Grey County Committee Meeting Transcript — June 18, 2026

00:00:06 Speaker 01: Recorded started. Live stream going. Thank

00:00:11 Speaker 01: you. And for all those online,

00:00:13 Speaker 01: we are just waiting for one

00:00:15 Speaker 01: individual to join so we have

00:00:16 Speaker 01: quorum. Hey Rayburn, I've got a

00:01:48 Speaker 01: hazard indication on my video, so

00:01:53 Speaker 01: I may have—I can't figure it

00:01:54 Speaker 01: out. I can't figure it out.

00:01:57 Speaker 01: So I'm. Is it okay if

00:01:58 Speaker 01: you can't see me? I'm here.

00:02:02 Speaker 01: I believe that should be fine.

00:02:03 Speaker 01: You do still have the raise

00:02:06 Speaker 01: hand option if you wish to

00:02:09 Speaker 01: provide comment. Okay. I think that's

00:02:11 Speaker 01: what I'll have to do. And

00:02:13 Speaker 01: for Catherine, just to keep her

00:02:15 Speaker 01: eyes peeled for me, then. No

00:02:17 Speaker 02: problem. Do you have beside the

00:02:18 Speaker 02: video in the bottom left corner?

00:02:20 Speaker 02: There is an arrow. Sometimes that

00:02:22 Speaker 02: can allow you to play with

00:02:23 Speaker 02: the video settings if you need.

00:02:25 Speaker 02: Yeah, and I'm on an iPad.

00:02:27 Speaker 02: Is that true with the iPad?

00:02:30 Speaker 02: I'd like to say yes, but

00:02:33 Speaker 02: I'm not sure. It it directed

00:02:34 Speaker 02: me to the address bar for

00:02:38 Speaker 02: a settings alteration, but to no

00:02:42 Speaker 02: luck. Hmm. That's okay. We we

00:02:44 Speaker 02: will just work away slowly. All

00:02:47 Speaker 02: good. How's my audio? I can

00:02:49 Speaker 02: hear you hear you just clear,

00:02:51 Speaker 02: and everyone's giving thumbs up. Okay.

00:02:53 Speaker 02: Thanks. And I will just note

00:02:55 Speaker 02: for all those online, we are

00:02:57 Speaker 02: waiting for one more member just

00:03:07 Speaker 03: to have quorum. Councilor Greg, Olivia

00:03:09 Speaker 03: here from Gray County Communications. One

00:03:12 Speaker 03: alternate option for you is if

00:03:15 Speaker 03: you have a work cell phone

00:03:18 Speaker 03: and you would like to switch

00:03:20 Speaker 03: and connect that way, if you're

00:03:21 Speaker 03: able to act. That way, if

00:03:23 Speaker 03: you're able to access the Zoom

00:03:26 Speaker 04: link that way, if that has

00:03:28 Speaker 04: a working camera, feel free to

00:03:34 Speaker 04: do so. Alternatively, just continue to

00:03:36 Speaker 04: use the iPad. Yeah, thanks. I'll

00:05:21 Speaker 04: give that a whirl. See how

00:05:24 Speaker 04: I make out here. Good afternoon,

00:05:25 Speaker 04: everyone. It's Tara Warder here. Just

00:05:27 Speaker 04: give me a little update. Rayburn

00:05:29 Speaker 04: is seeing. We can contact another

00:05:30 Speaker 04: member to see if they're available

00:05:31 Speaker 04: to attend. So, if you can

00:05:34 Speaker 04: just bear with us, we do

00:05:35 Speaker 04: have to wait about fifteen minutes

00:05:37 Speaker 04: before we call the meeting on

00:05:39 Speaker 04: or off. So, we have about

00:05:40 Speaker 04: nine minutes to go before we

00:05:41 Speaker 04: reach that point. If no one

00:05:43 Speaker 04: else is able to join, thank

00:06:24 Speaker 04: you and sorry about the. inconvenience.

00:06:26 Speaker 04: Thanks, Tara. As it happens, my

00:06:34 Speaker 04: doctor's appointment got over early, so

00:06:37 Speaker 04: I'm back. I remember Whitfield. Thank

00:06:39 Speaker 04: you for confirming. We should have

00:06:46 Speaker 04: quorum. If I just pull up

00:06:49 Speaker 04: another screen. here, yes, it looks

00:06:50 Speaker 04: like we have all members. Chair

00:06:52 Speaker 04: Schultz, so we are good to

00:06:55 Speaker 04: proceed. When you are, okay. Thanks,

00:06:58 Speaker 04: Rayburn. I appreciate it. Okay, everyone,

00:07:00 Speaker 04: I'm going to call the meeting

00:07:03 Speaker 04: to order and welcome everyone. The

00:07:06 Speaker 04: first item on the agenda is

00:07:12 Speaker 04: any declarations of interest from any

00:07:14 Speaker 04: of our members. No. I'll call

00:07:18 Speaker 04: again. Any declarations of interest? I'm

00:07:22 Speaker 04: not sure if it fits in,

00:07:27 Speaker 04: but with our our group. But

00:07:30 Speaker 04: do you have anything to do

00:07:33 Speaker 04: with the stores downtown on Sound,

00:07:37 Speaker 04: or do you have any pull

00:07:40 Speaker 04: as to the condition of the?

00:07:50 Speaker 04: sidewalks and in Old Sound. Um.

00:07:52 Speaker 04: Oh, thanks, Pam. Pam's going to

00:07:56 Speaker 04: answer that question, right? Okay. Um.

00:07:58 Speaker 04: I'm I'm not sure what the

00:08:00 Speaker 04: concern is, but if it comes

00:08:02 Speaker 04: up later under other business, I

00:08:04 Speaker 04: know Deputy Mayor Greg is on

00:08:05 Speaker 05: the call today. Although he's having

00:08:10 Speaker 05: some camera troubles, he can hear.

00:08:11 Speaker 05: us. He's on our operations committee,

00:08:14 Speaker 05: so between him and I, we

00:08:15 Speaker 05: can hear your concerns and whether

00:08:18 Speaker 05: we go to the river district

00:08:22 Speaker 05: or through operations committee, we are

00:08:25 Speaker 05: certainly keen to hear those. Okay,

00:08:27 Speaker 05: we can wait till after the

00:08:30 Speaker 05: meeting and and convene then, which

00:08:33 Speaker 05: is with the the three of

00:08:35 Speaker 05: us, sir. Or I think what

00:08:37 Speaker 05: Pam was saying. Ray, is that

00:08:38 Speaker 05: under other business on the agenda,

00:08:41 Speaker 05: it could be brought up at

00:08:42 Speaker 05: that time. Okay. Okay. So just

00:08:46 Speaker 05: watch for that in the agenda.

00:08:50 Speaker 05: Okay. Okay. All right. Okay, and

00:08:52 Speaker 05: Kathy, thank you. Thanks, Chair Scholz.

00:08:58 Speaker 05: I just wanted to say, declaration

00:09:01 Speaker 05: of interest is mainly to let

00:09:03 Speaker 06: everybody know if there's something that

00:09:07 Speaker 06: we're going to be discussing. during

00:09:14 Speaker 06: the meeting that may have a

00:09:16 Speaker 06: personal, financial, or connected interest. So

00:09:19 Speaker 06: that's that's what we're looking at

00:09:23 Speaker 06: for that part. But excellent on

00:09:24 Speaker 06: your question, Ray, and yeah, other

00:09:30 Speaker 06: business is a perfect spot for

00:09:32 Speaker 06: that. Okay, great. Thanks, Kathy. Okay,

00:09:34 Speaker 06: we'll go on to. delegations, and

00:09:37 Speaker 06: we do have a delegation here

00:09:39 Speaker 06: today from the Canadian National Institute

00:09:42 Speaker 07: for the Blind, and it is

00:09:44 Speaker 07: June Awareness Month, and I'm going

00:09:48 Speaker 07: to hand this over to Kate

00:09:54 Speaker 07: Rickamini. I hope I pronounced that

00:09:57 Speaker 07: correctly, Kate Rickamini. So I did

00:09:58 Speaker 07: submit a PowerPoint presentation. Do you

00:10:03 Speaker 07: want me to run the presentation,

00:10:08 Speaker 07: or is someone of your someone

00:10:10 Speaker 07: there going to do it? Rayburn,

00:10:13 Speaker 07: yes, please. Through Chair Schultz, if

00:10:15 Speaker 07: Kate wishes to run the presentation,

00:10:18 Speaker 07: she definitely can. Or if she

00:10:21 Speaker 07: requires assistance, we can too. All

00:10:22 Speaker 07: right, I will share my screen

00:10:33 Speaker 07: then and see if I can

00:10:41 Speaker 07: get this to work. I think.

00:10:44 Speaker 07: hopefully I can. I do that.

00:10:48 Speaker 07: Oh, oh, is that working? Oh

00:10:52 Speaker 07: goodness. Um, can can someone confirm

00:10:54 Speaker 07: that they see, uh, PowerPoint? Yes,

00:10:57 Speaker 07: and probably what you want to

00:11:00 Speaker 07: do, Kate, is then um switch

00:11:01 Speaker 07: it to. the slideshow. That should

00:11:03 Speaker 07: be slide. That should be a

00:11:05 Speaker 07: slideshow. There you go. Yep. There

00:11:06 Speaker 07: it is. And then, can you

00:11:12 Speaker 07: confirm that I've just moved to

00:11:16 Speaker 07: the next slide? Yes. Yes. Perfect.

00:11:19 Speaker 07: Excellent. So, as mentioned, my name

00:11:21 Speaker 07: is Kate, and I'm from Cnib.

00:11:22 Speaker 07: I am going to. I've got

00:11:22 Speaker 07: lots of things to say, and

00:11:26 Speaker 07: I'm going to try and do

00:11:29 Speaker 07: it in 15 minutes. So. I

00:11:31 Speaker 07: hope I don't talk too quickly,

00:11:34 Speaker 07: but I do want to cover

00:11:37 Speaker 07: a number of things. I was

00:11:41 Speaker 07: asked to give a a bit

00:11:43 Speaker 07: of a presentation about sight loss

00:11:46 Speaker 07: and sort of creating inclusivity, so

00:11:47 Speaker 07: that's what I'm going to to

00:11:50 Speaker 07: focus on. I would be very

00:11:51 Speaker 07: happy if there are any things

00:11:53 Speaker 07: that I mentioned that you want

00:11:54 Speaker 07: to learn more about, because I'm

00:11:56 Speaker 07: only going to cover things. very

00:11:57 Speaker 07: briefly. If you want me to

00:11:59 Speaker 07: come back, I'd be very happy

00:12:01 Speaker 07: to. Or if you want me

00:12:03 Speaker 07: to send more information on any

00:12:05 Speaker 07: given topic, happy to do that

00:12:07 Speaker 07: as well. First, I wanted to

00:12:09 Speaker 07: let you know a little bit

00:12:12 Speaker 07: about what CNIB is. We were

00:12:14 Speaker 07: founded all the way back in

00:12:16 Speaker 07: 1918, when both World War One

00:12:17 Speaker 08: and the Halifax explosion left a

00:12:19 Speaker 08: lot more people with sight

00:12:23 Speaker 08: loss and in need of support.

00:12:25 Speaker 08: We are one of Canada's oldest,

00:12:27 Speaker 08: completely Canadian homegrown. charities. Obviously, a

00:12:31 Speaker 08: lot has changed in the last

00:12:32 Speaker 08: 100 and some years, but our

00:12:34 Speaker 08: mission today is to change what

00:12:37 Speaker 08: it means to be blind. We

00:12:40 Speaker 08: do this through powerful advocacy and

00:12:41 Speaker 08: innovative programs that empower people who

00:12:42 Speaker 08: are impacted blindness to live their

00:12:44 Speaker 08: dreams and tear down barriers. We

00:12:46 Speaker 08: wouldn't be able to do this

00:12:49 Speaker 08: without our donors, volunteers, and partners

00:12:52 Speaker 08: all across the country. So we

00:12:56 Speaker 08: love them all very much. In

00:12:59 Speaker 08: about 2018, we split apart into

00:13:02 Speaker 08: three separate organizations: CNIB, Vision Loss

00:13:06 Speaker 08: Rehabilitation Canada, and Deafblind Community Services.

00:13:09 Speaker 08: This was, in a lot of

00:13:13 Speaker 08: ways, a a funding thing. So,

00:13:15 Speaker 08: Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada they offer

00:13:18 Speaker 08: rehabilitation therapy services for people who

00:13:20 Speaker 08: are new to sight loss. So,

00:13:23 Speaker 08: you recently lost your sight, and

00:13:25 Speaker 08: you. want to learn how to,

00:13:26 Speaker 08: you know, cook and not burn

00:13:27 Speaker 08: yourself or your food. You want

00:13:29 Speaker 08: to know how you can clean

00:13:30 Speaker 08: your house and know that your

00:13:32 Speaker 08: floor is clean. You want to

00:13:33 Speaker 08: be able to get, you know,

00:13:35 Speaker 08: to and from work or to

00:13:37 Speaker 08: and from the grocery store and

00:13:39 Speaker 08: not get run over at the

00:13:41 Speaker 08: next intersection. These are sort of

00:13:43 Speaker 08: essential skills for living with sight

00:13:45 Speaker 08: loss. And before our sort of

00:13:47 Speaker 08: split, they were under C N

00:13:47 Speaker 08: I B, which was entirely funded

00:13:50 Speaker 08: by charitable donations, and so we

00:13:54 Speaker 08: had an. essential healthcare, you know,

00:13:55 Speaker 08: essential piece of healthcare funded by

00:13:57 Speaker 08: donations. Which, you know, if donations

00:13:58 Speaker 08: are down, then people aren't getting

00:14:00 Speaker 08: an essential service, and that's bad.

00:14:02 Speaker 08: And so that's why we sort

00:14:03 Speaker 08: of did this this way. Now

00:14:04 Speaker 08: they're funded by the Ministry of

00:14:09 Speaker 08: Health. If you have an OHIP

00:14:11 Speaker 08: card, you can access VLRC services

00:14:13 Speaker 08: for free. Deafblind Community Services does

00:14:15 Speaker 08: kind of what it says on

00:14:18 Speaker 08: the tin. They serve people who

00:14:20 Speaker 08: have dual sight and hearing loss.

00:14:22 Speaker 08: with things like intervention services. So

00:14:24 Speaker 08: an intervener is kind of like

00:14:26 Speaker 08: an interpreter plus. They will be

00:14:28 Speaker 08: someone's eyes and ears and voice

00:14:31 Speaker 08: while they're out in the community,

00:14:32 Speaker 08: so that people who are deafblind

00:14:35 Speaker 08: can, you know, interact and take

00:14:36 Speaker 08: part in their community just like

00:14:40 Speaker 08: everybody else. C and I

00:14:43 Speaker 08: B we kind of do everything

00:14:45 Speaker 08: else. So we offer recreation and

00:14:47 Speaker 08: leisure programming, social programming, so that

00:14:51 Speaker 08: people can. meet others who are

00:14:53 Speaker 08: going through similar things and find

00:14:56 Speaker 08: peer support programs to combat some

00:14:58 Speaker 08: of that social isolation that can

00:15:01 Speaker 08: sometimes happen. We have an employment

00:15:02 Speaker 08: program. We have a robust children

00:15:05 Speaker 08: and youth program. We have a

00:15:07 Speaker 08: summer camp. We have a guide

00:15:09 Speaker 08: dog school. I'm probably missing things

00:15:11 Speaker 08: because we do we do a

00:15:14 Speaker 08: lot. We have technology. That's another

00:15:15 Speaker 08: big one. So helping people. who

00:15:18 Speaker 08: are blind or have low vision

00:15:20 Speaker 08: harness the power of technology and

00:15:23 Speaker 08: make best use of accessibility tools

00:15:24 Speaker 08: and assistive software that is out

00:15:28 Speaker 08: there, you know, to live to

00:15:33 Speaker 08: live their best lives. So CNIB

00:15:35 Speaker 08: does quite a lot. We the

00:15:38 Speaker 08: next thing I wanted to touch

00:15:41 Speaker 08: on is a little bit about

00:15:43 Speaker 08: understanding sight loss sort of more

00:15:45 Speaker 08: generally because a lot of people.

00:15:48 Speaker 08: when they hear the word blind,

00:15:52 Speaker 08: they think of someone who can't

00:15:55 Speaker 08: see anything at all. And in

00:15:56 Speaker 08: fact, only about one in ten

00:15:59 Speaker 08: blind people see nothing. The rest

00:16:01 Speaker 08: of us see something. It's just

00:16:03 Speaker 08: not always very useful. And so

00:16:05 Speaker 08: there is what you know the

00:16:07 Speaker 08: legal definition for for blindness. What

00:16:09 Speaker 08: what counts as as being blind,

00:16:12 Speaker 08: and that's best corrected visual acuity

00:16:13 Speaker 08: of twenty over two hundred. Over

00:16:15 Speaker 08: 200, or a visual field of

00:16:16 Speaker 08: 20 degrees or less. So your

00:16:18 Speaker 08: visual field is kind of how

00:16:19 Speaker 08: much you see out of the

00:16:21 Speaker 08: sides of your eyes. So if

00:16:23 Speaker 08: you're only seeing out of a

00:16:25 Speaker 08: very narrow sort of piece of

00:16:27 Speaker 08: your vision, you might see very

00:16:31 Speaker 08: clearly, but you're seeing so little

00:16:33 Speaker 08: at once that you still count

00:16:36 Speaker 08: legally as being blind. Visual acuity—that

00:16:38 Speaker 08: sort of your your distance vision—and

00:16:39 Speaker 08: the best way to conceptualize this

00:16:41 Speaker 08: is a hockey rink is 200

00:16:43 Speaker 08: feet from end to end. Hundred

00:16:45 Speaker 08: feet from end to end. So

00:16:46 Speaker 08: if you're standing at one end

00:16:49 Speaker 08: and you're looking down at the

00:16:52 Speaker 08: goalie at the other end, that's

00:16:56 Speaker 08: that's 200 feet. And if you

00:16:58 Speaker 08: imagine what you can see at

00:17:00 Speaker 08: that distance, someone like myself, no

00:17:03 Speaker 08: matter what kind of eyeglasses or

00:17:04 Speaker 08: contact lenses you give me, I

00:17:06 Speaker 08: will never be able to see

00:17:08 Speaker 08: better than that at 20 feet

00:17:09 Speaker 08: away. So what you see at

00:17:12 Speaker 08: 200 feet away, I see at

00:17:15 Speaker 08: 20 feet away or closer. and

00:17:16 Speaker 08: I'll never be able to see

00:17:19 Speaker 08: better than that. No matter what

00:17:22 Speaker 08: kind of corrective lenses you give

00:17:23 Speaker 08: me, blindness or sight loss can

00:17:26 Speaker 08: happen at any point in someone's

00:17:27 Speaker 08: life, which means everyone's experience of

00:17:30 Speaker 08: sight loss is going to be

00:17:32 Speaker 08: different. Some conditions, like mine, I

00:17:34 Speaker 08: was born this way. I've never

00:17:35 Speaker 08: seen any other way. Someone else

00:17:37 Speaker 08: might lose somewhere all of their

00:17:40 Speaker 08: sight as the result of an

00:17:42 Speaker 08: accident or something like a stroke,

00:17:44 Speaker 08: which can be. very sudden, or

00:17:46 Speaker 08: they might have a degenerative condition.

00:17:49 Speaker 08: So maybe they start out as

00:17:51 Speaker 08: a child or teen with full

00:17:53 Speaker 08: or almost full sight, and then

00:17:56 Speaker 08: it deteriorates as they as

00:18:00 Speaker 08: they get older due to a

00:18:02 Speaker 08: genetic condition or something like that.

00:18:05 Speaker 08: There are conditions that are age

00:18:07 Speaker 08: related, so that predominantly affect older

00:18:10 Speaker 08: individuals. Some conditions are comorbid with

00:18:12 Speaker 08: others, so diabetic retinopathy, for example.

00:18:14 Speaker 08: is caused by diabetes, kind of

00:18:17 Speaker 08: in the name. This means that

00:18:19 Speaker 08: there are lots of different ways

00:18:21 Speaker 08: that someone's eyes might not work

00:18:24 Speaker 08: as expected. This can include things

00:18:26 Speaker 08: like night blindness or day

00:18:30 Speaker 08: blindness, lack of peripheral vision or

00:18:32 Speaker 08: lack of central vision, blind spots,

00:18:33 Speaker 08: blurry vision, lack of detail, lack

00:18:36 Speaker 08: of depth perception, color vision deficiencies,

00:18:38 Speaker 08: probably some others that I've not

00:18:39 Speaker 08: mentioned because that's not in Mentioned

00:18:42 Speaker 08: because that's not an exhaustive list,

00:18:44 Speaker 08: or some combination of them, and

00:18:48 Speaker 08: that's why you know everyone's sight

00:18:51 Speaker 08: loss journey is going to be

00:18:53 Speaker 08: different. Two different people can both

00:18:54 Speaker 08: be legally blind and see the

00:18:57 Speaker 08: world very differently. Someone who is

00:18:59 Speaker 08: newly experiencing sight loss is going

00:19:01 Speaker 08: to have a different experience and

00:19:03 Speaker 08: need a different level of support

00:19:05 Speaker 08: than someone who has maybe been

00:19:06 Speaker 08: blind for many years and who

00:19:08 Speaker 08: has learned to you know live.

00:19:12 Speaker 08: with it, and that's kind of

00:19:15 Speaker 08: their their normal. So they they

00:19:17 Speaker 08: have adaptation and strategies, and you

00:19:20 Speaker 08: know are more comfortable with that.

00:19:22 Speaker 08: So it it's a very different

00:19:24 Speaker 08: experience for for anyone who who

00:19:26 Speaker 08: does experience it. On this slide,

00:19:30 Speaker 08: I have four pictures that simulate

00:19:32 Speaker 08: what someone with one of the

00:19:34 Speaker 08: foremost common causes of sight loss

00:19:36 Speaker 08: sees. So top left, this is

00:19:38 Speaker 08: someone with macular degeneration, which is

00:19:39 Speaker 08: something that often happens. occurs in

00:19:40 Speaker 08: more elderly people and causes a

00:19:42 Speaker 08: loss of central vision. So we

00:19:43 Speaker 08: can see that there is a

00:19:46 Speaker 08: person and they're holding two balls

00:19:47 Speaker 08: and there's a fence behind them,

00:19:49 Speaker 08: but the center of the vision

00:19:51 Speaker 08: is all blurred out and and

00:19:53 Speaker 08: grayed out and you can't see

00:19:55 Speaker 08: anything. Top left, this is someone

00:19:58 Speaker 08: with glaucoma and it has kind

00:19:59 Speaker 08: of the opposite effect. So the

00:20:01 Speaker 08: sides of the vision are are

00:20:02 Speaker 08: blurred are are blurred out, but

00:20:04 Speaker 08: we can see that actually there

00:20:07 Speaker 08: are two little boys and they're

00:20:10 Speaker 08: smiling. looking really happy, we can

00:20:12 Speaker 08: see their faces really clearly, but

00:20:15 Speaker 08: we can't really see the fence

00:20:17 Speaker 08: in the background or a lot

00:20:19 Speaker 08: of the two balls that they're

00:20:21 Speaker 08: holding. Bottom left is diabetic retinopathy,

00:20:23 Speaker 08: which, as I said, is caused

00:20:24 Speaker 08: by diabetes. This causes blind spots,

00:20:27 Speaker 08: so we can see the sky

00:20:28 Speaker 08: and the fence, and maybe there's

00:20:30 Speaker 08: a person and maybe they're holding

00:20:32 Speaker 08: something, but it's really hard to

00:20:34 Speaker 08: make out what that is because

00:20:36 Speaker 08: there are splotches of missing vision.

00:20:37 Speaker 08: and then finally, bottom right, this

00:20:40 Speaker 08: is what someone with cataracts sees.

00:20:41 Speaker 08: We have two people; they're holding

00:20:43 Speaker 08: two balls. There's something in the

00:20:46 Speaker 08: background, but everything is really blurry,

00:20:48 Speaker 08: so we really can't make out

00:20:50 Speaker 08: a lot of details of their

00:20:54 Speaker 08: faces or of the scene in

00:20:56 Speaker 08: general. Cataracts is another one that

00:20:58 Speaker 08: often happens as we age. Interestingly

00:21:00 Speaker 08: enough, it's also one of the

00:21:03 Speaker 08: only eye conditions that we can

00:21:05 Speaker 08: reverse with surgery. Most eye conditions,

00:21:07 Speaker 08: any treatments are designed to keep

00:21:10 Speaker 08: it from getting worse or slow

00:21:11 Speaker 08: down progression, but we can't really

00:21:14 Speaker 08: fix damage that has already been

00:21:16 Speaker 08: done. I hope from this you

00:21:18 Speaker 08: will get a real sense for

00:21:21 Speaker 08: all of the different ways that

00:21:24 Speaker 08: someone who has sight loss might

00:21:26 Speaker 08: be experiencing the visual world, and

00:21:29 Speaker 08: you know have have more of

00:21:32 Speaker 08: a sense for for all of

00:21:34 Speaker 08: the different ways someone might see

00:21:37 Speaker 08: or not see, as the case

00:21:39 Speaker 08: may be. Maybe for the second

00:21:41 Speaker 08: half of my presentation, I wanted

00:21:45 Speaker 08: to touch on some things pertaining

00:21:47 Speaker 08: to creating more inclusive spaces, both

00:21:49 Speaker 08: in terms of actual physical spaces

00:21:52 Speaker 08: and thinking about, you know, customer

00:21:54 Speaker 08: service and and you know making

00:21:56 Speaker 08: the you know making your you

00:21:58 Speaker 08: know towns more welcoming to people

00:22:02 Speaker 08: who have sight loss. I know

00:22:05 Speaker 08: that as the accessibility advisory committee,

00:22:07 Speaker 08: you give recommendations to. you know

00:22:09 Speaker 08: city councilors and city staff, or

00:22:11 Speaker 08: town councilors and town staff. In

00:22:13 Speaker 08: your case, I guess county staff

00:22:16 Speaker 08: on you know the accessibility of

00:22:20 Speaker 08: different aspects of of sort of

00:22:21 Speaker 08: infrastructure and things like that. And

00:22:25 Speaker 08: so I hope this these slides

00:22:27 Speaker 08: can give you some suggestions for

00:22:28 Speaker 08: things to keep in mind when

00:22:31 Speaker 08: you are thinking about those recommendations.

00:22:33 Speaker 08: And the first is accessible built

00:22:35 Speaker 08: environment. Accessible built environments. So

00:22:39 Speaker 08: that's sort of any man-made

00:22:42 Speaker 08: structures and infrastructure, buildings and intersections

00:22:44 Speaker 08: and bus stops and traffic lights

00:22:48 Speaker 08: and all of those kinds of

00:22:49 Speaker 08: things. Some general tips that I

00:22:51 Speaker 08: have are to ensure that when

00:22:54 Speaker 08: you are building walkways, pathways, meeting

00:22:56 Speaker 08: spaces, working environments, that they're barrier-free,

00:22:58 Speaker 08: they're barrier-free and clear of obstruct

00:22:59 Speaker 08: of obstructions. So avoiding tripping hazards,

00:23:02 Speaker 08: things like that. So the you

00:23:04 Speaker 08: know paths of travel are are

00:23:07 Speaker 08: nice and clear for someone who

00:23:09 Speaker 08: maybe can't see if there's something

00:23:11 Speaker 08: in the way. If you know

00:23:13 Speaker 08: you do have to have an

00:23:15 Speaker 08: obstacle, it's unavoidable. It's really important

00:23:17 Speaker 08: that it is cane detectable. So

00:23:21 Speaker 08: a white cane only sort of

00:23:23 Speaker 08: detects things at about waist height

00:23:25 Speaker 08: or lower. So if you have

00:23:27 Speaker 08: something like an overhang at head

00:23:30 Speaker 08: height, a white cane isn't going

00:23:33 Speaker 08: to detect that. So you can

00:23:34 Speaker 08: think of things. For example, I've

00:23:36 Speaker 08: encountered like patios, and there is

00:23:38 Speaker 08: a table with an umbrella, and

00:23:39 Speaker 08: the umbrella kind of spreads out

00:23:41 Speaker 08: wider than the table over the

00:23:44 Speaker 08: sidewalk. That umbrella is not something

00:23:46 Speaker 08: my cane is going to be

00:23:48 Speaker 08: able to detect. If it's at

00:23:51 Speaker 08: head height and my cane doesn't

00:23:53 Speaker 08: detect it, I might walk into

00:23:55 Speaker 08: it with my face, which is

00:23:57 Speaker 08: not enjoyable. I don't recommend it.

00:23:58 Speaker 08: Another thing to think about is

00:24:00 Speaker 08: signage. to make sure that it's

00:24:02 Speaker 08: clear and unobstructed. It's in a

00:24:04 Speaker 08: good size and ideally at eye

00:24:05 Speaker 08: level. If you have a sign

00:24:08 Speaker 08: and it is at eye level,

00:24:09 Speaker 08: I can get as close as

00:24:11 Speaker 08: I need to, even if that

00:24:13 Speaker 08: means my nose is literally brushing

00:24:15 Speaker 08: up against the sign. But if

00:24:16 Speaker 08: it's at a ceiling that is

00:24:17 Speaker 08: 10 feet up, I there is

00:24:19 Speaker 08: only so close I can get

00:24:20 Speaker 08: to that sign because of how

00:24:22 Speaker 08: high up on the ceiling it

00:24:25 Speaker 08: is. And so, if I might.

00:24:27 Speaker 08: be able to read that sign

00:24:29 Speaker 08: if it was right directly in

00:24:30 Speaker 08: front of my eyes, I might

00:24:33 Speaker 08: not be able to read that

00:24:37 Speaker 08: sign if it is four feet

00:24:39 Speaker 08: above me on the ceiling. So,

00:24:41 Speaker 08: where possible, signs at eye level

00:24:43 Speaker 08: are going to be much more

00:24:44 Speaker 08: useful for someone who has low

00:24:46 Speaker 08: vision than a sign that's you

00:24:49 Speaker 08: know further away. Adding contrasting color

00:24:51 Speaker 08: and texture strips to the tops

00:24:52 Speaker 08: of stairs can be really helpful.

00:24:54 Speaker 08: The color helps people who have

00:24:56 Speaker 08: low vision to. be able to

00:24:57 Speaker 08: distinguish that stairs are there, and

00:25:00 Speaker 08: the texture is cane detectable. So

00:25:02 Speaker 08: for someone using a white cane,

00:25:04 Speaker 08: it makes the stairs more obvious

00:25:06 Speaker 08: for them as well. You can

00:25:09 Speaker 08: see a good example in the

00:25:13 Speaker 08: set of stairs that I have

00:25:16 Speaker 08: in the picture on this slide.

00:25:18 Speaker 08: I am going to give a

00:25:21 Speaker 08: shoutout for clearing our path. Clearing

00:25:24 Speaker 08: our path is what I pulled

00:25:25 Speaker 08: these guidelines from, and clearing our

00:25:28 Speaker 08: path is CnIB's built environment guidelines.

00:25:31 Speaker 08: Environment guidelines—they're designed for city planners,

00:25:32 Speaker 08: engineers, and architects—and so it goes

00:25:34 Speaker 08: into a lot of details, including

00:25:37 Speaker 08: like exact measurements for heights of

00:25:39 Speaker 08: curbs and things that go right

00:25:41 Speaker 08: over my head because I'm a

00:25:44 Speaker 08: layperson for all kinds of different

00:25:46 Speaker 08: infrastructure and structure. Like I said,

00:25:48 Speaker 08: traffic lights and bus stops and

00:25:50 Speaker 08: intersections and parks and buildings and

00:25:52 Speaker 08: doorways and pathways and all kinds

00:25:54 Speaker 08: of things—it's really well laid

00:25:56 Speaker 08: out. It's really well laid out,

00:26:00 Speaker 08: so that it's pretty easy to

00:26:03 Speaker 08: find the type of, you know,

00:26:05 Speaker 08: building or infrastructure you're you're looking

00:26:07 Speaker 08: to to make, and can give

00:26:08 Speaker 08: you some some guidance for how

00:26:09 Speaker 08: to make that as accessible as

00:26:13 Speaker 08: possible for people with sight loss

00:26:15 Speaker 08: without compromising the accessibility for anybody

00:26:18 Speaker 08: else. Next, I wanted to touch

00:26:21 Speaker 08: on Braille. Braille, obviously, is very

00:26:23 Speaker 08: much associated with people who are

00:26:25 Speaker 08: blind, as I'm sure you're aware.

00:26:28 Speaker 08: Where it's a system of writing

00:26:30 Speaker 08: that can be read with the

00:26:31 Speaker 08: fingers, where numbers, letters, and punctuation

00:26:33 Speaker 08: are all encoded as series of

00:26:36 Speaker 08: you know combinations of raised dots.

00:26:37 Speaker 08: I have an example of simulated

00:26:39 Speaker 08: braille on this slide. This is

00:26:42 Speaker 08: the alphabet and numbers. It's sort

00:26:44 Speaker 08: of written in in braille dots.

00:26:46 Speaker 08: Technically, the print letters are underneath,

00:26:47 Speaker 08: but they are incredibly small on

00:26:49 Speaker 08: this picture. So I would be

00:26:51 Speaker 08: surprised if anyone can actually see

00:26:53 Speaker 08: them well enough to make them

00:26:55 Speaker 08: out. The reason why I want

00:26:57 Speaker 08: to mention Braille is that it's

00:26:58 Speaker 08: incredibly important and useful for people

00:27:00 Speaker 08: who use it. But many people

00:27:02 Speaker 08: who are blind or have low

00:27:03 Speaker 08: vision don't actually read Braille for

00:27:05 Speaker 08: a variety of reasons. They may

00:27:08 Speaker 08: have some remaining vision and so

00:27:09 Speaker 08: they get by with large print

00:27:11 Speaker 08: and are quite content with that.

00:27:13 Speaker 08: They may be new to vision

00:27:14 Speaker 08: loss, so they haven't learned Braille

00:27:17 Speaker 08: yet, or they may have chosen

00:27:19 Speaker 08: not to learn Braille. I find

00:27:22 Speaker 08: that last one, especially with people

00:27:25 Speaker 08: who are old. With people who

00:27:27 Speaker 08: are older, someone who is, you

00:27:28 Speaker 08: know, 80 plus years old,

00:27:30 Speaker 08: and tells me that, you know

00:27:33 Speaker 08: what, I've read the same way

00:27:35 Speaker 08: for 80 years, and I am

00:27:39 Speaker 08: not interested in learning how to

00:27:43 Speaker 08: read and write again as an

00:27:45 Speaker 08: octogenarian. I'll get by with audio.

00:27:47 Speaker 08: That means that while braille is

00:27:49 Speaker 08: integral for those who use it,

00:27:51 Speaker 08: it's not going to be a

00:27:53 Speaker 08: one-size-fits-all for ensuring documents are accessible.

00:27:54 Speaker 08: You really need to make sure

00:27:56 Speaker 08: that there are different formats available,

00:27:57 Speaker 08: so large print, digital, audio, braille

00:27:59 Speaker 08: for signs, tactile raised print is

00:28:00 Speaker 08: also a really good one, so

00:28:01 Speaker 08: that you know these things are

00:28:02 Speaker 08: available in whatever format the person

00:28:04 Speaker 08: is going to find most useful.

00:28:06 Speaker 08: I, for example, am a very

00:28:10 Speaker 08: basic braille reader. I use it

00:28:12 Speaker 08: for elevator buttons and not much

00:28:16 Speaker 08: else. So if you handed me

00:28:17 Speaker 08: a document in braille, it wouldn't

00:28:20 Speaker 08: be very useful to me. But

00:28:22 Speaker 08: for someone who is a braille

00:28:24 Speaker 08: reader, hand them a document in

00:28:26 Speaker 08: large print. It's going to be

00:28:28 Speaker 08: equally useless. So making sure that

00:28:31 Speaker 08: there are other alternate formats available,

00:28:36 Speaker 08: so that the person can access

00:28:39 Speaker 08: that information in whatever is going

00:28:40 Speaker 08: to be the most accessible for

00:28:43 Speaker 08: them. When we're talking about print,

00:28:45 Speaker 08: CNIB has also come up with

00:28:47 Speaker 08: a set of clear print guidelines

00:28:50 Speaker 08: to make sure any printed documents

00:28:52 Speaker 08: are as readable as possible. This

00:28:55 Speaker 08: includes things like. thinking about the

00:28:57 Speaker 08: contrast and font color, font family,

00:29:00 Speaker 08: avoiding things, fonts that are like

00:29:03 Speaker 08: really have a lot of like

00:29:06 Speaker 08: curly cues and and flourishes that

00:29:08 Speaker 08: that can look really pretty but

00:29:10 Speaker 08: be really hard to read. Style

00:29:13 Speaker 08: so bold is going to be

00:29:16 Speaker 08: better than underline and strike through

00:29:18 Speaker 08: is not a great choice because

00:29:20 Speaker 08: for someone who has some trouble

00:29:22 Speaker 08: with vision, the strike through can.

00:29:24 Speaker 08: obscure the letters because obviously it

00:29:28 Speaker 08: it passes through them. And letter

00:29:29 Speaker 08: spacing, trying not to squish, you

00:29:34 Speaker 08: know, those like really narrow fonts

00:29:38 Speaker 08: or like squishing the spaces between

00:29:40 Speaker 08: words and between sentences and between

00:29:43 Speaker 08: lines. The more squished together something

00:29:44 Speaker 08: is, the harder it the harder

00:29:46 Speaker 08: it can be to read. And

00:29:48 Speaker 08: I've provided a link to our

00:29:50 Speaker 08: clear print guidelines on this slide.

00:29:53 Speaker 08: The last. thing I wanted to

00:29:55 Speaker 08: cover is guide dogs because I

00:29:57 Speaker 08: guide dogs are incredibly important to

00:29:59 Speaker 08: the people who work with them,

00:30:04 Speaker 08: but barriers still exist for guide

00:30:05 Speaker 08: dog handlers. I have a picture

00:30:07 Speaker 08: on this slide of a middle-aged

00:30:09 Speaker 08: man who's sitting in a park

00:30:12 Speaker 08: with his guide dog, who is

00:30:15 Speaker 08: a lovely golden lab. There is

00:30:18 Speaker 08: legislation in every province and territory

00:30:22 Speaker 08: that prohibits discrimination. against a person

00:30:23 Speaker 08: who is working with a guide

00:30:25 Speaker 08: dog, and this specifically includes access.

00:30:26 Speaker 08: So, someone who is working with

00:30:29 Speaker 08: a guide dog has the right

00:30:33 Speaker 08: to access any premises to which

00:30:35 Speaker 08: the public would normally have access.

00:30:37 Speaker 08: So, places like hotels, restaurants, taxis,

00:30:39 Speaker 08: and ride shares like Uber or

00:30:42 Speaker 08: Lyft, tourist attractions, stores, anywhere that

00:30:45 Speaker 08: you, as a member of the

00:30:47 Speaker 08: public, would be able to go.

00:30:51 Speaker 08: someone who is working with a

00:30:54 Speaker 08: guide dog also has the right

00:30:57 Speaker 08: to to go there as well.

00:31:00 Speaker 08: And as such, business owners have

00:31:01 Speaker 08: a responsibility to make sure the

00:31:04 Speaker 08: rights of guide dog handlers are

00:31:08 Speaker 08: respected. That said, this isn't a

00:31:11 Speaker 08: like carte blanche for a dog

00:31:12 Speaker 08: to behave however and like have

00:31:14 Speaker 08: no control. If a guide dog's

00:31:16 Speaker 08: behavior is disruptive, if or inappropriate,

00:31:18 Speaker 08: they're jumping up, they're barking, they're

00:31:20 Speaker 08: not under their handler's control. A

00:31:22 Speaker 08: business or organization does have the

00:31:24 Speaker 08: right to ask that guide dog

00:31:26 Speaker 08: team to leave. It also is

00:31:28 Speaker 08: generally unacceptable to ask for proof

00:31:30 Speaker 08: that a dog is a guide

00:31:32 Speaker 08: dog until and unless it is

00:31:36 Speaker 08: behaving inappropriately. Generally, it's a good

00:31:39 Speaker 08: idea and best practice to assume

00:31:40 Speaker 08: that if you see a dog

00:31:42 Speaker 08: wearing a harness guiding someone around.

00:31:45 Speaker 08: that they are a qualified guide

00:31:47 Speaker 08: dog, unless their behavior gives you

00:31:50 Speaker 08: some reason to think otherwise. And

00:31:53 Speaker 08: of course, at that point, you

00:31:54 Speaker 08: can ask the team to leave.

00:31:57 Speaker 08: Finally, it's important to you know

00:31:58 Speaker 08: balance competing rights. So, for example,

00:31:59 Speaker 08: you have someone who needs a

00:32:02 Speaker 08: guide dog and someone else who

00:32:03 Speaker 08: has a dog allergy. A compromise

00:32:05 Speaker 08: needs to be found where both

00:32:08 Speaker 08: people's rights are respected. This might

00:32:10 Speaker 08: mean something like seating the guide

00:32:15 Speaker 08: dog handler on one side of

00:32:18 Speaker 08: a restaurant and seating the person

00:32:20 Speaker 08: with the allergies on the other

00:32:22 Speaker 08: side of the restaurant as far

00:32:25 Speaker 08: away as possible, right? Because my

00:32:27 Speaker 08: right to be able to get

00:32:30 Speaker 08: around safely does not trump your

00:32:34 Speaker 08: right to breathe, but also my

00:32:35 Speaker 08: right to get around safely shouldn't

00:32:36 Speaker 08: be compromised either. In this last

00:32:39 Speaker 08: slide, I have some additional resources,

00:32:39 Speaker 08: including links. to the C and

00:32:41 Speaker 08: I B, V L R C,

00:32:43 Speaker 08: and deafblind community services websites. Our

00:32:44 Speaker 08: accessible communities page has lots of

00:32:47 Speaker 08: resources for businesses and organizations. Some

00:32:49 Speaker 08: information on guide dogs. Some information

00:32:54 Speaker 08: on sighted guide, which is if

00:33:06 Speaker 08: you are helping someone who is

00:33:08 Speaker 08: blind or low vision get around.

00:33:11 Speaker 08: This is kind of the best

00:33:14 Speaker 08: way to do it. Clearing our

00:33:15 Speaker 08: path, which I mentioned already, and

00:33:17 Speaker 08: then C and I B Access

00:33:19 Speaker 08: Labs and Beyond Print. Thank you

00:33:20 Speaker 08: so much for. inviting me. I'm

00:33:23 Speaker 08: happy to take any questions. Yes,

00:33:24 Speaker 08: Claudia. Claudia, you're muted. I thought

00:33:26 Speaker 08: I unmuted. I'm. I'm sorry. I

00:33:27 Speaker 08: apologize. It's okay. I was wondering

00:33:28 Speaker 08: if it's possible with with stairs

00:33:30 Speaker 08: that we've seen in that slide

00:33:31 Speaker 08: to put rain. Slide to put

00:33:36 Speaker 08: rail on the stair, braille on

00:33:38 Speaker 08: the stairs. Like on the bottom

00:33:40 Speaker 08: of the stair, it would tell

00:33:42 Speaker 08: you 15 stairs. And then when

00:33:44 Speaker 08: you come, when you go along

00:33:46 Speaker 08: with your hand up to the

00:33:48 Speaker 08: top of the stair, then it

00:33:49 Speaker 08: would tell you this is the

00:33:50 Speaker 08: last stair or something like that.

00:33:51 Speaker 08: Would that be a helpful idea?

00:33:53 Speaker 08: So often the railing kind of

00:33:55 Speaker 08: gives you that information. Not obviously

00:33:56 Speaker 08: the exact number of stairs, but

00:34:00 Speaker 08: most people I don't know, I

00:34:02 Speaker 08: know, don't count the exact number.

00:34:05 Speaker 08: of stairs, but you know the

00:34:06 Speaker 08: railing starts kind of at the

00:34:08 Speaker 08: at the bottom of the stairs

00:34:12 Speaker 08: and ends at the top of

00:34:14 Speaker 08: the stairs. So you can get

00:34:16 Speaker 08: a good sense of all right.

00:34:19 Speaker 08: The stairs are ending because you

00:34:21 Speaker 08: know the railing that I'm following

00:34:24 Speaker 08: is also ending. So I don't

00:34:27 Speaker 08: know if that that that helps.

00:34:29 Speaker 08: I I guess I don't know

00:34:31 Speaker 08: because I'm not blind, right? So

00:34:33 Speaker 08: that's where that question came up.

00:34:35 Speaker 08: The other question was, sorry, go

00:34:38 Speaker 08: ahead. if you don't mind another

00:34:41 Speaker 08: question. Would it make sense to

00:34:43 Speaker 08: train non-shedding dogs as guide dogs

00:34:46 Speaker 08: for blind people, like specifically for

00:34:48 Speaker 08: blind people? So some guide dog

00:34:49 Speaker 08: schools do. It depends. It depends

00:34:52 Speaker 08: on the guide dog school. So

00:34:54 Speaker 08: I did know someone who had

00:34:55 Speaker 08: a poodle for like a standard

00:34:58 Speaker 09: poodle as a guide dog because

00:35:00 Speaker 09: the the poodle was was hypoallergenic.

00:35:01 Speaker 09: I know that CNIB doesn't train

00:35:06 Speaker 09: those those dogs. We train. black,

00:35:08 Speaker 09: we train labs and golden retrievers.

00:35:09 Speaker 09: But other guide dog schools will

00:35:10 Speaker 08: train different dogs. And I, I

00:35:13 Speaker 08: know there must be at least

00:35:16 Speaker 08: one training hypoallergenic dogs because again,

00:35:17 Speaker 08: this person I knew who who

00:35:18 Speaker 08: had a poodle as a guide

00:35:20 Speaker 08: dog. Okay, I guess it's breed

00:35:21 Speaker 08: specific, right? How easy did usually

00:35:23 Speaker 08: they are trained to be guide

00:35:25 Speaker 08: dogs? Yeah, there's definitely a number

00:35:27 Speaker 08: of things that go into it.

00:35:28 Speaker 08: Things like the size of the

00:35:30 Speaker 08: dog; they have to be. Size

00:35:32 Speaker 08: of the dog—they have to be

00:35:35 Speaker 08: big enough to comfortably wear the

00:35:38 Speaker 08: harness. Temperament—they have to want to

00:35:39 Speaker 08: actually do do the work. If

00:35:42 Speaker 08: you have a dog that wants

00:35:44 Speaker 08: to sleep all day, they're not

00:35:47 Speaker 08: going to be a very good

00:35:50 Speaker 08: guide dog because they won't want

00:35:52 Speaker 08: to, you know, go out with

00:35:56 Speaker 08: their handler. Intelligence—there has to be

00:35:58 Speaker 08: a certain amount of intelligence to

00:36:00 Speaker 08: be able to learn how to

00:36:02 Speaker 08: do how to do guide work.

00:36:05 Speaker 08: So all of these things go

00:36:07 Speaker 08: into which dogs make make good

00:36:10 Speaker 08: guide dog, which is why you.

00:36:14 Speaker 08: see often, you know, very similar

00:36:16 Speaker 09: similar breeds like Labs and retrievers

00:36:18 Speaker 09: are very common. Occasionally, you'll see

00:36:21 Speaker 09: a German Shepherd. I don't know

00:36:23 Speaker 09: if Mira in Quebec used to

00:36:26 Speaker 09: train dogs that were Lab Bernese

00:36:30 Speaker 09: Mountain Dog mixes. I don't know

00:36:33 Speaker 08: if they still breed Lab Bernese,

00:36:35 Speaker 08: but that's what they they did

00:36:37 Speaker 08: back in the day. And there

00:36:39 Speaker 08: probably are other schools that use

00:36:41 Speaker 08: other breeds, but they're definitely not

00:36:43 Speaker 08: not as common as Labs, Retrievers,

00:36:45 Speaker 08: and German Shepherds. Yeah, they seem

00:36:47 Speaker 08: to be the best in in

00:36:49 Speaker 08: just in the way they're they're

00:36:52 Speaker 08: functioning, right? Yeah. Would you like?

00:36:53 Speaker 08: Do you need more volunteers? And

00:36:54 Speaker 08: how could uh could we help

00:36:56 Speaker 08: you find more volunteers? We can

00:36:59 Speaker 08: always use more volunteers. We are,

00:37:02 Speaker 08: as I mentioned, you know, we

00:37:04 Speaker 08: are. we are a charitable you

00:37:07 Speaker 08: know charitable organization and a lot

00:37:09 Speaker 08: of the programs that we that

00:37:11 Speaker 08: we offer are you know we

00:37:13 Speaker 08: rely on our volunteers to help

00:37:17 Speaker 08: make that happen. One thing I

00:37:19 Speaker 09: can do I didn't include it

00:37:21 Speaker 09: in the sort of material on

00:37:24 Speaker 09: this slide but I can certainly

00:37:25 Speaker 09: if you go to our website

00:37:26 Speaker 09: there is a section on on

00:37:29 Speaker 09: volunteering where you can apply or

00:37:33 Speaker 09: I can send you information about

00:37:36 Speaker 08: our sort of volunteering. and and

00:37:39 Speaker 08: where you can you know apply

00:37:42 Speaker 08: to to be a volunteer with

00:37:45 Speaker 08: with CNIB. Yeah, I would share

00:37:50 Speaker 08: that on Facebook definitely. Now there's

00:37:51 Speaker 08: one last question I have. Do

00:37:54 Speaker 08: you have volunteers that can help

00:37:57 Speaker 08: blind people to go to let's

00:37:58 Speaker 08: say music festivals or something like

00:38:00 Speaker 08: that, where there's like a crowd

00:38:03 Speaker 08: and it might be harder with

00:38:05 Speaker 08: a guide dog to to help

00:38:08 Speaker 08: that blind person, like Summerfolk for

00:38:09 Speaker 08: example, in Owen Sound. Yeah, so

00:38:11 Speaker 08: we don't we don't specifically have

00:38:12 Speaker 08: a pool of volunteers who are

00:38:14 Speaker 08: these are are like going to

00:38:16 Speaker 08: festival volunteers, but depending on the

00:38:17 Speaker 08: person, that is a thing that

00:38:21 Speaker 08: one of our Vision Mate volunteers

00:38:22 Speaker 08: might be able to do. So

00:38:24 Speaker 08: our Vision Mate program is it's

00:38:26 Speaker 08: our one-on-one volunteer program, and what

00:38:27 Speaker 08: it does is it pairs someone

00:38:29 Speaker 08: who has sight loss with a

00:38:31 Speaker 08: volunteer who can be mostly a

00:38:34 Speaker 08: friendly visitor, but a help out

00:38:35 Speaker 08: with some visual tasks, like they

00:38:37 Speaker 08: might help read things for them,

00:38:38 Speaker 08: that kind of thing. And they

00:38:40 Speaker 08: might do things like go out

00:38:42 Speaker 08: for coffee together, or you know

00:38:46 Speaker 08: something like that to have some

00:38:47 Speaker 08: of those sort of like socially,

00:38:51 Speaker 09: social and community. What's the word

00:38:52 Speaker 09: I'm looking for? You know interactions.

00:38:54 Speaker 09: And so if someone has a

00:38:55 Speaker 09: vision mate, they might be able

00:38:57 Speaker 09: to ask their vision mate to

00:39:01 Speaker 09: come, you know, come to the

00:39:03 Speaker 09: the festival with them and and

00:39:04 Speaker 09: do that do that together. But

00:39:09 Speaker 09: unfortunately, we don't we don't just

00:39:10 Speaker 09: have a pool of volunteers that

00:39:12 Speaker 09: we can say, hey, this festival

00:39:14 Speaker 09: is happening. You know, can we

00:39:15 Speaker 09: have some people be at the

00:39:17 Speaker 09: festival to to help people around?

00:39:19 Speaker 09: That's just not something we have

00:39:20 Speaker 09: the capacity for, unfortunately. I would

00:39:23 Speaker 09: think volunteers would come out of

00:39:25 Speaker 09: the woodworks, but they would have

00:39:27 Speaker 09: to be funding. So that's why

00:39:28 Speaker 09: I'm asking if you could maybe

00:39:29 Speaker 09: develop a funding program. and and

00:39:31 Speaker 09: work with maybe the Georgian Bay

00:39:34 Speaker 09: Folk Society or similar groups so

00:39:36 Speaker 09: that they actually would help with

00:39:39 Speaker 09: the ticket price or something like

00:39:40 Speaker 09: that, right? Let's let's say my

00:39:43 Speaker 08: my friend Ed, he's in his

00:39:47 Speaker 08: eighties, he has one eye that

00:39:50 Speaker 08: is like ten percent functional. That's

00:39:54 Speaker 08: all he can see. So if

00:39:56 Speaker 08: he would want to go to

00:39:58 Speaker 08: Summer Folk, it would cost him.

00:40:00 Speaker 08: I don't know if they give

00:40:01 Speaker 08: people with disability a break on

00:40:02 Speaker 08: the price, but then the volunteer,

00:40:06 Speaker 08: the volunteer would have to pay

00:40:08 Speaker 08: like three hundred dollars for a

00:40:11 Speaker 08: ticket. That there goes the volunteer,

00:40:13 Speaker 08: right? So, so is there a

00:40:14 Speaker 08: way to develop a program? So,

00:40:16 Speaker 08: depending on the festival, you might

00:40:17 Speaker 08: want to check with the organization,

00:40:17 Speaker 08: the organizers of that particular festival.

00:40:19 Speaker 08: I know often places will, with

00:40:20 Speaker 08: the access to card, allow someone's

00:40:21 Speaker 08: support person to go to go

00:40:24 Speaker 08: free. So. if I'm going to

00:40:28 Speaker 08: a festival or something, so last

00:40:32 Speaker 08: summer here in Ottawa, I went

00:40:33 Speaker 08: and saw Green Day with my

00:40:36 Speaker 08: husband, which was awesome. And we

00:40:38 Speaker 08: went to that was at Blues

00:40:40 Speaker 08: Fest here, and so he I

00:40:42 Speaker 08: I we had paid for one

00:40:44 Speaker 08: ticket for me, and then he

00:40:47 Speaker 08: was my guide, and so he

00:40:49 Speaker 08: came in, you know, he came

00:40:51 Speaker 08: in free with me, so he

00:40:52 Speaker 08: was able to help me around

00:40:55 Speaker 08: the you know the grounds and

00:40:59 Speaker 08: through the crowds and things, and

00:41:01 Speaker 08: so I was able to to

00:41:02 Speaker 08: go and experience that. different museums,

00:41:05 Speaker 08: tourist attractions, you know, festivals and

00:41:05 Speaker 08: things will often allow that. But

00:41:08 Speaker 08: I don't think it's a thing

00:41:09 Speaker 08: that's like required by by legislation

00:41:11 Speaker 08: or anything. So it's a bit

00:41:17 Speaker 08: of a whether they want to

00:41:19 Speaker 08: or not. But it's certainly something

00:41:22 Speaker 08: I think you could encourage them

00:41:24 Speaker 08: if they don't already have have

00:41:25 Speaker 10: that with with something like the

00:41:28 Speaker 10: access to card to to encourage

00:41:31 Speaker 10: or you know or the C

00:41:32 Speaker 10: and I. To encourage, or you

00:41:34 Speaker 10: know, or the CNIB card to

00:41:37 Speaker 10: encourage them to offer, you know,

00:41:41 Speaker 10: complimentary tickets to support workers for

00:41:43 Speaker 10: people who are blind or who

00:41:46 Speaker 10: have other disabilities who need to

00:41:50 Speaker 10: be accompanied by someone. Okay. Well,

00:41:51 Speaker 10: thank you so much for that

00:41:53 Speaker 10: information. Yeah. Okay, and we have

00:41:56 Speaker 10: a couple of other people, Kate,

00:42:00 Speaker 10: with their hands up for you,

00:42:02 Speaker 10: Scott. Thank you, Catherine. I'll be

00:42:05 Speaker 10: quick and concise. Thanks for your

00:42:07 Speaker 10: presentation this afternoon. Kate. We have

00:42:10 Speaker 10: lots of municipal staff taking in

00:42:11 Speaker 10: the meeting. As someone that's on

00:42:14 Speaker 10: the sidewalks all the time around

00:42:17 Speaker 10: our municipality, you spoke of exterior

00:42:21 Speaker 10: paths of travel, and I just

00:42:23 Speaker 10: point this out to municipal staff

00:42:26 Speaker 10: to work with their operations departments,

00:42:27 Speaker 10: ensuring that sidewalks are properly clear,

00:42:30 Speaker 08: trees grow, shrubs grow over time,

00:42:32 Speaker 08: and it's never kind to see

00:42:33 Speaker 08: development of the the shrubbery over

00:42:36 Speaker 08: top of it impeding the path

00:42:37 Speaker 08: of travel. So even something simple

00:42:40 Speaker 08: in the autumn, when sidewalk plows

00:42:44 Speaker 08: might be orientating themselves or or

00:42:47 Speaker 08: out in the streets to make

00:42:51 Speaker 08: notes of anywhere where trees or

00:42:55 Speaker 08: shrubs hit the machine, then they

00:42:57 Speaker 08: should be trimmed back and ensuring

00:43:01 Speaker 08: that there's clear path of travel

00:43:04 Speaker 11: for people because it's it's never

00:43:06 Speaker 11: intentional, but it certainly happens over

00:43:08 Speaker 11: time in in urban. settings, thanks,

00:43:14 Speaker 11: Kate. Yeah, trees are definitely going

00:43:16 Speaker 11: to grow if they're healthy trees,

00:43:19 Speaker 11: and I can definitely say it's

00:43:20 Speaker 11: not a fun time to, you

00:43:24 Speaker 11: know, be waxed by a tree

00:43:27 Speaker 11: branch while you know walking down

00:43:32 Speaker 11: the sidewalk. So any sort of

00:43:35 Speaker 11: tree trimming that can keep them

00:43:39 Speaker 11: above head height is is always

00:43:42 Speaker 11: going to be a good thing.

00:43:44 Speaker 11: Okay, and we have one other

00:43:46 Speaker 11: person. Kate, and that's Ray. Yes,

00:43:50 Speaker 11: Kate. Thank you for your presentation,

00:43:55 Speaker 11: and I have more of a

00:43:57 Speaker 11: comment to make than anything else,

00:44:00 Speaker 11: and that is, I was a

00:44:03 Speaker 11: volunteer driver, and there was one

00:44:08 Speaker 11: gentleman in his white that came

00:44:10 Speaker 11: with me. They had a big

00:44:12 Speaker 11: German Shepherd, and I. went into

00:44:13 Speaker 11: the cafeteria and they were sitting

00:44:16 Speaker 11: there, and it took me a

00:44:19 Speaker 11: while to find the dog. It

00:44:21 Speaker 11: was tucked quietly underneath the table,

00:44:26 Speaker 11: and it went there on its

00:44:30 Speaker 11: own. It was trained for that.

00:44:31 Speaker 11: On the way to the car,

00:44:34 Speaker 11: I said to him, "I says,

00:44:37 Speaker 08: how do I get the?" dog

00:44:40 Speaker 08: to follow me. He says, "You

00:44:42 Speaker 08: just step on ahead and say

00:44:45 Speaker 08: 'follow,' and that dog followed me

00:44:47 Speaker 08: to the car." So that's the

00:44:49 Speaker 08: kind of training that those animals

00:44:52 Speaker 08: have. My sister used to train

00:44:53 Speaker 08: them from an organization in Oakville,

00:44:57 Speaker 08: and by the time they got

00:44:59 Speaker 08: through university, they would go to

00:45:01 Speaker 08: the fridge. and get stuff out

00:45:02 Speaker 08: of the fridge for the person.

00:45:04 Speaker 08: They were that that well trained,

00:45:06 Speaker 08: and you did mention one of

00:45:09 Speaker 08: her best dogs that she trained

00:45:12 Speaker 08: was a poodle, the big poodle.

00:45:14 Speaker 08: Thank you again. Yeah, I'm going

00:45:16 Speaker 08: to back on out of here.

00:45:17 Speaker 08: Thank you very much. It is

00:45:19 Speaker 08: definitely guide dogs are very well

00:45:22 Speaker 08: trained. The training. of a guide

00:45:23 Speaker 08: dog takes about 18 to 20

00:45:25 Speaker 08: months, I believe. They spend their

00:45:28 Speaker 08: first year of their life with

00:45:29 Speaker 08: their puppy raisers, learning. They learn

00:45:32 Speaker 08: their basic like dog obedience, but

00:45:34 Speaker 08: then they also are socialized, so

00:45:36 Speaker 08: they're taken out to public spaces.

00:45:37 Speaker 08: They have like a a training

00:45:38 Speaker 08: vest that says you know guide

00:45:40 Speaker 08: dog in training, so they learn

00:45:44 Speaker 08: to you know be you know

00:45:46 Speaker 08: get used to lots of people

00:45:47 Speaker 08: to be. you know, calm and

00:45:48 Speaker 08: not distracted in in crowds, and

00:45:50 Speaker 08: to sit quietly at like restaurants,

00:45:51 Speaker 08: and you know, not beg and

00:45:53 Speaker 08: and things like that. And then

00:45:56 Speaker 08: they go through their guide training,

00:45:58 Speaker 08: which is sort of specific to

00:46:02 Speaker 08: how do you, you know, how

00:46:04 Speaker 08: do you guide another another human

00:46:06 Speaker 08: and keep them safe, which includes

00:46:08 Speaker 08: one of the things I think

00:46:10 Speaker 08: is most interesting, which is a

00:46:12 Speaker 08: guide dog is the only dog

00:46:15 Speaker 08: trained, as far as I know,

00:46:17 Speaker 08: maybe maybe there are other Maybe

00:46:19 Speaker 08: maybe there are others, but as

00:46:22 Speaker 11: far as I know, the only

00:46:24 Speaker 11: kind of dog trained specifically to

00:46:30 Speaker 11: disobey in specific circumstances. So if

00:46:31 Speaker 11: you are a guide dog handler

00:46:36 Speaker 11: and you tell your dog to

00:46:39 Speaker 11: cross the road, but the dog

00:46:41 Speaker 11: sees a car coming, they won't

00:46:43 Speaker 11: listen to you. They will not

00:46:46 Speaker 07: obey that command because they've been

00:46:48 Speaker 07: trained to recognize that specific kind

00:46:52 Speaker 07: of danger. So they're they're trained,

00:46:54 Speaker 07: you know, to specifically not listen

00:46:57 Speaker 09: in instances where it would endanger

00:46:59 Speaker 09: their handler. Which like I. said,

00:47:02 Speaker 09: I don't, I don't think any

00:47:05 Speaker 09: other kind of working dog is

00:47:06 Speaker 09: trained to that kind of thing.

00:47:08 Speaker 09: So it's incredibly, you know, incredibly

00:47:10 Speaker 09: neat how much, how much goes

00:47:17 Speaker 09: into their into their training. Yeah,

00:47:19 Speaker 08: my sister, she trained the first

00:47:21 Speaker 08: year, and then they went, and

00:47:22 Speaker 08: then they went off to university.

00:47:24 Speaker 08: Yeah. Okay. Do we have any

00:47:27 Speaker 08: other questions for Kate? No, I

00:47:28 Speaker 08: don't see any other hands raised

00:47:30 Speaker 08: here, Kate. But we would just

00:47:31 Speaker 08: really like to thank you. This

00:47:33 Speaker 08: was very informative and very educational.

00:47:37 Speaker 08: And thank you so much for

00:47:39 Speaker 08: your time and presenting today. Oh,

00:47:41 Speaker 08: Claudia, did you have one last

00:47:43 Speaker 08: question? Yes. In Flesherton, there is

00:47:46 Speaker 08: there was a pool, and the

00:47:47 Speaker 08: people of Flesherton and the community

00:47:49 Speaker 08: are trying. to get this pool

00:47:51 Speaker 08: back on the road, and I

00:47:52 Speaker 08: was wondering how to find guidelines

00:47:54 Speaker 08: how this pool could be made

00:47:55 Speaker 08: blind safe. Don't know if pools

00:47:56 Speaker 08: are covered in clearing our path.

00:47:58 Speaker 08: That would be the first place

00:48:00 Speaker 08: I would look because that's where

00:48:04 Speaker 08: we keep kind of that's all

00:48:05 Speaker 08: our our built environment guidelines. I

00:48:05 Speaker 08: just I've never been asked that

00:48:06 Speaker 08: one before, so I don't know

00:48:08 Speaker 08: off the top of my head

00:48:09 Speaker 08: if it is, you know, if

00:48:10 Speaker 08: it is covered in clearing our

00:48:12 Speaker 08: path, but I would say as

00:48:13 Speaker 08: as a as a general rule,

00:48:15 Speaker 08: again, making sure paths of travel

00:48:18 Speaker 08: are clear, you know, tactile markings

00:48:22 Speaker 08: for for the edge of the

00:48:25 Speaker 08: pool wouldn't be a bad thing.

00:48:26 Speaker 08: So something different from the rest

00:48:28 Speaker 08: of the the pool deck, so

00:48:31 Speaker 08: you can feel with your foot

00:48:33 Speaker 07: or with your white cane, like

00:48:36 Speaker 07: okay, I've come to the edge

00:48:38 Speaker 07: of the pool because I can

00:48:40 Speaker 07: feel these pavers are are more

00:48:44 Speaker 07: rough or or something. like that.

00:48:47 Speaker 07: So there's there's that kind of

00:48:49 Speaker 07: distinction. That's kind of what I

00:48:51 Speaker 07: can think about the top

00:48:55 Speaker 07: of my head. But I

00:48:56 Speaker 07: would I would check clearing our

00:49:00 Speaker 07: path. I just I I just

00:49:03 Speaker 07: haven't been asked that before, so

00:49:06 Speaker 07: I I don't know if we

00:49:11 Speaker 07: have if we have pools in

00:49:18 Speaker 07: there. Okay, thank you so much.

00:49:20 Speaker 07: I will I will check that

00:49:24 Speaker 07: out. Thank you. Okay. All right.

00:49:26 Speaker 07: Thanks again, Kate. Greatly appreciate your

00:49:28 Speaker 12: time. Yes. Well, thank you. Thank

00:49:30 Speaker 12: you for inviting me. It was

00:49:33 Speaker 12: lovely talking to you all. more

00:49:38 Speaker 12: than welcome. Okay, we're going to

00:49:41 Speaker 12: move on in the agenda, and

00:49:44 Speaker 12: the next item is items for

00:49:46 Speaker 12: direction or discussion. So the first

00:49:50 Speaker 12: item on the agenda is Town

00:49:52 Speaker 12: of Hanover Accessibility Plan, 2026 Election,

00:49:56 Speaker 12: and I'm just going to read

00:50:00 Speaker 12: the motion. The motion is as

00:50:02 Speaker 12: follows: that the Gray County Joint

00:50:05 Speaker 12: Accessibility Advisory Committee receive the Town

00:50:09 Speaker 12: of Hanover's Accessibility. On a

00:50:10 Speaker 12: Hanover's accessibility plan for

00:50:13 Speaker 12: the 2026 municipal and school

00:50:16 Speaker 12: board election, for information purposes, and

00:50:18 Speaker 12: can I have someone move the

00:50:20 Speaker 12: motion? Okay, Pamela, thank you. And

00:50:23 Speaker 12: a seconder, Scott. Great, thank you.

00:50:25 Speaker 12: And I will hand this over

00:50:29 Speaker 12: to Vicky McDonald. Thank you very

00:50:31 Speaker 12: much. Good afternoon. everyone. I'm Vicki

00:50:33 Speaker 12: McDonald, the Manager of Legislative Services

00:50:35 Speaker 12: and Clerk for the Town of

00:50:38 Speaker 12: Hanover. Can everyone hear me? Okay.

00:50:40 Speaker 12: All right. Wonderful. Thank you for

00:50:42 Speaker 12: reviewing this this afternoon. The Town

00:50:44 Speaker 12: of Hanover Election Accessibility Plan aims

00:50:49 Speaker 12: to ensure that the 2026 Municipal

00:50:51 Speaker 12: Election is accessible, inclusive, and compliant

00:50:52 Speaker 12: with the Municipal Elections Act and

00:50:54 Speaker 12: the Accessibility. for Ontarians Ontarians with

00:50:57 Speaker 12: Disabilities Act, the plan focuses

00:51:00 Speaker 12: on removing barriers and ensuring that

00:51:02 Speaker 12: all electors and candidates can participate

00:51:06 Speaker 12: fully, independently, and with dignity. Accessibility

00:51:11 Speaker 12: is integrated throughout the election

00:51:14 Speaker 12: process, including staff training, accessible communications,

00:51:18 Speaker 12: and multiple voting options. Election staff

00:51:22 Speaker 12: will receive specialized training to support

00:51:25 Speaker 12: individuals with a wide range of

00:51:26 Speaker 12: disabilities and. election materials will be

00:51:29 Speaker 12: made available in alternate formats upon

00:51:31 Speaker 12: request, and we will work with

00:51:36 Speaker 12: the individual to ensure that they

00:51:39 Speaker 12: have the documents in the format

00:51:41 Speaker 12: that is most suitable to them.

00:51:42 Speaker 12: Our method of voting will be

00:51:43 Speaker 12: internet and telephone, so that voters

00:51:50 Speaker 12: can cast ballots independently from home

00:51:59 Speaker 12: using their own assistive technologies. We

00:52:02 Speaker 13: will also offer in-person support and

00:52:09 Speaker 13: accessible help center. And accessible help

00:52:10 Speaker 13: centers, and a voting kiosk will

00:52:12 Speaker 13: be available at the municipal office

00:52:15 Speaker 13: and public library, with features such

00:52:18 Speaker 13: as barrier-free access, assistive voting technologies,

00:52:21 Speaker 13: and staff assistance. We are also

00:52:25 Speaker 13: supporting any candidates in the same

00:52:27 Speaker 13: manner. And the plan also emphasizes

00:52:32 Speaker 13: continuous improvement by seeking public feedback

00:52:37 Speaker 13: and developing a post-election report to

00:52:40 Speaker 07: evaluate. our accessibility features and identify

00:52:42 Speaker 07: future opportunities to remove barriers. And

00:52:45 Speaker 07: I was actually on the C

00:52:50 Speaker 07: N I B C C N

00:52:52 Speaker 07: I B website this morning, looking

00:52:55 Speaker 07: at different accessibility options for individuals

00:52:57 Speaker 07: with visual impairments. And if anyone

00:53:01 Speaker 07: has any questions on the report,

00:53:04 Speaker 07: I'd be happy, or on the

00:53:08 Speaker 07: plan, I'd be happy to answer

00:53:10 Speaker 07: them. Thank you. Does anyone have

00:53:13 Speaker 07: any questions for Vicki? Anyone? No.

00:53:14 Speaker 07: Okay. Well, thank you, Vicki. We

00:53:17 Speaker 07: appreciate your presenting. And yeah, it's

00:53:20 Speaker 07: hard to believe it's soon coming,

00:53:27 Speaker 07: isn't it? The election right around

00:53:30 Speaker 07: the corner. It's coming up very

00:53:33 Speaker 07: quickly. Yeah. Up very quickly. Yes.

00:53:37 Speaker 07: Yeah, and you're preparing for it,

00:53:40 Speaker 07: so that's great. Anyway, I am

00:53:43 Speaker 14: going to ask for all in

00:53:45 Speaker 14: favor of the motion that was

00:53:49 Speaker 14: presented. Yes. It's fine. Okay, everyone.

00:53:51 Speaker 14: All right. So the motion is

00:53:54 Speaker 14: carried. So the next item on

00:53:56 Speaker 14: the agenda is the Township of

00:53:59 Speaker 14: Southgate, and. again, the 2026 election

00:54:02 Speaker 14: accessibility plan, and the motion is

00:54:03 Speaker 14: as follows: that the Gray County

00:54:07 Speaker 14: Joint Accessibility Advisory Committee receive the

00:54:10 Speaker 14: Township of Southgate's accessibility plan for

00:54:13 Speaker 14: the 2026 municipal and school board

00:54:15 Speaker 14: election for information purposes. And can

00:54:17 Speaker 14: I have someone move that motion,

00:54:21 Speaker 14: please? I can do it. It's

00:54:22 Speaker 14: Brooke. Okay. Thanks, Brooke. And Ray.

00:54:23 Speaker 14: Would you like to second it?

00:54:25 Speaker 14: Perfect. Thank you. And I will

00:54:28 Speaker 14: hand this over to Holly Melanik.

00:54:29 Speaker 14: Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone.

00:54:30 Speaker 14: Through Chair Schultz, similar to Vicky's

00:54:35 Speaker 14: presentation, this is the 2026 Election

00:54:37 Speaker 14: Accessibility Plan. It establishes procedures to

00:54:46 Speaker 14: assure equal access and opportunity for.

00:54:50 Speaker 13: everyone to participate in the municipal

00:54:51 Speaker 13: election process with dignity and independence.

00:54:53 Speaker 13: Again, focuses on staff training, ensuring

00:54:57 Speaker 13: that staff are carrying out election

00:55:00 Speaker 13: duties in accordance with the Township

00:55:05 Speaker 13: of Southgate Accessibility Customer Service Training

00:55:08 Speaker 13: and specific election training, and ensuring

00:55:11 Speaker 13: that people with disabilities are served

00:55:13 Speaker 13: in a way that accommodates their

00:55:14 Speaker 07: individual needs. We also will ensure

00:55:17 Speaker 07: that access is. or assistance is

00:55:19 Speaker 07: available to electors, and that we

00:55:22 Speaker 07: are able to help. Similar to

00:55:25 Speaker 07: Hanover, we will also be doing

00:55:28 Speaker 07: internet and telephone voting, so

00:55:30 Speaker 07: people can vote from anywhere.

00:55:33 Speaker 07: But we will also have help

00:55:36 Speaker 07: centers set up in the event

00:55:40 Speaker 07: that somebody needs assistance. So I'm

00:55:41 Speaker 07: happy to take any questions if

00:55:45 Speaker 07: there are any. But I think

00:55:48 Speaker 07: that kind of summarizes the plan.

00:55:50 Speaker 07: Does anyone have any questions for

00:55:54 Speaker 07: Holly? anyone? Okay, thanks, Holly. We

00:55:56 Speaker 07: appreciate your your presenting for us,

00:55:58 Speaker 07: and good luck with the election.

00:56:08 Speaker 07: Thank you very much. You're more

00:56:11 Speaker 07: than welcome. And can I please

00:56:14 Speaker 07: all have? Sorry, is everyone all

00:56:17 Speaker 07: in favor of the motion? Yes.

00:56:19 Speaker 07: Okay, Claudia. Yes, you. Okay. Thank

00:56:23 Speaker 07: you. Okay. Thank you. All right.

00:56:26 Speaker 15: Motion carried. So the next item

00:56:30 Speaker 15: on the agenda, it's a little

00:56:35 Speaker 15: bit of a repeat, but this

00:56:39 Speaker 15: is good. The next item is

00:56:40 Speaker 15: the Municipality of Grey Highlands, and

00:56:42 Speaker 15: again, the election accessibility report. And

00:56:44 Speaker 15: the motion reads as follow: that

00:56:47 Speaker 15: the Grey County Joint Accessibility Advisory

00:56:50 Speaker 15: Committee received the Municipality of Grey

00:56:53 Speaker 15: Highlands accessibility plan for the 2026.

00:56:56 Speaker 15: municipal and school board election, for

00:56:58 Speaker 15: information purposes, and like, can I

00:57:11 Speaker 16: have someone move the motion, please?

00:57:13 Speaker 16: I can do it, Brooke. Thanks,

00:57:16 Speaker 16: Brooke. And can I have a

00:57:21 Speaker 16: seconder, Claudia? Yes. Yes. Thank you.

00:57:23 Speaker 15: Thank you. I saw your hand

00:57:24 Speaker 15: up, and I will pass this

00:57:26 Speaker 15: on to Amanda Fines Van Elstey.

00:57:34 Speaker 15: There, unfortunately, Amanda's not in attendance.

00:57:36 Speaker 10: I am happy to do a

00:57:37 Speaker 10: very brief presentation on her behalf

00:57:39 Speaker 10: and take any feedback and questions

00:57:40 Speaker 10: back to our clerk. Great, thanks,

00:57:43 Speaker 10: Jackie. Yeah, so our municipal election

00:57:46 Speaker 10: will be held utilizing internet voting

00:57:48 Speaker 10: with in-person assistance opportunities. The goal.

00:57:51 Speaker 10: is to develop, identify, remove, and

00:57:54 Speaker 10: prevent any barriers to participation. We

00:57:59 Speaker 10: want to make it as accessible

00:58:04 Speaker 10: as possible. So we will have

00:58:08 Speaker 10: in-person assistance as well as internet