Barrier Free Manitoba

Question Period on July 10, 2013

(This Hansard excerpt is posted on Leanne Rowat's website. The exchange can also be found in Hansard - html / PDF)

Mrs. Leanne Rowat (Riding Mountain): I think the question that was raised with regard to student accessibility is a very serious one, Mr. Speaker. We have a government that is bringing in legislation that is going to be making Manitoba become more accessible, and then we see a university cut a student accessibility to 74 students in Manitoba.

I ask the Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities: 74 students are going to be seeing a lack of service ability for accessibility, and I want to know what her response is. Has she talked to the minister responsible for post-secondary education? Will she ensure Manitobans that they will be able to access these services, Mr. Speaker?

Hon. Jennifer Howard (Minister responsible for Persons with Disabilities): Certainly, accessibility to services is something that this government takes very seriously.

And there is, I think, no greater symbol of that than the ramp that is on the front of the Legislature. And it's important, I think, to remember that when we took that project, what did we hear from members opposite? It's a waste of money because people with disabilities, they can just come in the back door. That is exactly what members opposite said in response to that project.

We expect the University College of the North to honour their commitments to students with disabilities. We expect them to honour their commitment in terms of providing accessibility and we respect that institution to make sure they have the resources in place to do that.

Mrs. Rowat: We have a bill before the House that this government is failing to bring forward with regard to accessibility.

Now we see another minister reduce funding to a northern university that speaks to student accessibility, Mr. Speaker. Cuts this government is making to accessibility for persons with disabilities, 74 students are not going to be seeing a service to assist them at university.

Ms. Howard: Well, Mr. Speaker, I guess, you know, had they been in power, you wouldn't have to worry about this issue because there would be no UCN for anybody to have accessibility to.

This is an issue we take extremely seriously. Every institution in this province has to abide by the Human Rights Code. Every institution has the duty to accommodate people with disabilities. That also applies to the University College of the North. We expect that institution to put in place the resources to ensure that their responsibilities are met, and I expect that they will do so.