Deaf community demands public forum after minister complains about ASL interpreter

Manitoba’s deaf community is demanding the province take action to combat audism — discrimination against people who are deaf or hard of hearing — after the minister in charge of accessibility was caught complaining about an ASL interpreter on a hot mic.

“When leaders diminish the importance of authentic accessibility, it sends a message that deaf Manitobans can be overlooked,” Andrew Stadnicki wrote in a letter to Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine over the weekend.

“That attitude becomes policy, shapes budgets, dictates who gets hired, and ultimately keeps deaf people from becoming professionals, decision-makers, or role models.”

Stadnicki’s three-page letter has been making the rounds on social media and was shared by others who, like him, are deaf or identify as hard of hearing or deafblind.

He has called on Fontaine’s office to organize a public forum so affected residents and organizations can share their experiences and ideas to combat ableism and to rebuild trust.

Fontaine, who is also the minister in charge of families and gender equity, has issued multiple apologies about remarks she made to a staffer while debriefing her speech at a gala celebrating Indigenous women graduates on Thursday.

“The woman, she shouldn’t have been on the stage… I’m like f—k, why did I have her on the stage? Like, Jesus, I’m like, ‘You need to leave,’” Fontaine said about the translator in a video that was recorded and released by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

A deaf graduate called the comments deeply hurtful, but she said they were only one of “three strikes” of ableism she encountered as a registrant of the event organized by the minister in partnership with Onashowewin Justice Circle.

Deborah Owczar said it was a struggle to get an interpreter and the professional’s removal from the stage mid-event, following Fontaine’s speech, made her feel “demoted.”

“She hurt the whole deaf community, because (we) struggle every day with this type of attitude we get from people all around us, in the stores, at our jobs, random people, other events that deaf people want to attend and we can’t because no one will hire an interpreter to include us,” Owczar wrote in a message to the Free Press.

The mother from Lundar indicated she registered for the celebration on June 10 and travelled to downtown Winnipeg last week so she and her adult daughter, who is also deaf, could celebrate her completion of Red River College Polytechnic’s child and youth care certificate program.

Owczar said she started to panic when, six days out from the event, she had not received a reply from organizers regarding her requests about whether they had booked a translator fluent in American Sign Language.

She recalled reaching out to RRC Polytech to organize accommodation and finalizing it within 24 hours. On the eve of the event, she heard from organizers that there was an interpreter in place, Owczar said, adding she was annoyed because she was ultimately responsible for it being booked.

During a phone interview Monday, Fontaine touted her successful track record of working with ASL interpreters — who she said she has “enormous respect for” — at previous events and pledged to be a better planner.

The minister attributed her comments to her irritation about a smaller-than-anticipated stage that was overcrowded and unsafe due to balloon decorations meant to make graduates feel special.

“My moment of frustration was hurtful. I get that. I feel horrible,” she said, adding she has reached out to the affected interpreter to apologize and they both agreed the set-up was less than ideal.

Fontaine issued two written apologies to deaf Manitobans, on Friday and Sunday, respectively. She told the Free Press Monday that her office is now actively reaching out to community organizations to listen and learn.

Representatives from the Manitoba Deaf Association and Manitoba Association of Visual Language Interpreters declined to do an interview, citing their respective desires to meet with Fontaine first.

The interpreter in question, who is a board member at the association, did not respond to a request for comment.

“Interpreters are there to help hearing people just as much as they are there to help us deaf. They allow us, deaf and hearing, to communicate in a smooth and clear manner so that there is no misunderstandings,” said Terri Antoniw, a Brandonite who is working with Manitoba Possible to expand access to resources for deaf community members in her hometown.

Antoniw said she would like Fontaine to learn some basic ASL “to see the beauty and necessity of the language” after this incident.

“I believe people make mistakes and if she is sincere in her apology she will follow suit with action,” she said.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

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