Brandon East
Manitoba Liberal Party (MLP) - Candidate: Trenton Zazalak
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
Disability has touched my life in many ways. My daughter was diagnosed with a degenerative neurological condition called Batter disease when she was four years old. She went from an active rambunctious child and in a very few short years she was unable to walk, talk, or even eat. After a decade of struggle she passed away in 2017. The year after that CFS approached us, because of our unique skills set caring for our daughter, to take in a foster daughter with severe CP and the following year another child with a cognitive disability. For 15 years we pushed wheelchairs in the snow, spent endless hours driving to specialist appointments in the dead of winter because Winnipeg has all the resources. You can say that despite not being disabled myself. I understand the hardships that disabled people face in this province every day.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
As for the five priorities issues. All of them. Each are uniquely different and all need to become a priority. I have a friend in Calgary who was an airline pilot and injured himself and is now a quadriplegic. He attempted suicide a couple of years ago because he didn't feel valued. So all of the priorities are important. Services, meaningful employment...they all need to be addressed.
Q: Disability discrimination has made up the largest share by far of all the formal complaints lodged with the Manitoba Human Rights Commission over the last 20 years. What do you think accounts for this and what do you think needs to be done to address it?
Discrimination seems to be becoming more popular as of late. I would imagine that the reason why the high level of discrimination is twofold. One accommodations are expensive and business owners, municipalities, etc, etc don't want to invest I the necessary hardware to make places accessible, and second is the discomfort people have around those with disabilities. I offer saw it when I am with my family or friends. People look on you with either distain or horror. They don't see disabled people as humans.
What should I do about it? It is such a gargantuan problem I don't even know where to begin. What would you do?
New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) - Candidate: Glen Simard
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC) - Candidate: Len Isleifson
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline