Thompson
Manitoba Liberal Party (MLP) - Candidate: Roy Jemison
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
Disabilities played a large role in my professional life in the past as I served in a fundraising and communications role for large a Manitoba charitable organization serving the disabled community, which gave me a better understanding of the systemic barriers people with disabilities in our province face, along with their families. I spearheaded communications for an initiative to make assistive technologies available more accessible and affordable for the disabled and worked on campaigns to fight stigma. Personally, my late mother was disabled for the last years of her life from a terminal medical condition, which placed a large caregiving burden upon my father and brought home to our family the inadequacy of available supports in the community. We can and must do better.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
DMVote’s priorities are all important and deserve equal effort, but where I believe the greatest immediate impact can be made is to prioritize implementation of the Accessibility for Manitobans Act already on the books. Compliance requirements need to be increased to cover more organizations, building accessibility needs to be included in the Built Environment Standard, and recommendations from the disability community to strengthen the Act need to be seriously considered, not dismissed out of hand by a government that shows time and again that it just doesn’t care.
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 stems from ignorance and prejudice, and much work needs to be done to fight both. Despite best efforts, people think disabilities are someone else’s issue until it affects them, even though the statistical chance of anyone experiencing a disability is 1 in 4 during one’s working years and even higher as one enters old age.
New Democratic Party of Manitoba (NDP) - Candidate: Eric Redhead
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
As the son of a mother who is a double amputee, our family has seen first hand the barriers in place for people living with disabilities. From inaccessible spaces, to stigma, lack of inclusion, and the struggle to access adequate healthcare in a timely manner we have seen the effects it can have on a families wellbeing ones physical.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
All of them.
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?
Stigma around people living with disability is a major contributing factor. One of the things we can do to address this is educating the public on breaking through the stigma and helping the general public see the ability in people and not the DISability. Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
The Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba (PC) - Candidate: Linda Markus
Q: How have disabilities played a role in your life and the lives of your loved ones?
I have built a career through serving the needs of special needs students in the school system. I have supported wheelchair dependant students, as an educational assistant. I have been a special needs classroom teacher and resource teacher. I have been a school and divisional student services administrator. I completed a Master’s degree in Student Services Programming and Administration. I am completing a Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership with a focus on Social Justice and Equity. I served as a MB Education Review Commissioner where my focus promoted the provision of Student Services in Northern MB.
Q: Which one of DMVote’s 5 priority issues is of the greatest interest to you and why?
Skilled workforce; as we have over 100,000 unfilled jobs in MB. Many individuals served by Manitoba Possible could take on meaningful jobs here with the right supports.
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?
Lack of awareness and supports from society would be the greatest barrier.