Steinbach
Green Party of Manitoba (GPM) - Candidate: Gabrielle Simard-Nadea
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline
Manitoba Liberal Party (MLP) - Candidate: Cyndy Friesen
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
I have numerous family members and friends who have disabilities that affect their daily lives.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
Basic needs: I believe that every person deserves a basic standard of dignity.
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?
I believe that this is a result from lack of action and political will to help improve the lives of those living with disabilities. Here is a recent example:
Just last week, the province rejected a recent budget increase request from Manitoba’s publicly funded wheelchair program. This wheelchair program hasn't had a funding increase since 2011. This hiring freeze means repairs for more than 850 wheelchairs won’t be completed this year and backlogs will be compounded for years to come.
New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) - Candidate: Gord Meneer
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC) - Candidate: Kelvin Goertzen
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
While I have not lived with a disability personally, like most Manitobans, I have family members and friends who were either born with disabilities or developed them during their lives. Through them I have grown a personal understanding, although not a lived experience, about the challenges experienced when systems and structures are not properly designed for those with disabilities but also an appreciation that potential is not defined by disabilities (as many are leaders in a variety of personal and professional aspects).
One of the strongest advocates for community living for those with disabilities was my predecessor and friend Jim Penner, who helped to lead the discussion of ensuring that community living, not institutional living, would be the standard for those with disabilities in Manitoba.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
While each of the areas are important, the issue of employment for those with disabilities is of special interest to me because it touches so specifically on an individual’s connectedness to community and to self-worth. I have personal experience working in employment settings alongside those living with disability as well as participating in the Take Your MLA to Work initiative as an elected official. From those I have seen just how important employment opportunities are to the individual but also how they benefit the workplace and those within it.
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?
While I have not seen specific data on the nature of the disability discrimination complaints made to the Manitoba Human Rights Commission, the fact that there is such a disparity undoubtedly speaks to the fact that there are significant challenges related to fairness and human rights for the disabled. It also likely speaks to the feeling that the Human Rights Commission itself is seen as an open, effective, and appropriate place with which to bring these complaints.
Analysis would be valuable to determine the pattern of these complaints. Most complaints to the Human Rights Commission are a recognition that at some point there has been a breakdown of communication or trust between individuals or organizations. An analysis may determine the pattern of these complaints and what proactive measures could be taken to try to ensure appropriate resolutions can be reached before a Manitoba Human Rights Commission complaint is seen as necessary.