Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I cannot stand today to do my Member’s statement. The reason being is I’ve committed to being in a wheelchair for today, and although I did stand when the Mace came in and during the prayer, I did that out of respect for the House and the rules of the House.
The reason I’m in a wheelchair today is because I’ve committed to creating awareness of a different kind: awareness for people with disabilities. This week is Disabilities Awareness Week and the theme is Disability Awareness: Creating an Accessible and Welcoming Community for all People.
As I sit here in a wheelchair today, I’ve been going around the building to see how accessible the Legislative Assembly is. I also do this not only in support of people with disabilities, but for the good, hard work and commitment from the people who do work for people with disabilities. The NWT Disabilities Council, more importantly a group that I’ve done work with and volunteered with in the past, and that is the Inuvik Disabilities Council as well, who, on a short budget – earlier this week we talked about the NGO Stabilization Fund – raised and did a lot of volunteer fundraising to get a transportation van that actually does a lot of really good work in Inuvik, and they hold an annual dinner to raise money in support for people with disabilities. So I just wanted to shed light on the good work that people are doing as well.
There was more than just reason about awareness. I wanted to create some of the things that we’ve heard while sitting in this Assembly. In the NWT Human Rights Commission Annual Report, of the 38 new complaints this year, 20 of them were categorized as a disability. That in itself should say we need to do more work and look into this to get these addressed.
Persons with disabilities have the right to be treated equally, with dignity and respect. We not only need to engage the communities, make them more accessible, but today we did something different, we’ve engaged the Legislative Assembly. We’ve brought something to light that’s sometimes never really talked about or brought action to, and I can speak to this because I’ve lived it for just part of the day. Later today I will be going out in Yellowknife and do some other things to see how accessible the city of Yellowknife is. I do hope to set up a meeting with the Persons with Disabilities here in Yellowknife before I do leave.
I’d just like to thank my colleagues today for assisting me in any types of assistance that I did need, but I’d also like to thank my colleagues and staff members who let me be independent and go around the building without any support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
Thank you, Mr. Moses. The honourable Member for Hay River North, Mr. Bouchard.
