Barrier Free Manitoba

We're pleased to share the responses from the New Democratic Party to BFM's accessibility questions related to the party's current leadership race.

Here are the questions we asked:

Question No. 1: Will your party commit to provide for the full participation of Manitobans in your party's leadership race?

Question No. 2: Will your party voluntarily comply with the requirements for the accessibility of public meetings and events that are described in the AMA's Customer Service Standard?

Question No. 3: Will your party encourage leadership candidates to ensure full accessibility of their individual campaigns?

Response: Thank you for your inquiry regarding accessibility for Manitoba NDP Leadership 2017 activities. Ensuring the inclusion of people living with a disability is a priority for our party, and I’d like to assure you we are making a continuous effort to make all events associated with Leadership 2017 as accessible as possible and in compliance with the Accessibility for Manitobans Act (AMA) and Customer Service Standard.

Our party has invested significant resources to ensure Leadership 2017 activities are accessible, and are encouraging the Steve Ashton and Wab Kinew leadership campaigns to do so as well. This includes but is not limited to:

• Online voting: Assisting those living with a disability in rural Manitoba and unable to travel to a satellite voting station to still be able to cast their ballot.
• Wheelchair accessible venues: For all Leadership 2017 Forums, delegate voting locations, and Leadership Convention.
• American Sign Language interpreters: Were made available at the Winnipeg Leadership 2017 Forum (July 26), and will be made available at the Leadership Convention.

The Manitoba NDP is proud to make accessibility a priority in its event planning as a means of encouraging the participation of all members of the party and persons interested in Leadership 2017.

As you know, the previous NDP government passed the AMA in 2015 which legislated strong and reasonable standards that require public institutions and private businesses to be as accessible as possible. This legislation reflects our party’s strong commitment to ensuring all people have equal access to public resources and are treated fairly and without discrimination in society. We will continue to apply that principle to all party activities moving forward.

We asked the Manitoba Liberal Party, the other of our province's major political parties with a leadership contest underway, to answer these same questions. Click here to review that party's response.

We also asked three accessibility-related questions to the two candidates in the NDP's leadership race. Click here to see the candidates' responses.