It’s time to have your say
On March 10, 2018 the Tele Town Hall organizing team will be hosting its fifth and final Tele Town Hall. Like the previous four; this will be open to participants across Canada.
Date and start times across Canada
Date: March 10, 2018
Times: 10:00 am Pacific
11:00 am Mountain
Noon Central
1:00 pm Eastern
2:00 pm Atlantic
2:30 in Newfoundland
This meeting will last no longer than two hours.
Moderator: Jane Blaine.
Introduction:
In the summer of 2016, we the Tele Town Hall organizing team embarked on a journey to facilitate a number of Tele Town Halls across Canada with the mission to give participants an opportunity to share their views on a variety of topics related to the current state of blindness rehabilitation and consumerism in Canada.
As a non-biased team, we felt strongly that we were in a position to facilitate these Town Halls and at the end of it all to present a report to participants and other stakeholders.
Let’s get it out there
Our first two Tele Town Halls held at the end of October 2016 and in early March 2017 invited participants to share their views on the following:
* The present state of the consumer movement in Canada
* What if anything should we be doing to affect change
* What would be a logical and reasonable path to pursue if change was desired?
* Who could be involved?
* How could this be accomplished and
* What mechanisms could be used in order to accomplish this?
Advocacy without borders
Our third Tele Town Hall held in October 2017 gave participants an opportunity to hear about how rehabilitation services and consumer movements operate in New Zealand and Australia thanks to two guest speakers who shared their views with us.
They were Martine Abel Williamson; treasurer of the World Blind Union and well known advocate from New Zealand and Fran Cutler; a well-known advocate who works both in Australia and Canada splitting her time equally between both countries.
Our fourth Tele Town Hall held in November 2017 gave participants an opportunity to hear from guest speakers from the United States. In similar fashion to our third Tele Town Hall; we featured high profile speakers who shared their views on the state of rehabilitation services and consumer movements in the United States.
They were Mitch Pomerantz; A past president of the American Council of the Blind and an active advocate in the development of the Americans with disabilities Act, and John Panarese; a well-known trainer in Apple products and an active advocate in helping others to gain equal access to training opportunities.
Now it is time to have your final say in this series
The fifth and final Tele Town Hall will give participants an opportunity to have their say and in so doing to help shape the future of our consumer advocacy movement in Canada. Based on comments and suggestions garnered from previous Tele Town Halls, many participants do not believe that living with the status quo is a viable option. Accordingly, we would like to preface the discussions of this final Tele Town Hall with a list of questions meant to help you formulate some thoughts before attending. Also, reading the notes taken during the previous 4 Tele Town Hall meetings might help us all chart a path, and those links are found below our list of “thought provoking” questions.
Question one:
How well do current blindness/low vision rehabilitation service organizations in Canada serve your needs, or how do they not serve your needs as the case may be?
Question two:
How well do current blindness/low vision advocacy/social/support organizations in Canada serve your needs, or how are they not serving your needs as the case may be? IE, are you personally happy with the existing consumer advocacy and support movements in Canada?
Question three:
If not, what will make them more responsive to blind Canadians needs, and flexible enough to move with emerging societal demands?
Question four:
What strategies are required if we’re to strengthen the voice of blind Canadians with Governments, employers and communities? IE, do blind Canadians need one single strong voice in order to advance our needs?
Question five:
What strategies can blind Canadians employ to amplify their voices in order to be better heard within Canadian organizations “of” and “for” the blind? IE, do blind Canadians want to be more involved in driving the organizations that provide rehabilitation services in Canada?
All Four Sets of Tele Town Hall Notes can be downloaded from:
October 29, 2016, download here.
October 14, 2017, download here.
November 18, 2017, download here.
To register as a participant please email
And you will receive an acknowledgment of your email.
An electronic copy of the rules of engagement will be sent to you during the week of March 04.
We thank you!
Signed
Donna Jodhan, Richard Marion, Robin East, Anthony Tibbs, Albert Ruel, Louise Gillis, Pat Seed, Jane Blaine, Melanie Marsden, Kim Kilpatrick, Leo Bissonnette, Paul Edwards