QUEEN’S PARK – Today in Question Period, MPP Catherine Fife demanded that Premier Kathleen Wynne ensure that the deaf and hard-of-hearing community have the hearing support services they deserve.
“Members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community in Waterloo Region have contacted my office because they have been left with no choice but to bring their untrained family or friends along with them to doctor’s appointments or to pick up prescriptions,” said Fife. “This compromises their confidentiality, dignity, and understanding. Family and friends are not professional interpreters.”
As the strike enters its eighth week, deaf and hard-of-hearing Ontarians remain without the services of Canadian Hearing Society workers.
“A man from Kitchener-Waterloo told my office that he was forced to take time off work to act as interpreter for his dying father in hospital,” said Fife. “He wasn’t allowed to be a grieving son because he needed to ensure his father’s medical needs were communicated with doctors and other healthcare staff.”
“As the major funder of the Canadian Hearing Society, this Liberal government must ensure members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community that everything possible is being done to restore the services they rely on.”