Veterans Affairs Committee on Feb. 5th, 2008

[Catherine Moore]

Yes, I believe that.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Thank you very much.

Now we'll go over to the New Democratic Party, and Mr. Stoffer, for five minutes.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

If I may digress for one second on a personal note, I notice my own vision going for distance so I wear glasses when I drive at night, or if I want to see something at a far distance. Some folks have been recommending laser treatment. I haven't asked anyone this yet. Is it a good idea to get that, or just stay with glasses?

[Catherine Moore]

Well, we at CNIB have a policy to never make medical pronouncements one way or the other. However, if it ain't broke, why are you fixing it?

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Well, I can't see as well as I used to.

[Catherine Moore]

You're okay with the glasses, yes?

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Yes.

[Catherine Moore]

Okay.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

All right.

[Some hon. members]

Oh, oh!

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

That's all I have to say. Thank you.

[Catherine Moore]

Exactly. You're much more dashing with glasses on, no doubt.

[Peter Stoffer, NDP, Sackville—Eastern Shore, NS]

Thank you, madame.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

We'll go to the Conservative Party of Canada again, and Mr. Cannan, for five minutes.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thanks, Mr. Nunan and Ms. Moore, for the presentation and the opportunity to hear more about the CNIB.

I come from the Okanagan Valley, Kelowna Lake country. In the interior of British Columbia we have a very active CNIB. They have a few staff members but many volunteers. I have many constituents who take advantage of the services you generously offer. Some of them are veterans, and others are of different ages.

I recognize that it's White Cane Week this week, and in the next hour I'm meeting with four of the reigning Canadian national blind curling champions who are here in Ottawa. It's the national blind curling championship this week. They're the third-time champions and are looking forward to a fourth time, so they appreciate all the support as well.

I've been approached by some visually impaired individuals about the election process with Elections Canada. Have you had any recent dialogue with them? The 2006 election was my first, and I had a few people complain about the process. They like to keep their independence and they're not allowed to because of the ballot structure.

[Catherine Moore]

We work with Elections Canada. In the 1920s, one of the things Edwin Baker did, as the founder of CNIB, was change the election law to allow a veteran to go into a polling booth and vote with the aid of someone. Obviously a secret ballot is the foundation of democracy. We changed that in 1920, because before that, if you were blind you couldn't vote.

We're now in 2008 and we need to change it back so it becomes possible to vote independently. We're working with Elections Canada, and we'd love to have the support of Veterans Affairs and you folks, to make it possible. We think we have everything in place for the actual day, and I can go into details later if you like.

Candidates meetings remain an issue--knowing where they are, being able to read candidates' materials, candidates having the financial capacity to produce things in an alternate format, that type of access, just knowing where the meeting is--all those sorts of little details. I have to tell you that the blind and visually impaired community is the most engaged political community you could ever hope to meet. They are on the bit about all kinds of things.

I will share something we did in the last federal election. We advised everyone who wanted to talk to all of the candidates in their particular ridings--no matter which party, because we're non-partisan, and Bernard developed the phone numbers--to phone the candidates' offices and say, “When you're going door-to-door on my street, come and talk to me because I want to talk to you.” We were able to get you into the living rooms of blind folks to talk to them. It was really a good thing.

They're engaged and want to vote, so your question is very apt. I'm sorry, I could take all day on that one.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

I thank you for that very articulate and passionate explanation and plea, and we will continue to work with Veterans Affairs and Elections Canada, if we can, to help make that a reality.

I know how passionate some of the visually impaired are in my community. I spent nine years in local government. I've tried the simulator, walked through the streets trying to visualize--no pun intended--the fact that you're walking around and trying to take on their life and understand the challenges they face, the curb cuts and the snow and the conflict between the different wheelchair accessibilities.

If you have a veteran in a wheelchair and one who is visually impaired, they have different needs. That's something else that, in working with communities across the country, we have to address as well.

Talking about passionate individuals with a passion for politics, one of my most dedicated volunteers is a visually impaired individual. We've had many good debates.

One other area is that some of the veterans would like to go to a place, sort of a relaxing area, almost like a community centre. That's one of the challenges. Some of the CNIBs don't have the ability to set up a separate recreation centre, almost like a lounge, where you could go and interact. Have you been able to establish those in any of the major urban centres?

[Catherine Moore]

The Canadian Council of the Blind--the folks you're meeting with afterwards--have chapters and recreation areas and that sort of thing. I think they are better equipped to provide that type of gathering and peer support. I think peer support is a bad word for just sitting around and talking to your friends. We can get very technical about it, but that's what people need. We're human beings. Everyone needs social interaction. The CCB does a good job and wants to do a better job at that.

[Ron Cannan, Conservative, Kelowna—Lake Country, BC]

Thank you very much for the great work that you're doing, both of you. We'll continue to do all we can to help make your life as enjoyable as possible, and a productive contribution to society.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rob Anders]

Thank you very much.

At this stage, unless there are any other committee members who are--

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Yes, I have one more question.

Since it's come up a number of times, I wonder if you could articulate for us the difference in the mandates of the CCB and the CNIB, so we have some clarity on that.

[Catherine Moore]

Yes. I have to tell you that tomorrow night I'm at the CCB curling for White Cane Week event as a stand-up comic, so wish me luck. So there's plenty of interchange, back and forth.

[David Sweet, Conservative, Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON]

Do you want to try some of your stuff on us?

[Catherine Moore]

No, no. I think that would be cruel. I'm hoping they drink a lot before I get there.

The CNIB is a rehabilitation agency. Rehabilitation by its nature, if you do it right, should not be for the rest of somebody's life; it should be short term. Now, short term could be a year, and it doesn't matter if the person comes back 50 times, but there should be a clear statement of what we are going to do, what your goal is, and we work with you to enable you to meet that goal. We do rehabilitation. We provide services.

The CCB is a grassroots membership organization whose mandate is to provide leisure and recreation and a social gathering and to advocate on behalf of people who are blind. The CCB's membership is made up of people who are blind.

In CNIB, we have a membership and a governance structure, but not necessarily everyone is blind.

So the simple differentiation is that we provide a service, and the CCB provides more of a long-term social, club, or community adherence.