, most importantly, improve the quality of life for tenants in need of stable, quality, affordable housing and supportive services to optimize their independence."
"The City of Saskatoon is proud to support the Saskatoon Housing Coalition as they provide quality, clean and supportive housing units to people in our community with significant life challenges," Saskatoon Mayor Donald Atchison said. "These units are part of the city's commitment to reach 500 new affordable housing units each year in our community. We congratulate the Saskatoon Housing Coalition on their housing program and helping to make a city where all can participate in its growth and success."
"The Board of Directors and staff were extremely pleased to acquire this building as a means to address the waiting list for our services," Saskatoon Housing Coalition Executive Director Jo-Ann Coleman Pidskalny said. "For over 25 years, we have searched for opportunities to expand our capacity to deliver much-needed supportive residential services to those living with a chronic mental illness in Saskatoon. We thank Saskatchewan Housing Corporation and the City of Saskatoon for helping to make this possible."
Renovations to the building included mechanical and finishing replacements, as well as windows, doors and roofing. The suites are a mix of one- and two-bedroom units. The Saskatoon Housing Coalition will offer clients counselling and life skills supports, as well as recreational programming.
For more information, contact:
Linda Saliken
Social Services
Regina
Phone: 306-787-0246
linda.saliken@gov.sk.ca