We at Barrier Free Canada – Canada sans Barrières are totally dumbfounded, confused, and extremely concerned and disappointed this morning and we truly hope that the following situation is rectified as soon as possible!
On April 1, 2019 we received an invitation from the Clerk of the Senate Standing Committee to appear as a witness before said committee on Bill C81 but lo and behold! On April 8, 2019 this invitation was withdrawn and we were told that it was due to scheduling deadlines.
When we pushed for further explanations we were told that FALA, another group was already appearing before the Standing Committee and that because were were already a member of this group then …
We will note here that whereas we are a national organization there are provincial organizations that are scheduled to appear and organizations for the blind that are also being given a chance to appear.
We have written to Senator Jim Munson with the following:
“Barrier Free Canada is dumbfounded! We, the organization that started this process with our principles for a barrier-free Canada, is being shut out of the Senate Committee hearings.
We are respectfully asking that Barrier Free Canada be heard by the Senate Committee regarding our submission. We are respectfully asking the Senate to recognize Barrier Free Canada for it’s original and significant contribution towards Bill C81 known as the Accessible Canada Act. We are requesting time to present our submission.”
We hope that this decision is corrected!