Applause For ASL Interpreters Amid Pandemic

Sign Language interpreters have become an essential part of keeping Deaf/HoH informed during daily briefings about the COVID-19 pandemic.

OTTAWA -- Amid the daily Coronavirus (COVID-19) briefings by multiple levels of government across Canada, a new public service figure is stepping into the spotlight - the American Sign Language Interpreter.

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Kenneth Searson has watched the profession grow across the country for years now. The Ottawa retiree, who is Deaf, recalled being left out of certain meetings because of a lack of interpreters during his 36 years working for the government.

Today, the 83-year-old feels proud to see so many interpreters conveying vital information daily - including his daughter Brenda Jenkins, regularly seen translating Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's coronavirus briefings into American Sign Language (ASL).

The Accessible Canada Act,, new legislation enacted in 2019, states that "all persons must have barrier-free access to full and equal participation in society." It also recognizes that ASL, Quebec Sign Language and Indigenous Sign Languages are primary languages of communication for Deaf Communities.

Thanks to the act, passed last June, "we are now seeing the presence of more and more sign language interpreters throughout Canada," said Jenkins, who was raised with sign language.

"I am a Child of Deaf Adults. This is my community. So I'm thrilled to see that there is finally parity and access for our community."

With so many Canadians tuning in to every COVID-19 press conference, the sign language interpreters alongside municipal, provincial and federal officials have become familiar faces in many households... Read The Full Story on CBC News.

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CRTC Launches Canada Video Relay Service

Deaf News: CRTC press releases "Video Relay Service: A new communications era in Canada."

OTTAWA - GATINEAU -- Today on September, 28, 2016 the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) joins the Canadian Administrator of the Video Relay Service (VRS) to launch this service during an event at the Museum of History, in the National Capital Region, along with the Honourable Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities.

The launch of the VRS opens a new communications era in Canada that will simplify communications between Canadians who are Deaf, Hard of Hearing or Speech Impaired and other Canadians, and vice versa.

This made-for-Canada service enhances the ability of Canadian’s whose first language is American Sign Language (ASL) or Langue des Signes Québécoise (LSQ) to participate fully in Canada’s communication system, and in Canadian society more broadly.

In October 2013, the CRTC held one of the most accessible public hearings in its history, during which Deaf, Hard-of-Hearing and Speech-Impaired Canadians spoke about how video relay service would make an important difference in their lives - as seen on this video in ASL with closed captions.

Quick Facts - It is estimated that there will be some 20,000 users of the Video Relay Service.

There is no charge to use the Video Relay Service. However, the service requires high-speed Internet access and an Internet-enabled device (e.g. a computer, smartphone, or tablet) that supports videoconferencing.

People who want to use the service can contact SRV Canada VRS to register.

The administrator, who is independent of the CRTC, manages the Video Relay Service and ensures its proper operation.

More details, please visit the CAV website: http://cav-acs.ca

“We believe people with disabilities should be able to fully participate in Canadian life as easily as anyone else. I understand what a difference it makes in a person’s life when they have the tools they need to succeed. So I am very pleased to see the launch of Canada’s Video Relay Service. This is a big step in the right direction.” - Carla Qualtrough, Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities

“The implementation of the Video Relay Service will have a concrete and positive impact on the lives of Canadians who are Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired. The CRTC appreciates all the efforts put forth to ensure the success of this new service. This initiative illustrates strongly Canada’s vision for an inclusive society which values equality of opportunity.” - Jean-Pierre Blais, Chairman of the CRTC.

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SOURCE

Follow @CAV:
Facebook - https://facebook.com/canadavrssrv
Official Site - http://cav-acs.ca

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Deaf Film 'Seen & Heard' Campaign Video

The film projects 'Seen & Heard' campaign video on Vimeo.

MONTREAL -- We've launched an Indiegogo campaign for this new documentary (currently in production) that shines a spotlight on Deaf and Hard of Hearing actors in a unique hearing/ Deaf collaboration.

Seen and Heard is an entertaining and eye-opening documentary, currently in production, that takes viewers backstage and into the lives and challenges of a unique mixed Deaf and hearing theatre group mounting a big new performance!

Seen and Heard is a new thought-provoking documentary currently being filmed following the backstage and performance exploits of a unique Canadian amateur theatre group where Deaf, hard of hearing and hearing cast and crew members collaborate.

We document the members of Seeing Voices Montreal as they rehearse and then perform a Deaf-themed version of The Little Mermaid. In this retelling, Ariel, a Deaf mermaid from the undersea world of Atlantis falls in love with a man from the land-based hearing world against her father’s wishes... Read The Full Story.

Visit us at http://seenandheardmovie.com

CRTC Approves Video Relay Service In Canada

CRTC announces the Deaf and Hard of Hearing people across Canada will have access to new video relay service.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission CRTC announced on April 22, 2014, that video relay services (VRS) will now be available in Canada for Deaf people who communicate in American Sign Language ASL and Langue des signes québécoise LSQ.

Video relay services enable callers to use the services of a sign language interpreter through the Internet. The interpreter interprets spoken English into sign for the deaf caller, and voices into English the signs of the Deaf caller.

“Many Canadians who are Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired learn American Sign Language or Langue des signes québécoise early in life," Peter Menzies, Vice-Chairman of Telecommunications, and Chairman of the hearing panel.

"In many cases, neither English nor French is their first language. Video relay service will make it possible for them to communicate in sign language with ease, whether it’s to make a doctor’s appointment, speak to a friend or make any other type of call. At the same time, we are taking the necessary steps to ensure that this service is introduced in an efficient manner and as quickly as possible.”

Users will require their own high-speed Internet service and a device connected to the Internet such as a smartphone, tablet, computer, or videophone. Additional services such as call display and voicemail will be billed at rates similar to those charged by other service providers.

An independent administrator will be created to supervise the implementation and provision of video relay services and ensure that the views of users are taken into account during the decision-making process. The CRTC will review the video relay service three years after it has been launched to determine whether the service is efficiently meeting the needs of Canadians.

The CRTC is requiring that VRS become available to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing or speech impaired as early as the fall of 2015. The VRS service is offered at no charge, but users must sign up to use it. People who want to use the service can use their own phone number to access VRS. An estimated 20,000 Canadians will be the primary users of VRS... Read More.

Chris Kenopic Vlog On CRTC VRS Announcement:

"CRTC announces that Deaf, hard of hearing or speech impaired people across Canada will have access to new telecommunications services in 2015! Chris Kenopic, president and CEO of the Canadian Hearing Society, delivers a vlog on VRS in Canada."

What If... The Quest for VRS in Canada:

"The BCVRS Committee has co-produced a short documentary-drama film with Lenois Productions. It speaks directly to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunication Commissioners about the reality of TTY vs. VRS in the Deaf community of Canada."

Funding to support video relay service in Canada will be taken from the National Contribution Fund, and will be capped at CAD 30 million annually. To ensure the perspectives of users are reflected in the decision making process, an independent administrator will be created to oversee the implementation and provision of video relay service... Read More.

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Montreal Institute For The Deaf Ex-Students Allege Horrific Abuses

Montreal School for the Deaf's ex-students allege horrific abuses by Catholic's pedophilia priests.

MONTREAL, Quebec -- Former students at a church-run institute for the Deaf in Montreal have come forward with graphic tales of sexual abuse they allege they suffered during more than four decades.

Quebec's Superior Court authorized a class-action lawsuit last March against members of the Clerics of St-Viateur who worked at the school, formerly known as the Montreal Institute for the Deaf.

The former boarding school was run by the Clerics of Saint-Viateur, a religious congregation founded in 1831.

According to students who attended the all-boys institute between 1940 and 1982, violent sexual assaults were commonplace. Denis Chalifoux, who alleges he was eight years old when the abuse began in 1968, is one of 64 claimants taking part in the class action against 28 religious staff and six lay workers.

Only four or five of the alleged abusers would still be alive today. Most of the alleged victims' identities are protected in court documents, but Chalifoux came forward to tell his story to CBC's French-language service with the help of a sign language interpreter. He described horrific acts allegedly at the hands of a staff member. "He showed me his penis. It was in front of me, in my face. I didn't want to look," Chalifoux told Radio-Canada. "He touched my cheek with it. All the while, he was masturbating." ... Read The Full Story.

Watch the coverage video: HERE.

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Sexual Abuses Children At Montreal School For The Deaf

Sexual abuses children by Canadian pedopilia priests at Montreal School for the Deaf in Quebec.

MONTREAL, Quebec -- Lawsuit alleges dozens of clergy abused children at Montreal school for Deaf. Another chapter of Quebec’s dark history of the sexual abuse of children in church-run institutions was aired this week by Radio-Canada. But this was not just any chapter. It threatens to be one of the most horrifying in an already heartbreaking record.

It deals with the sexual abuse of young boys, already vulnerable because of their age but doubly or triply so because they were also Deaf and mute. Their alleged abusers were educated men who promised to set the boys free from their silent world.

Clerical and lay members of a much-admired Roman Catholic teaching order, the Clercs de Saint-Viateur, these men did not set the boys free. The boys who say they were abused ended up in a living hell, terrified of telling anyone what was happening to them. They remained trapped in that hell in adulthood, unable to erase the grotesque images in their heads of masturbating priests and anal rape.

This case may turn out to be the worst ever seen involving the abuse of Deaf children. Unlike the previous record, held by a single Roman Catholic priest, Lawrence Murphy of Wisconsin, in Quebec more than 30 clergy are alleged to have abused the Deaf children in their care, sometimes one after another. (Murphy, who may have sexually assaulted as many as 200 children at a school for the Deaf in Wisconsin, was denounced in 1996 to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

Radio-Canada’s investigative program Enquête called its program The Perfect Victims. The boys came as boarders to the only school for the Deaf in the province at the age of 7 or 8. Many were thrilled to be at the school, where for the first time they would be taught to communicate with other children and learn to read and write... Read The Full Story.

Watch the coverage video: HERE.

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Deaf Canadians Launches VRS Petition

The Canadian Association of the Deaf has launched online Video Relay Service petition.

OTTAWA, Ontario -- Here's the link to sign the online petition launched by the CAD to demand a permanent Video Relay Service (VRS) in Canada.

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Join us to sign the petition to demand that the House of Commons, Government of Canada, Ministers of the Crown and Members of Parliament to support a permanent national Video Relay Services (VRS) in Canada by this fall 2012 with official spoken languages (English and French) and signed languages American Sign Language (ASL) and Langue des Signes Québécoise (LSQ)... Read More.

Also consider forwarding this to your friends, family, co-workers and anyone who wants to support the Deaf community in this petition. Why not post it on your Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites to get the word out too?

Petition Link URL: HERE.

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