Press Conference: University denies access to deaf community
| January 14, 2008 | ||
| 3:00 pm | to | 4:00 pm |
January 9, 2008
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
Ottawa U`s answer to campus inclusivity: No access if you`re Deaf
(OTTAWA) Genevieve Deguire, a member of Ottawa’s Deaf community, a social worker, and a student of current affairs, has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Ontario against the University of Ottawa because President Gilles Patry has refused to provide sign language interpretation for the university’s public film and discussion Cinema Politica series.
The Press Conference will be held Monday January 14th from 3pm to 4pm in the main entrance of the MacDonald Hall, 150 Louis Pasteur, University of Ottawa. We ask that the university provide access to the Ottawa Cinema Politica events. The following associations will be present in support: The Canadian Association of the Deaf, L’Association de l’Ouie de l’Outaouais and the Ottawa Deaf Centre.
Many members of the Deaf community want to participate in the popular Cinema Politica post-film discussions. The university is required to provide access under the Ontario Human Rights Code unless it can demonstrate undue financial hardship. The university had a budget surplus of $67 million in its last fiscal year and has received private donations of over $40 million in recent months.
“It seems they just don’t want to see us” said Deguire. “The one session that they did provide an interpreter, by mistake and they did not want to pay for it, was great and allowed my deaf friends and I to fully be part of the auditorium-wide discussion.”
The Ottawa Cinema Politica (OCP) series at the University of Ottawa just finished its fifth season and has grown to be a major alternative and documentary film venue, combined with in-depth discussions and analyses facilitated by university physics professor Denis Rancourt.
“I have asked the university to provide access because there is a significant demand from members of Ottawa’s vibrant Deaf community who wish to benefit from the same free community service as others” said Rancourt. “I was told, to my surprise, that the activity which has always been in my yearly reports is now not ‘considered’ part of my required community service work, although my salary has not been reduced.”
“Using such petty in-fighting to deny access is not worthy of a place of higher learning”, said Deaf hopeful participant Chantal Deguire. “It especially brings to light the irony that the most educated class is ignorant about diversity and inclusivity issues that arises on a campus and fail to use their education to resolve these matters.”
“Several regular Cinema Politica participants have formed a support group and have vowed to lobby against the university’s resistance to provide access as required by law,” said supporter Joe Hickey.
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