Swan River
Keystone Party (KP) - Candidate: Donnan McKenna
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
I have a child with cerebral palsy. As I live in the rural area 4.5 hours away from Winnipeg, I take my daughter to Winnipeg frequently to access specialists that are not available in the smaller centres.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
Accessible Manitoba. This is an important priority as buildings need to be wheelchair accessible. When my daughter fell and broke her leg she was wheelchair bound. Navigating restrooms with a child in a child sized wheelchair was difficult enough, I can only imagine the difficulty in using an adult sized mobility device.
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 do not have access to all of the Human Rights complaints; however it would appear that discrimination against persons with disabilities stems from ignorance and barriers. Ignorance, for the most part, can be addressed through education. Barriers can be physical or policy based and require a concerted effort to address. This effort includes consultation with partners, addressing policy shortcomings and creating a plan to address the physical barriers. Some can be addressed through new build code enforcement, incentives for retrofitting and encouragement.
New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) - Candidate: Andy Maxwell
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC) - Candidate: Rick Wowchuk
The candidate did not respond by our September 20, 2023 deadline