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Rights of the Deaf in Canada

Rights of the Deaf in Canada. UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities ISHP McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy Instit ut des politiques sociales et de la santé de l'Université McGill James C. MacDougall, C. M. PhD Department of Psychology, McGill University and

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Rights of the Deaf in Canada

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  1. Rights of the Deaf in Canada UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities ISHP McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy Institut des politiques sociales et de la santé de l'Université McGill James C. MacDougall, C. M. PhD Department of Psychology, McGill University and Canadian Deafness Research and Training Institute December 2, 2010

  2. Focus • Education • Health • Justice

  3. Deafness: background

  4. Background on deafness • 1/1000 Canadians are Deaf – 30,000 • The majority use sign language to communicate • American Sign Language (ASL) • Langue des Signes Quebecoise (LSQ)

  5. The Deaf • It all starts with Aristotle and Plato • Aristotle favors speech • Plato Signing

  6. The great communications debate • Oral vs. manual • Speech vs. signing • Deficiency vs. difference • Medical pathology vs. social cultural view • Seen as exclusive – one or the other

  7. Speech is it! • 'He gave man speech, and speech created thought – which is the measure of the universe'Shelley – Prometheus Unbound

  8. Speaking and Signing Took two thousand years to figure out that the deaf could speak and that they have a “natural” language- sign language

  9. Human Rights and the Deaf(a Western perspective) Deaf and Dumb Less than a person No education No language

  10. US Civil rights perspective 1960’s • Part of the disability movement • Start of affirmation of Deaf identity and recognition of sign language • Also “right” to spoken language • 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons (IYPD) • Americans with Disability Act (ADA) (1990) • UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2010)

  11. Canada –Constitution - Charter • Section 15 – Equality section • Supreme Court Decisions • Eaton v. Brant County Board of Education, [1997] • Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1997] • Integration/inclusion in education • Access to health care • Eaton -Benefit vs. burden –parental rights • Eldridge – equal access to health care via sign language interpretation.

  12. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities • New York, NY and Toronto, ON – March 11, 2010 – Today, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Canada ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. • It is Canada’s declaration to Canadians and the international community that disability is at last to be recognized as a matter of fundamental human rights – at home in Canada and internationally. • By ratifying this first international treaty that comprehensively recognizes the rights of persons with disabilities, Canada binds our governments to its implementation

  13. International Day of Persons with Disabilities - 3 December 2010 "Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond“

  14. Eaton – issues and unresolved conflicts • Who decides? Role of School Board- parents • Role of special school historically for Deaf –home base • Oral vs. Signing Inclusion vs. special schools • Schools for the Deaf closing all over country- latest Newfoundland (2010) • Specific issues can a child with a cochlear implant sit beside a signing deaf child in the same classroom? • Adam and the Implant – specific case before a human rights tribunal in Saskatchewan –state can withhold sign language as an option.

  15. Access to Health • The Eldridge Decision (1997) Supreme Court of Canada • ASL mandated as an insured service

  16. Access to Health • Many obstacles for Deaf Canadians • Communication with health professionals is an issue • Understanding of the realities of Deafness is an issue • Access to Health depends on use of sign language interpreters

  17. 1999 National study of impact of Eldridge (MacDougall)

  18. Remote Video Interpreting (RVI) Deaf Client – Health provider in one location Sign Language interpreter in remote location

  19. Can Eldridge be generalized? • For other Deaf related services? • For other disabilities?

  20. Access to Justice Section 14 of the Charter – language interpretation • Access for deaf specifically mentioned in section 14 of the Charter • All aspects of Justice • Arrest – right to remain silent? Handcuffs? • Jails –detention • Court proceedings • Services • Mental disorders and the Deaf • Fitness issues- Criminal Code • Language deprivation and fitness • Roy (1994); Suwarak (1999) • A large hole in the Criminal Code?

  21. Unfit to stand trial on account of a mental disorder • General knowledge • The roles of the players • The oath • Right from wrong • Communication with counsel • Full answer and defence • What is the legal definition of mental disorder? • Criminal code – what is it? What does it cover? • Charter rights Section 14 and 15

  22. The strange case of Everette Roy

  23. Dr. Jamie MacDougall is a psychologist with Montreal’s McGill University who specializes in deafness. He first met Suwarak in 1999 when he was called to offer expert testimony on Suwarak’s ability to communicate during trial. While on the stand in this latest case, he said the same thing he said in 1999—that there is no way to know whether Suwarak’s level of communication is sufficient for trial. Hear No Evil Deaf since childhood, Bobby Suwarak grew up in isolation, able to understand no known language. Now charged with a crime, he has presented Nunavut’s court system with a problem. But the form of charades he uses to communicate is being used by deaf Inuit across the territory, leading one researcher to call for the court to recognize it too

  24. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même choseAristotle and Plato

  25. Legislation vs. Charter US model - ADA Canadian model – Charter Advantages and disadvantages Ontario- ODA The future

  26. A personal note The good side of deafness! Circa 1970

  27. Acknowledgements • Funding from: Government of Canada • National Literacy Secretariat (HRSD) • Health Canada (Population Health) • Canadian Heritage • Canarie Inc. • Human Resources Development

  28. Rights of the Deaf in Canada UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities ISHP McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy Institut des politiques sociales et de la santé de l'Université McGill James C. MacDougall, C. M. PhD Department of Psychology, McGill University and Canadian Deafness Research and Training Institute December 2, 2010

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