Deaf and hard of hearing organizations call for Canadian Hearing Services to get back to the table and end the 7-week strike
In an open letter recorded in American Sign Language by Vanessa Floros, treasurer of the Ontario Association of the Deaf (OAD), and viewed more than 2,000 times online, the OAD makes clear that they have reached out to CHS' management about the deep and painful disruption Deaf people are experiencing but have not received a response.
The silence we have gotten from CHS is heartbreaking. As the stories, the concerns, complaints and anger pour in, we have seen them. Some of us have, as Deaf citizens, responded and tried to help, but we too have been suffering with the loss of our therapists, our interpreters, our support system, and our independence. We do not place blame on the strikers […] After consulting with the Deaf community, it must be made clear that the strike is now a human rights issue.
The open letter concludes with an impassioned plea: "With the silence of CHS, we, your biggest consumers, the Deaf community, mourn the decline of an organization that once brought joy, hope, and independence to us and we place the blame solely on those that refused to communicate, refused to let us help, and refused to let our community thrive."
The Canadian Hard of Hearing Association's own letter addressed directly to Accreditation Canada and the ministers responsible for funding the agency echoed those concerns: "It is distressing to witness the deterioration of access to essential programs and support mechanisms for a community already facing systemic barriers."
The two bargaining teams last met on May 21 during which time CHS management refused to put forward an offer, refused to consider the members' proposals, refused to agree to new dates to bargain, and insisted that four unreasonable demands be met, including a media blackout, before negotiations resumed. Since then, they have ignored repeated requests to get back to bargaining.
"This support means so much to workers. We desperately want to get back to the table to get a good deal so we can get back to doing jobs that contribute to the joyful lives of Deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing people," said Mara Waern, president of CUPE 2073 and an employee consultant with more than 30 years' experience at CHS. "For that we need a willing partner. CHS put these roadblocks in place and it's only CHS that can remove them. We're grateful to have leaders in the Deaf and hard of hearing communities in our corner."
:am/COPE491
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250610728201/en/
Contacts
For more information, please contact: Jesse Mintz, CUPE Communications Representative416-704-9642 | jmintz@cupe.ca
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
a day ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Why Doug Ford's controversial law to fast-track development is focused on the Ring of Fire
The story In the beginning, when it was still called Kawana 'bi 'kag, no one imagined that the 5,000 square kilometres near James Bay might one day save Canada from economic warfare launched by an American president named Donald Trump. There's nothing like an existential crisis, it seems, to focus a country's attention on unearthing billions of dollars worth of critical minerals. Amid First Nations protests and legal challenges, Premier Doug Ford passed Bill 5, creating sweeping new powers to fast-track development and in the north, that means brushing past years of delay on the land now known as the Ring of Fire. It holds what the world craves: nickel, chromite (for chromium), cobalt and more, all needed for global security or green energy. And all often in short supply, threatening economic devastation from supply chain disruption. Ford wants jobs for Ontarians. Prime Minister Mark Carney needs economic prosperity independent of America and its mercurial president. Now, nearly 20 years after the minerals were first discovered, the Ring of Fire may be entering its prime time. Although, as First Nations leaders recently observed, Trump will be out of office long before the mining roads are built, so why the 'unconstitutional' rush? Here is an explainer on the remote north, a place of conundrums. The earth You may ask, what makes these minerals critical? In short, the digital and green economies of the future — including massive new infrastructure needed to support artificial intelligence — will not exist without them. 'There is no energy transition without critical minerals: no batteries, no electric cars, no wind turbines and no solar panels,' a federal minerals strategy once said. Depending on market fluctuations, minerals hold immense value. The Democratic Republic of Congo provides 70 per cent of the world's cobalt. Indonesia supplies 40 per cent of nickel. And China is the largest processor of minerals, a dominance that has, on occasion, led to disruptive trade practices and price swings, according to a recent Public Policy Forum report. Deposits locked under the Ring of Fire include: Nickel: It is used in the production of stainless steel and is increasingly valued in advanced technologies, particularly in batteries for electric vehicles. Cobalt: Considered essential for the production of military equipment, it is used to produce superalloys used to make jet engines, missiles and submarines. Copper: Used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, solar power panels, and battery energy storage systems, it is also considered essential for the creation of data centres that will support artificial intelligence. Chromite: This is the ore from which chromium is extracted. Chromium is essential to the manufacture of stainless steel. Platinum: A metal that plays a vital role in autocatalysts, which reduce greenhouse gas emissions from vehicle tailpipes. Palladium: A 'platinum group element,' it is used in electronics and in vehicle emission reductions. The timeline As modern mining lore has it, speculators in the Hudson Bay lowlands discovered its chromite in 2007. Depending on the loquaciousness of the storyteller, one or several prospectors were Johnny Cash fans and so inspired, quickly named the lands around their discovery the Ring of Fire, launching years of environmental assessments, ownership changes and new mining claims. The Ring of Fire was included in Ontario's 2010 speech from the throne and in the ensuing years, premiers Dalton McGuinty and Kathleen Wynne raved over its potential, although Sudbury already mines critical minerals. And in 2018, along came Doug Ford. Running for the premier's job, he promised to build roads to the untouched minerals, which were in a distant region of the province accessible only by airplanes or (melting) ice highways. 'If I have to hop on a bulldozer myself, we're going to start building roads to the Ring of Fire,' Ford tweeted. This did not impress the First Nations who make Kawana 'bi 'kag their home. Today, seven years and two elections later, with no roads built, Trump's antics inspired new laws rushed through the Ontario legislature and the House of Commons: Ford's Bill 5, the 'Protect Ontario by Unleashing the Economy Act' and Carney's Bill C-5, the 'One Canadian Economy Act.' Before Carney met with First Nations leaders on July 17, he promised 'Indigenous equity and full participation' in Canada's new economy. When the meeting ended, the chiefs' were not convinced. The constitutionality of both laws faces a legal challenge by nine First Nations chiefs, who called Ontario's law a massive overreach that gives the government unlimited development powers across the province. As one said, Ontarians should be worried. The request for an injunction, the chiefs' lawyer said, will likely be heard within a year. The miners In the world of prospecting, ownership is known to change hands. Australia-based Wyloo acquired Noront in 2022 and with it, the Ring of Fire's 'Eagle's Nest' project. While Juno Corp. appears to have the most mining claims in the region, Wyloo says its development progress is the most advanced, in terms of passing government hurdles. Wyloo's footprint, its corporate documents say, will cover just one square kilometre. Instead of an open pit, Eagle's Nest will be vertical, plunging 1,600 metres into the ground, with below-surface space to store tailings, the leftover materials. The company's current projections say it will annually produce 15,000 tonnes of nickel, 6,000 tonnes of copper, 70,000 ounces of palladium, 22,000 ounces of platinum and 340 tonnes of cobalt. And as for the fragile peatlands across the region? Wyloo's mine, its document says, will mainly be built on 'uplands' and not the low-lying peatlands. But there is a different threat: road construction. The ecosystem The Ring of Fire is rich with watery peatlands, a fragile, living entity of decaying plant matter that traps carbon equal to many decades of greenhouse gas emissions. And yet the earth here also holds minerals needed to build the energy-saving solar panels and electric cars of the future. This is an environmental predicament. If new mining roads disturb the peatlands by as little as three per cent, Wildlands League's Anna Baggio says data shows that the equivalent of 62 million tonnes of carbon dioxide would be released. Climate change is already threatening peatlands, from nearby wildfires to melting permafrost. So it was not surprising to see 'peatland' cited 113 times in a 2025 draft environmental assessment for a proposal by Marten Falls First Nations to build and maintain an all-season access road. Marten Falls chief says the road would connect the remote community to health supports and economic opportunities. A separate proposal would link a series of new roads to the Ring of Fire mines. Last week, Marten Falls First Nation said it held a joint ceremony with Webequie First Nation, (which is has filed a proposal to build another road) and together, took down a ceremonial teepee erected last year. It symbolized, the Marten Falls news release said, the 'joint and mutually respectful process required between the First Nations and development proponents.' First Nation communities on the Treaty 9 land have expressed concern about environmental risk, noting the age-old relationship between peatlands, water systems and wildlife. But much like Marten Falls, many also say they want development — and a seat at the decision-makers' table. Ford's Bill 5, some say, killed the opportunity for government discussions, forcing protests or legal action. Eabametoong Chief Solomon Atlookan leads one of many First Nations communities in the region. In June, Atlookan wrote a letter to Ford and Carney, warning their new laws could leave governments tied up in court challenges or worse, create dangerous confrontations on the land. 'Cranking up the legislative bulldozer,' Atlookan wrote, 'will not yield positive outcomes.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
ICE releases deaf Mongolian immigrant after holding him for months without interpreter
A deaf Mongolian man who uses sign language to communicate has been released from immigration custody in Southern California after spending months in detention without access to an interpreter, a family member confirmed Saturday. CalMatters reported earlier this month on the man's detention. His family requested he be identified only by the name Avirmed because of their fear that he could be harmed by the Mongolian government if he is eventually returned to his home country. U.S. Southern District of California Judge Dana Sabraw on July 9 ordered officials at the Otay Mesa Detention Center to provide Avirmed with a Mongolian Sign Language interpreter. So far, Immigration and Customs Enforcement had not provided him access to anyone who spoke his language, which his attorney equated to holding him in solitary confinement. Immigration agents tried using Google Translate to ask Avirmed if he feared returning to Mongolia, according to court records. They badly misunderstood him, identifying his sponsor as a daughter named Virginia Washington, but he does not have a daughter, according to a legal complaint filed on his behalf. His sponsor is his sister, who lives in Virginia. She confirmed, 'He is home with me.' Avirmed's attorneys with the Disability Rights Legal Center and Disability Law United argued that holding immigration court proceedings without allowing him access to an interpreter violated Avirmed's legal civil rights. They drew on federal disability laws prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities by any federal program, including the immigration court system. Sabraw agreed. 'He has a right, doesn't he? To be able to fully participate in any significant proceeding?' the federal judge asked the attorney for the federal government. The U.S. attorney's office for the Southern District of California would not comment on the man's release. Sabraw also ordered the federal government to redo two assessments that could have affected the 48-year-old man's request for asylum. The government did the assessments in a language Avirmed did not understand, the judge ruled. One examined his mental health, and the other evaluated whether he has a credible fear for his safety if he returns to his country. Avirmed was held in the Otay Mesa Detention Center since he entered the U.S. in February seeking asylum from persecution because of his disability. A 2020 assault in Mongolia left him with a traumatic brain injury that causes seizures and memory loss. He was attacked because of his disability, according to court records. His family declined to say how he reached the U.S. It remains unclear why Avirmed was released after being detained since February. He did not have any additional bond hearings, according to an immigration court docket. His attorneys could not immediately be reached for comment. ICE did not return a request for comment. Wendy Fry writes for CalMatters, where this article originally appeared. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Business Wire
4 days ago
- Business Wire
Citizens Against Government Waste Names Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe July 2025 Porker of the Month
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) named Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe (R) its July 2025 Porker of the Month for punting taxpayer money into Kansas City NFL and MLB stadiums. Gov. Kehoe was an easy choice for July Porker of the Month as he plays games with taxpayer dollars and hands off huge tax breaks to team owners. Share After SB 3 passed the Missouri Senate 19 to 13 in a rushed 2:30 a.m. vote during a special session with minimal public debate, Gov. Kehoe quickly signed it into law. SB 3 authorizes bonds backed by state tax revenues to cover up to 50 percent of the $1.15 billion stadium costs for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals. Missourians face spiraling property taxes and strained local budgets as schools, infrastructure, and first responders struggle for resources. But Gov. Kehoe put the needs of his constituents last and tax breaks for team owners first. CAGW President Tom Schatz said, 'Gov. Kehoe's support for this late-night bill pushes property tax-funded public bonds for the private benefit of team owners who can easily afford to pay for their own stadiums. His grand handout should have taxpayers scrambling and crying foul as they get penalized by the governor and special interests. Gov. Kehoe was an easy choice for July Porker of the Month as he plays games with taxpayer dollars and hands off huge tax breaks to team owners.' Citizens Against Government Waste is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government. For more than two decades, Porker of the Month is a dubious honor given to lawmakers and government officials who have shown a blatant disregard for the taxpayers.
