The Canadian Association of the Deaf / L’Association des 
Sourds du Canada
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 5, 2006

Federal government accepts court decision for Deaf, deafened, and hard of hearing Canadians

Ottawa, ON – The federal government has announced that it will not appeal a landmark court decision that guarantees deaf and hard of hearing Canadians equal access to federal programs and services.

The Canadian Association of the Deaf (CAD) and four Deaf individuals had hired Deaf lawyer Scott Simser to take the federal government to court over its failures to provide meaningful access for Canadians who are deaf, deafened, deaf-blind, or hard of hearing.

On August 12, 2006, the Federal Court of Canada decided in favour of the plaintiffs.  The court issued three declarations:

a)      Where a deaf or hard of hearing person receives services or participates in programs administered by the Government of Canada, Sign language interpreters are to be provided.

b)      Where the Government of Canada engages in public or private consultations with non-governmental organizations in the development of policy and programs in which the deaf and hard of hearing have identifiable interests, Sign language interpreters must be provided where organizations of deaf and hard of hearing people wish to be involved.

c)      In the above circumstances, the Government of Canada is responsible for the cost of access.

On October 2nd, Mr. Simser received word by email from the Department of Justice that no appeal of the decision will be launched.  
Sheila Carlin, Canadian Association of the Deaf President, proclaimed, “The government has recognized that Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and hard of hearing Canadians have the right to access federal programs and services on an equal basis with all other citizens.  These are fundamental civil rights and must be protected.”
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James Roots, CAD’s Executive Director and one of the individual plaintiffs, added,  “It is important that people understand we are not being given special rights.  For example, under the government’s former policy, we couldn’t even meet with our own MP’s because no accessibility was being provided.  What could be a more fundamental right in a democratic society than being able to meet with your elected representative, either in public or in private?”
"We at The Canadian Hearing Society view the federal court decision as a victory for both Deaf Canadians and the government,” said Kelly Duffin, President and CEO of the Canadian Hearing Society. “We also applaud the government's decision not to appeal as appropriate recognition that Deaf Canadians should have the same access to their government as hearing Canadians." 

  
 
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Contacts: 

Sheila Carlin, President
Canadian Association of the Deaf
(204) 284-9373 (TTY) 
(204) 284-0802 (Voice)
sheilaatdrc@mobility.blackberry.net 

Scott Simser, Lawyer
simser@rogers.blackberry.net (pager)
scott@simserconsulting.com (e-mail)
 
Jim Roots
Executive Director
Canadian Association of the Deaf
(613) 565-2882 (Voice)
(613) 565-8882 (TTY)