CCD Chairperson's Update: June 2010

This Update shares information about CCD's Annual General Meeting and some additional activities undertaken by CCD during the month of June.

Annual General Meeting 2010

Executive Committee--The Council elected a new Executive Committee. The newly constituted Committee consists of:

• Tony Dolan, Chairperson
• Roy Muise, Vice Chair
• Susan Ralph, Vice Chair
• Claredon Robicheau, Secretary
• Mary Ennis, Treasurer
• Terry Green, Member at Large
• Marie White, Past Chairperson

Committee Chairs—The Council re-appointed Committee chairs for a one-year term.

• Dean Richert and Anne Levesque, Human Rights Committee Co-chairs
• Rhonda Wiebe and Dean Richert, Ending of Life Ethics Committee Co-chairs
• Marie White, Social Policy Committee Chair
• Steve Estey and Mary Ennis, International Development Committee Co-chairs
• Pat Danforth, Transportation Committee Chair
• John Rae and Gary Birch, Access to Technology Committee Co-chairs

CCD Award—The following recipients were announced:

• BCCPD — Jeanette Andersen
• ACCD — Hilda Campbell and Lorrie Goegan
• SK Voice — Margie Bort
• MLPD — Daniel Halechko
• COPHAN — Marc-Andrė Burelle-Favron
• NS-LEO — Steven Estey
• PEI Council -- Bernie Wilson
• COD — John Collins
• CAD — Martin Bergevin
• DAWN/RAFH Canada — Dr. Michelle Owen
• NEADS — Mahadeo Sukhai and Jennifer Dillon
• TVAC — Terry Vachon (Mrs.)
• CWD–O — Terrance Green
• AEBC — Irene Lambert

Tribute to Retiring Chairperson Marie White—On Friday evening, CCD thanked Marie White for her dedication to the organization. Marie served a record four terms as Chairperson. While retiring as Chairperson, Marie will continue her involvement as Past Chairperson and as Chairperson of the Social Policy Committee.

During the celebration for Marie, CCD staged a one-woman play called "One in Five", starring Winnipeg actor Jane Burpee. The play focuses on the issues of women with a mental health disability.

CRPD Workshop—Steve Estey presented a workshop on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) for CCD Council on 11 June 2010. During the morning of 10 June 2010, Steve delivered an information session on the CRPD for Manitoba Government officials and then in the afternoon shared the same information with the Manitoba League of Persons with Disabilities (MLPD).

Disabling Poverty/Enabling Citizenship Research Project

Mid-term Evaluation Report Completed—The project team submitted its mid-term evaluation report to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. During the month, the three project themes—Demographics, Legal and Policy—currently undertaking research, have published a number of reports on the Disabling Poverty/Enabling Citizenship web page. For example, the following new reports are available for your summer reading:

National Action Plan on Disability

Housing Is A Human Right—CCD continues to make Canadians aware of the disability community's National Action Plan, which is built upon a human rights foundation. This month, CCD Executive Member Susan Ralph was a panelist at this year's CASHRA conference. Drawing upon the National Action Plan and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Susan's presentation focused on the disability community's objectives regarding accessible housing and de-institutionalization. An institution is not a home and CCD believes that everyone has a right to live, with disability-related supports, if needed, in a home in the community.

Ending of Life Ethics Committee Members Make Presentation

CCD On Parliament Hill--On 16 June 2010, Rhonda Wiebe and Jim Derksen, appeared before the House of Commons Committee on Palliative and Compassionate Care to explain how negative attitudes about disability put people with disabilities in harm's way and to suggest recommendations on how to improve the medical care and public policy environments, as both are affected by negative stereotypes about disability.

On 17 June 2010, Rhonda Wiebe met with Senator Sharon Carstairs to discuss CCD's position on end of life issues. Senator Carstairs has just completed the Senate report "Raising the Bar: A Roadmap for the Future of Palliative Care in Canada" (June 2010).

Announcement: Webinars Coming to A Computer Near You

Over the past year, CWDO has planned and delivered 32 online seminars – webinars – on topics ranging from “Financial Planning” to “Emerging Ideas in Critical Disability Studies.” Most of these webinars are now archived and posted on our website.

This fall, CWDO is planning two more webinars related to website accessibility. The first, Planning and Purchasing an Accessible Web-site, will be held August 10, 2010 from 1-2 pm (EST). It will be of interest to those with novice to intermediate technical skills. It will show participants how to develop their websites, what an accessible website is, the role websites play in business today, why it is beneficial for your company/organization to have one and who benefits from an accessible website. The presenters are Everett Zufelt and Michael Gifford, who are professionals in their field.
 

Implementing WCAG 2.0 is the second webinar, and it is being offered for intermediate to advanced website designers on September 10, 2010 from 1-4 pm (EST). This in-depth webinar will be led Michael Cooper from the World Wide Web Consortium’s Web Accessibility Initiative. Michael will demystify WCAG 2.0 and help participants understand how to implement the standards.
 

All CWDO webinars are offered free of charge and may be attended by anyone, anywhere, with internet access. Real-time captioning and other accommodation is made available upon request to ensure full participation. Webinars are presented in English.
 

We sincerely hope you will get acquainted with us through our webinars. Plan to participate, and mark the dates in your calendar now!
For more information and to register, click on the webinar links.


Terrance Green, Chairperson
Citizens With Disabilities – Ontario