Manitoba accessibility minister commits to taking Deaf culture training after comments about ASL interpreter
Deaf graduate, daughter say minister's actions 'a step in the right direction' as they await meeting
Manitoba's accessibility minister says she will be participating in Deaf culture training after she made negative comments about sharing a stage with a sign language interpreter at an event just over two weeks ago.
In a video posted to her Instagram account on Sunday, Minister Nahanni Fontaine apologized for her comments, standing alongside an ASL interpreter and signing "I'm sorry."
"My team and I will undergo Deaf and Deaf culture training to deepen our understanding, confront gaps and ensure our actions reflect true respect and inclusion, not just intention," Fontaine said in the video.
In an APTN video, Fontaine was heard telling a person off-camera that she was "thrown off" by the ASL interpreter sharing the stage with her at a ceremony for Indigenous women graduates her team was hosting on June 26 in Winnipeg.
"I couldn't see anybody on this side," Fontaine said. "And all I could see was her —"
"Frantic hand movements?" the other person said.
"Yeah, I'm like, 'F--k, why did I have her on the stage?' Jesus! I'm like, 'you need to leave,'" the minister is heard saying in the APTN video.
In Sunday's apology video, Fontaine said her statements don't reflect how she feels about Deaf and hard-of-hearing Manitobans, ASL or accessibility as a whole.
In the days after the event, Fontaine posted two written apologies to her Instagram account.
On Sunday, she said she has spoken with members of the Deaf community and put forward a list of changes based on those conversations.
On Sunday, she said she is committed to working with ASL interpreters and making every public event accessible to the Deaf community. Fontaine said an ASL interpreter will be hired to work across government departments.
A Deaf or hard of hearing matriarch will be added to the provincial Matriarch Circle advisory group, Fontaine said.
She said changes will be made to the Accessibility for Manitobans Act in the spring.
In a message to CBC News, Deborah Owczar, a Métis college graduate who was at the June 26 event, said she was happy to see Fontaine apologize directly to the Deaf community in a video, but says it should have happened sooner.
She said she and her daughter Stephanie Jebb, who is also Deaf, a have a meeting scheduled with the minister at the end of July.
Jebb said the video "is a step in the right direction."
She said the Indigenous Deaf and hard of hearing community should decide who is appointed to the Matriarch Circle to ensure they are truly represented within the group.
Jebb said Deaf community members should also be involved in the hiring process for a government ASL interpreter, and raised concerns that one interpreter may not be enough.
"I'm human. I made a mistake, but I will do better and I will keep showing up and doing the work of building a truly inclusive Manitoba for everyone," Fontaine said in the social media video, signing "I'm sorry" in ASL.
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With files from Erin Brohman