AEBC Activities Report for June 2011
In this month’s Activities Report:
1. Announcements
2. Reminders
3. Updates
4. 2011 AEBC Conference In Brantford, ON
5. President’s Report – May 2011
6. News Releases
7. Presentations and Correspondence
1. ANNOUNCEMENTS
a. ANNUAL MEMBERSHIPS ARE DUE DEC. 31st FOR THE NEXT YEAR: an annual membership is $5.00 per person per year, or you can join as a lifetime member for a one-time payment of $50.00.You can pay by: PayPal account or credit card by renewing online and completing the online membership form or one of the following:
- Mail a cheque or money order payable to the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians to our Kelowna address (PO Box 20262, RPO Town Center, Kelowna BC, V1Y 9H2);
- Pay your membership fee to your local chapter, if you are a member of the chapter;
- Call us at 1-800-561-4774 to pay your membership via credit card over the phone, or
- Contact us by e-mail at .
b. WELCOME: We would like to welcome all the new board members elected at the 2011 AGM & Conference:
- President: Donna Jodhan
- First Vice President: John Rae
- Second Vice President: Rajesh Malik
- Treasurer: Charles Bailey
- Secretary: Cindy Ferguson
- Director Without Portfolio: Amal Haddad
- Director Without Portfolio: Marc Workman
c. On May 19, 2011, the AEBC entered into a contract with T-Base Communications concerning two matters: (a) to engage the user community to build awareness of the availability of alternative format information (banking, credit cards, telephone bills), and (b) to engage the consumer community to provide feedback on T-Base product and services offerings. A press release prepared by T-Base will be forthcoming and will be added to the AEBC’s website shortly.
2. REMINDERS
a. We are constantly updating our database. If you have an email address, please send your name, address, and email address in the body of the email to our Program Assistant, Mary at . We will then send all future Activities Reports and communication to you by email.
b. The AEBC continues to recruit members for national committees addressing these issues: (1) website accessibility, (2) access to library services, and (3) access to point-of-sale devices and household products.
If you are interested in joining one of these committees, please contact these following board members:
- Website Accessibility: Donna Jodhan
- Library Services: Rajesh Malik
- Point of Sale Amal Haddad
c. THE CANADIAN BLIND MONITOR is an AEBC news magazine published annually. Its purpose is to raise and discuss issues and topics of interest to blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted persons as well as the general public. The magazine consists of original and reprinted articles, information about AEBC, and resource information. For more information, call Brenda Cooke at 1-800-561-4774 and leave a message, or email .
d. SEEKING YOUR STORY OF SUCCESS: In the fall of 2010, the AEBC published a magazine focusing on what our members considered "success" in their own life. It was about any aspect of life, employment, community involvement, or conquering something important that has made your life better. We are still collecting stories to put into a new edition and posted on the AEBC web page; please submit your story to .
e. Are you aware of our AEBC members’ listserv? We continue to offer a listserv where AEBC members can receive and discuss information relevant to the AEBC and blindness more generally. If you are not already a member, you can join on our website (www.blindcanadians.ca). If you are a member, and you would like to join our members’ listserv, contact .
f. AEBC NEEDS YOUR SUPPORT: As you are aware from our financial reports at the annual general meetings, we have been running a deficit for the past four years. We need your continued financial support, and ask that you consider becoming a regular monthly contributor to AEBC. All donations are tax deductible. For more information on giving options, see http://www.blindcanadians.ca/donations. Together, we can make a real difference, and any amount you can contribute will be highly appreciated and valued.
3. UPDATES
a. CHARTER CHALLENGE UPDATE: There are no further updates since the last Activities Report.
b. LIBRARY SERVICE UPDATE: There are no further updates since the last Activities Report.
c. POINT OF SALE DEVICES - PIN AND CARD: The new AEBC contact for this initiative is Amal Haddad, who may be reached by email at: .
4. 2011 AEBC CONFERENCE IN BRANTFORD, ON
A number of resolutions were brought forward during the Annual General Meeting. They will be posted to the AEBC website in the coming weeks.
5. PRESIDENT’S REPORT
President's Report delivered to AEBC's 2011 Conference, Brantford, Ontario, May 20, 2011, written and presented by Robin East
MAINTAINING OUR RIGHTS IN A TIME OF VOLUNTEERISM
“A volunteer is a person who believes that people can make a difference -- and is willing to prove it.” Anonymous
a. Welcome!
Welcome to all of you to our 2011 Annual General Meeting in Brantford. I am sure you will enjoy your weekend and hope you gain some valuable information from the presentations and workshops to take back to your chapters.
b. Thanks to the 2011 AGM & Conference Committee
Please join me in thanking the organizing committee: John Rae, Anthony Tibbs, Bob Brown, and the rest of the Brant chapter for making this conference a success. I want to express my appreciation as it takes a lot of time and energy to make all the arrangements for a conference of this size.
c. Reflection On and Moment of Silence For Those Who Have Passed
It is time to reflect on those that have passed since we met last. This could be a loved one, a friend, and of course, even your guide dog. Let us have a moment of silence and remember those that have meant so much to us.
Vince Lombardi quoted: “The achievements of an organization are the results of the combined effort of each individual."
d. Thanks to National Board, Chapter Executives, Staff, and National committees
I would like to thank the 2010-2011 board of directors for their commitment of valuable time and hard work to the AEBC. Each national board member volunteers countless hours working on issues to improve the lives of Canadians who are blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted. I would be remiss if I did not give special mention to Denise Sanders, for her advice and support through my term as President has been invaluable.
Two board members left in the summer, Nancy Riley as Treasurer and Marc Workman as Secretary. Nancy, good luck with your future endeavours. Marc, I would like to thank you for all your work as national secretary, and your participation on the Library and Coalition committees, along with your involvement in, and submissions to rounds of CRTC hearings.
I would like to welcome all the new members that have joined AEBC during the past year. To all the chapter executives, I thank all of you for your commitment to the work of AEBC. Also, I would like to thank the Affiliate for all their hard work in BC. Their annual general meeting is scheduled for June 4th at 2:00 PM in Vancouver.
I would be remiss if I did not thank our dedicated staff for their hard work to our organization: Mary Potter, Sara Bennett, Lois Benko, and Joanne Hlina. Joanne left us at the end of December and Lois has returned as our bookkeeper.
AEBC has several national committees: scholarship, finance/fundraising, and human resources. We created committees to work on the three priority issues that we identified to focus on in 2010, library services, accessible websites, and accessible point of sale devices.
We awarded two scholarships this year. We wish these students all the best in their studies and future plans.
e. 2010 AEBC Scholarship Winners
The AEBC Rick Oakes Scholarship for the Arts:
Mr. Tommy Leung
Post-secondary Institution: Trinity Western University
Vocational Goal/Academic Program: Disability/Crisis Counselor
Major: Master’s Program – entering in January
The Alan H. Neville Memorial Scholarship
Mr. Daniel Huang
Post-secondary Institution: University of Northern British Columbia
Vocational Goal/Academic Program: Develop a career in the field of Human Rights and the Duty to Accommodate
Major: Master of Arts, Disability Management
Congratulations and our best wishes to the winners.
Robert F. Kennedy quoted: "Few people will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation."
f. Establishment of the Coalition of Blind Rights Holder Organizations of Canada (CBRC)
On May 1-2, 2010, all of the national blindness related organizations in Canada met to discuss next steps for our national library and to discuss the possibility of forming a coalition. This will be the first time in Canada where all the national voices have come together and have worked out an agreement on how to work together to bring one voice to our issues.
In September 2010, the Coalition of Blind Rights Holder Organizations of Canada (CBRC) was officially formed with the following members:
- Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians
- Canadian Blind Sports Association
- Canadian Council of the Blind
- Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind
- Guide Dog Users of Canada
I was honoured to be elected for a one-year term as the Coalition's first Chair. The coalition will be made up of rights holder organizations and each organization will have two representatives. CNIB is not a rights holder organization, but the CNIB will be part of this coalition and will not have voting rights. However, all organizations agree that CNIB is an important partner.
The purpose of this coalition is to:
1. Bring organizations of blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted people together to speak with a unified voice;
2. Create a strong and collective voice of blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted rights holders of Canada;
3. Advocate on issues of common concern to blind, deaf-blind, and partially sighted people of all ages;
4. Communicate within the coalition the issues brought forward by the member and associate organizations of the Coalition; and
5. Develop and implement a plan of action on issues chosen by the coalition.
We have agreed to speak with one voice on two important issues: (1) Library, and (2) PIN/Card Point of Sale.
AEBC is the organization in this coalition that can steer and power this coalition but we cannot do it without each of the other organizations. We have the experience of true advocacy and it is what AEBC is all about. So, be ready for the fight of our lives in 2011 and 2012 on the one issue that is so important to all of us: that is a publicly funded non-charitable library!
We as consumers and right holders must put our voices together on this issue and we must strategize like we have never done so before. We are going to need to convince a government that does not want to get into the library business that it is the right thing to do. We will need to convince our provincial and territorial governments the same in that although it is their responsibility and obligation they need to partner with the federal government to make this a reality. CNIB still maintains that the library should be run and administered by government and not by a charity.
I believe this coalition is very important as it speaks with one unified national voice -- our voice!!
Just a few weeks ago, in early May, the coalition re-elected me for another one year term as their Chair. Again this is indeed a great honour to be able to volunteer with these rights holder organizations and continue to raise our unified voices.
g. Update on National Library Services
At our last AGM, I reported that discussions had taken place between representatives of consumer organizations of blind Canadians, CNIB, the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada, and the Council of Canadians with Disabilities on how a new network hub responsible for coordinating access to library services for print-disabled Canadians should be designed and operated. These recommendations were submitted to Library and Archives Canada (LAC).
In the fall of 2010, John Rafferty reported that the CNIB national board of directors would not close the library if there is not another entity in place, and will continue to seek funding. CNIB would like to move away from the charitable sector, however, they will keep the library for print-disabled Canadians open as they consider it an essential public service.
Since we did not receive any responses to our inquiries or any detailed feedback for nearly a year from Library and Archives Canada, the National Coalition of Blind, Deaf-blind, and Partially Sighted Rights Holder Organizations of Canada (CBRC) decided to take this important issue directly to our Members of Parliament. In January 2011, the Coalition sent a letter to all levels of government demanding a publicly funded library system for blind, partially-sighted, and print-disabled persons. We will continue to advocate that the government create a sustainable and fully publicly-funded equitable library network for the over three million Canadians with a print disability.