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Community-Wide Collaboration on Accessibility

Jan 08, 2013

Barrier-Free Manitoba hosted an initial discussion session on the afternoon of December 5, 2012 to promote early and collaborative planning regarding options to ensure the effective implmentation of the provincial accessibility-rights legislation that is expected to be passed by June 2013.

A total of 32 participants attended the session including the Barrier-Free Manitoba Steering Committee and representatives from 23 invited disability-related coalitions and organizations in Manitoba.

A key planning assumption related to Barrier-Free Manitoba's decision to wrap up operations (as it is currently constitued) upon passage of the legislation. Securing this legislation has been and continues to be Barrier-Free Manitoba's sole focus.

The objective for the session was to facilitate a preliminary discussion of:

• The key opportunities and challenges that will be part of the post-legislative reality.

• Roles and functions that will be important in addressing these opportunities and challenges.

• Possible options for how these roles and functions can be organized.

• Possible options for continuing the discussion.

The most consistent theme that emerged from the session was the need to establish a body to coordinate and lead the way forward once the legislation is passed. This could take the form of a coalition of existing organizations in the disability community or could be itself a new organization, but either way it would need to be representative of the diversity of and accountable to the disability community.

More discussion will be required to assess the most promising options to accomplish this. 

The report from the discussion session is available as a Word document and as a PDF

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