Accessible Voting–I’ll Vote For That!

The electoral process is still held in high regard by most of society. The right to participate in the democratic process has been hard fought by many groups. It continues to be fought in countries such as Zimbabwe.  Some Canadians take for granted the opportunity to participate FULLY in the democratic voting process.  This includes seeking nomination as a candidate, participating in candidate meetings, informing oneself about the party platforms, voting in secret, and being able to independently verify how one voted.   My parents instilled in me a healthy sense of responsibility about my ‘duty’ to vote. I have done so, at all levels of government, since I reached the age of majority. I have voted by proxy when I was out of the country. I have struggled to the polls on crutches.  There are three components that are essential to voting: 

1. Secrecy: privacy
2. Independent: without assistance from another person to choose and mark your choice.
3. Verification: being able to check how you voted after you have marked it.

Voting has become more accessible for people who are disabled, however, it remains unacceptably inaccessible for most people who are blind, deaf-blind, or partially sighted.  Most often, a template is offered, but this offers no means of verification. Blind people usually must depend on voting with another person to set up the template etc.. Braille ballots are sometimes available, but Braille is not used by over 80% of adult people who are blind.  Some jurisdictions are attempting alternative means of voting for the blind. These include using on-site computers with audio, tactile, sip and puff interfaces which make it possible for people who are blind or quadriplegic to vote independently. Electronic (Internet) voting is also being tried (Halifax’s next municipal election will allow people to vote over the Net or with a cell phone and a pin number which they will receive in the mail). Intelivote Systems of Dartmouth NS is working to convince cities in Canada that electronic voting will increase voting stats, particularly with younger voters.  It also has environmental appeal. Me? I prefer the on-site buzz at the polls. BUT, I want to see the next provincial election here, to be fully accessible to me and others who have vision loss. I want the candidates to provide me and others who are partially sighted with their platform and  ’pitch’ in alternate formats. I want to go to the polls and be given an accessible list of candidates names on the ballot (in Braille, audio electronic or large print) and I want to vote ALONE, and to CHECK MY CHOICE on my ballot MYSELF before I put it in the box. Tomorrow, I meet with my MLA, Graham Steele and a representative from the Elections Nova Scotia. Hmm. 

More on the Danger of Quiet Cars (Hybrids)

I recently submitted a report to our Mayor and Council (I am chair of  the Halifax Regional Municipality Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities. It was the second such report that I have submitted requesting they to write to the auto industry and auto trade associations. Our committee agreed that the QUIET CHARACTERISTIC  of Hybrid vehicles poses a significant danger to people who can not see them (example: blind and partially sighted people, distracted kids, and people tuned out with their I-Pods etc.).  A pedestrian who can not see or hear a vehicle approaching, faces significant risk.  Soon after I submitted the first report, I was surprised to receive a message that “there’s a problem”. I was mystified about what it could be. Somewhere along the line, the Environmental Sustainability Department got wind that ‘the ACPWD wants to ban hybrids’.  The Halifax Regional Municipality (HRM) owns a small fleet of these cars, AND have ordered some hybrid diesel buses. I cam imagine the panic over this, all because of mis-communication.  A meeting with that department manager cleared the air.  They were relieved to know that we have no desire to ban hybrids. We explained that all we want to ensure, is the adoption of a standard for emission of SOUND from these vehicles. We fully support the work towards a sustainable environment plan.  How ironic that I, of all people should be misconceived as a poopaher of environmental initiatives! I’m the one who harps on about reducing, reusing, and recycling to anyone who will listen (and then some). Once the air was cleared, I tweaked the letter and report to the Mayor and council and re-submitted it. We are waiting to hear from them.  I pointed out that EXISTING vehicles can be modified with devices to ensure that they are audible (without turning them into noise makers). I think this is a timely issue, given the sky-rocketing price of gasoline which is creating a tidal wave of orders for hybrid cars all over North America, including Halifax. Groups such as the NFB (National Federation of the Blind -U.S.A.) and the AEBC (Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians) are pushing  for legislation to create a standard for sound emission from hybrid vehicles. It would be so much wiser and easier to be proactive by facing it NOW, rather than delay and create a complicated and long struggle (during which time people would face peril and injury). If we think back to the resistance to seat belts and similar changes in the automobile industry that eventually became the legislated norm, I think the industry might listen and bite the bullet sooner rather than later. 

Another Half-baked CNIB Idea

It is no secret that I have a tenuous relationship with the CNIB (Canadian National Institute for the Blind).  I’ll grant that they have good O & M instructors (Orientation and Mobility), but my praise stops there. I am grateful that they taught me good caning skills. That’s what they do best, are supposed to do and should continue to do.  My beef with CNIB? They make nutty decisions with little or no consultation with their clients. I’ll get to the latest half-baked scheme they dreamed up in a moment. What really puts a burr under my saddle is their passive acceptance of praise (and money) from people who have no idea what they do (or not do).  More than once, someone has asked me, “What’s your CNIB dog’s name?”  I could spit. Instead I grit my teeth and explain that CNIB HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH PUTTING GUIDE DOGS INTO BLIND PEOPLE’s HANDS! In fact,   The CNIB in Toronto was known to have banned Guide dogs from their building for a while in the early years, relegating them to the yard while their handlers were inside.  The organization has a public image that is vastly based on misconception. They do not give “all that free stuff that helps the blind” as people erroneously believe.  Nor do they find employment for people (except some pathetic contracts with casinos that has blind people doing coat check with drunks or similar and infrequent opportunities). Nor do they provide any social programs which some isolated blind folks could really use. Nor do they actually employ many blind people within their organization (except for a few token staff here and there). Nor do they provide a list of services or resources when one is referred…it’s hit or miss what or when you ever find out what they do and who does it, or what other organizations might offer. Nor do they do advocacy work on any significant scale, though they are quick to accept kudos for other people’s work.   I will explain their latest idiotic idea.  The CNIB library in Toronto has historically mailed Braille and Talking books to the blind all over Canada.  Several years ago, the four-track cassettes were finally retired and new technology emerged with the creation of DAISY books. Digital Audio Information Systems books are Cd’s that hold an entire recorded book on a single disc. The Canadian government gave the CNIB library $6,000,000 to convert to the new system. I have no idea what terms came with the money, or how it was used in paying for new discs, mailing cases for them, and new devices to play them on.  They are played on DAISY players. These machines cost $500.00 Canadian. The CNIB got in bed with a Quebec company called Humanware, and a bunch were given free of cost to many blind people across the country. The rush to do this was fueled by unknown factors. Accountability and transparency are not part of the CNIB philosophy.  Now, several years later, these devices are breaking down and no one, except Humanware can repair them. They do so for an obscene price and great inconvenience (shipping to Quebec) to the owners. Remember, most blind people live are unemployed or underemployed and live in poverty.  That’s just a drop in the bucket, as far as I am concerned. Now, the CNIB library very craftily sent out a notice that the audio books on DAISY disc were going to arrive in a new mailing case. Here’s why, I have learned through patient investigation. The discs, are mailed in a cardboard mailer. The name and address of the client is imprinted on the disc. The client listens to the book on CD and then returns it to the CNIB in Toronto, where it is DESTROYED and “recycled”.  The reason given for returning them is one of copyright (even though you can copy the book while you have it). They claimed that there were ‘mistakes’ in the return of CD’s and this is why they have changed the system.  Every client gets a fresh book every time.  I began thinking about the number of books that would be destroyed and ‘recycled’. I tried to find out about the recovery of material in the recycling of CD’s and the amount of material (significant) that would end up in the landfill.  E-mails and phone calls to the library tested my patience. It was not until I threatened ‘Freedom of information’ action, that I was finally told that last year, the CNIB library loaned “over 1,000,000 DAISY books on CD.” They tried to cushion the significance of this by saying that downloads are becoming more popular.  Their own web site identifies that fewer than 17% of blind Canadians are connected to the Internet. Sigh. I have contacted the Ministry of the Environment in Ontario and in Nova Scotia to get some input. They are stunned and are checking into it. No one seems to know much about  the environmental impact of recycling CD’s…there is a significant part that goes into the landfill.  I will be withdrawing my CNIB library membership and following the consequences of this CNIB half-baked idea, done without consultation, as usual. I think they should stop calling themselves a library, if they are not circulating the majority of their collection. 

Now that’s what I call a church service worth going to!

Earth Day is coming up on Tuesday. While most churches carried on with their typical fair today, the Universalist Unitarian church of Halifax’s celebrated Earth Day.  It began with Raffi’s ‘Big Beautiful Planet’ song, followed by opening words from the UN Environmental Sabbath Program.  The Gaia singers performed and coaxed the congregation into rather lovely harmonies with “The River is Flowing/Tomogami Round”–…”if we loose this forest, if we ravage this land, we might as well be cutting off our own right hand. For we and the Earth are one, under the moon, under the sun..”

UU’s are not the most dogma-loving creatures. Nor am I. That is why today’s focus on Earth Day was typical of a UU service. UU’s are often accused of being from the church that is…a bit of everything except ‘religion’.  I like that too. I like the open discussion, the inclusive nature and the acceptance that one’s belief’s or tenants (from Christianity, Buddhism, Islam to Atheism, Paganism and Humanism etc.) are personal choices which must be respected.  The Universalist Unitarian focus on community, social justice and planetary concerns have won me over. Yesterday, Opal and I attended UU orientation. We will become official UU’s in two weeks  (I’ll be the one signing).  Happily,  my choice was affirmed in my mind today. Now that’s what I call a church service worth going to! 

Something to think about…

CBC radio did a short interview with renowned Canadian artist, Robert Bateman.  He appears in a short docu-shocker on You Tube to protest the potential environmental and ecological disaster if  the  ban on tanker navigation is lifted on the BC coast. In this clip, he destroys one of his own works. Bateman, of course is the premiere artist who has created many scenes where animals or nature are painted in an uncanny photo-like style. see for yourselves. go to notankers.ca where the clip is shown and people are encouraged to sign the on line petition. Or go to You tube and enter Robert Bateman. click on the “Not a Pretty Picture” clip.  

Forgive me, Opal

There are times when I lose my mind for a moment. The consequences?  Usually, I say something, born straight out of anger or frustration, that I regret.  The ‘right thing to do’, would  be to pause, breathe, count, essentially anything… except yell at my girl, Opal.  Sure, dogs can frustrate you just as much as kids can. Similarly, it is not acceptable to yell at  (or god forbid, strike) them either. I’m not sure when ‘uman beans’ started running the Big Power Trip on every living creature other than their own species.  Maybe it all began with the post cave guys who had too much time on their hands and started domesticating animals.  In recent decades, our relationship with animals has gone OTT (over the top). Our children have no idea how that chicken nugget from mickey d’s came to be. They may see it move from a huge  box of similar frozen bits, and into the deep fryer (I feel sick already), where it remains until a ‘ding’ or ‘beep’ signals the pimply-faced teenage fry cook to dump them out into the warming table.  The portion controlled amount is scooped into a styro container and handed over to your kid with ample packets of ketchup to disguise the taste of this ‘treat’ you have just paid an obscene amount of money for.  Does your kid know how that ‘chiken’ got into the Mickey D’s food chain?  Do they have any idea how the original bird was kept confined en masse in a miniscule cage until it met its demise?  Do you?  Not likely.  This is a ‘clean blog’, so it suffices to say that it is not a pretty picture.  I believe that the western world’s love affair with meat (and the animals killed in acquiring it), has created a monster industry.  Of course, there are many who have pet animals and claim to love them immensely.  Maybe so, but some people are delusional in their thinking and rationalization of their treatment of pets.  Buying jeweled collars, funny outfits, paying for spa days, silver plated water bowls etc. is an extension of their collection of status accessories.  The urban dweller seems to have lost touch with nature and the respect and care of it.  We encroach on the habitat of many species and  turn their space into ours on our terms. We create fake forests (better known as parks) and justify killing the lost critter who wanders into the city limits, an area which was once their home.  Our relationship with nature is all out of whack.  Sure, we donate to ’save’ whatever a marketing executive convinces us we should pay our guilt money for.   We listen to the news:  In the 70’s we learned that we experienced the collapse of the cod fishery in Atlantic Canada because of over fishing and bad management. We learn of global warming and climate change now,   but did not  pay attention to the scientists like David Suzuki who has been active in environmental action for decades.  We elect governments who cater to lobbyists with oil interests that do not want to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.  Then, we watch Paul McCartney and his estranged airhead wife, play with seal pups on an ice flow, as they pause for a photo op in their protest about the seal hunt.  The McCartney’s leave and so does the camera crew, but  the baby pup that Linda fondled is left to die by its mother, because now, it has  human stink on it.   While I do not endorse clubbing baby seals, I  am concerned that some Inuit Canadians should be included in the debate over banning the hunt entirely.  I’m sure that the McCartneys and even people like Al Gore pay for ‘carbon credits’ when the jet around the world in their busy schedules saving this or that. I’d rather they stop crapping up the planet with jet fuel, which no amount of trees planted with ‘carbon credit’ money will fix.  The only fix here, is their public image and personal guilt trip.   But I digress.   Back to Opal and why I need to be forgiven.  I often feel conflicted with Opal as my ‘guide’.  I know she loves her life, and her job. But is it fair? She has no say in it.  She was bred, raised, and trained with the ultimate aim of turning her into a Guide dog.   All I can do, is treat her with respect and kindness.  Therefore, yesterday as she was dawdled and sniffed when I gave her an opportunity to relieve before church, and I yelled, “GET BUSY NOW!!!”, out of frustration and fear that I might need to leave Easter service later if she decided that it was the time to relieve, I checked myself.  As always, when I insist too loudly, my sensitive girl simply sat down and stared at me.  I got down on my knees in the snow and apologized to her. I told her it was ok, that we could “try later” and I was sorry I had yelled.  I explained that her mum is a goof sometimes and we went to church where she had a long nap and did not ask to leave.  

Pirate Party Paper Palluza

My nephew has spent the last two months planning a surprise party for his mom.  The theme? Pirates. Realize, that the boy tends to run with something, like a dog with a meaty bone.  We’ve had pirate party planning meetings, pirate party related e-mails,  phone calls galore and even a ‘kit’ (at $2.oo) which included a binder filled with paper: agenda, tasks, outline, pirate history, suggested food items to bring, costume requirements, evaluation… Did I mention that the boy’s mom’s work involves statistics?  ’sponge bob’ was the code name for this party.  Frankly, by the time I  put on my castaway outfit, I was feeling a little sponge bob’ed out.  The fact that my costume was taken straight from my closet, did not cheer me up either. My tattered looking white cotton pants and ragged t-shirt were very Gilligan. It is winter in Nova Scotia, so the thin pants necessitated long johns. The sandals and floppy sunhat were carried in a bag, and proper arctic boots and wool hat were worn for travel to party central.  When I arrived, I was greeted by loud theme music (soundtrack to Pirates of the Caribbean movie) and a power point presentation on the computer.  The walls were decorated with creative pirate art which was described to me in detail. I steeled myself and slunk into the kitchen with my requisite food contributions.  At long last, mom arrived home and Pirate Mother Appreciation Party 2008 was underway.  Food is the meat and potatoes of any party. Actually, for me, it’s just the potatoes…I’m a vegetarian. Worse,  I’m one of those environmentally conscious vegetarians. So, when the expensive, glossy pirate paper plates, paper cups, and matching pirate napkins were offered, I passed, saying, “I’m not using disposable paper products anymore…” . My sister’s ex is a smart cookie, and a nice person. However, ‘D’ s response to my paper policy was not very clever. “It’s recyclable. It’ll get all turned into compost eventually”, ‘D’ announces in a dead serious manner.  This was not really the time for a lecture on environmental responsibility. After all, we were in the clutches of  my nephew’s pirate party mania. We had a schedule to keep. Outdoors for Pirate pinata at 7:00 pm, followed by sparklers at 7:15… The moment was not seized.  I’ve had some time to stew, so I offer these thoughts: The THREE R’s (reduce, reuse and recycle) are the trinity of eco-passion. It does not mean, that the option to recycle should  give anyone carte blanche to go through the stuff in wasteful excess. Let’s look at the Pirate paper plates etc. The trees felled to create this stuff died in vain.  Until their demise, they were contributing to the air quality of the world. The machinery used to log them as well as the trucks hauling them to the paper mill,  burned fossil fuel which contributed to green house gases. The paper mill also sucked up energy (likely generated by coal fired electrical plants) and belched out more noxious substances into the atmosphere and into the water system.  The raw paper product was probably shipped overseas to China or Indonesia on a slow boat that was burning ‘bunker’ oil, the dirtiest form of fuel.  At the Asian factory, the base paper was turned into napkins and cups with colour designs stamped on them.  The environmental policies and restrictions of Asian factories are negligible. I bet that the factory where ’sponge bob’ pirate paper stuff was made, is guilty of contributing mega tons of toxic fumes and waste into the environment.  I’m not enthusiastic about the exploitation of vulnerable people who work for meager wages in these factories either.  Now, the packaged plates, and napkins etc. must be shipped back to North America…more  dirty bunker used by the ships.   I’ll skip ahead to the recycling aspect.  Once the party snacks are devoured, the used pirate paper plates and other ‘recyclables’ are neatly placed in the appropriate ‘blue’ bag and left at the curb. A fossil fuel-burning truck picks up the bag and hauls it to the recycling plant. The plant requires energy to operate its machinery and power its lights. It’s very expensive to turn paper back into something usable, if indeed these glossy, food stained things are ‘passed’ and begin the process. Often, paper and other ‘recyclables’ are sent to the landfill instead.  Had I been thinking on my feet (the ones with the Gilligan sandals on them), I would have launched my logical and sound appeal to nix the paper. However, we had a Pirate Party schedule to keep and I did not want to my nephew to feel that I was ’stealing his thunder’.  ”Bring on the sparklers!”, I said instead.

Advocacy is NOT a scary word!

I don’t ‘get it’.  Why are some people so upset when you tell them that you belong to an advocacy group?  When I think back (way back) to my childhood, I realize that even at the tender age of eight, I found myself defending any individual or group who seemed to be getting the short end of the stick.  I remember sitting in Mr. H’s living room next door, trying to explain why he should sign the petition I was holding. It concerned a local agency for the then-named “…Association for the Mentally Retarded” (we were not terribly PC back then, but still concerned). Mr. H. asked seemingly inane questions(but at least he asked) about why ‘they’ should have any kind of support, and did his taxes not cover their sheltered workshop?  He hemmed and hawed for thirty minutes, and in the end, Mr. H. said he had to “think on it”. Maybe more of us cared a little more forty or fifty years ago. Life was not as complicated (or so it seemed). We were not living in the state of hyper awareness we live in today. Thanks to the media and the Internet, we all became armchair voyeurs to the political injustices, atrocities, discrimination,  inequities, disasters, and general mayhem that goes on in the world.  Our choice of battles to fight has become vast and the pressure to join in everyone’s pet cause, immense.  Miss Mimmosa tells me that she often has ‘the vapours’ just getting through the day. “It starts with my problem trying to decide what goes into the recycle box, and ends when I listen to the six o’clock news report and that nice young man who introduces all those people who want me to: call my MP, or to stop buying imported produce, or to send money to support the famine relief, or to sign a petition in support of banning the seal hunt…” I agree with Miss Mimmosa. It’s not easy to ‘get on the bandwagon’ with one or two or even ten ’causes’ when your faced with the realization that there are thousands more, just as worthy, that you must say no to. My theory is: Supersaturation of choices of issues and causes to support, has paralyzed some people. Others (from the good old activist-heavy ’60’s and ’70s) are too old to “take up the struggle”.   Still others are feeling that the personal ‘payoff’ in supporting an advocacy initiative is not sufficient. Sigh.  Here’s my solution. This works for ME. I have no idea if it would work for YOU. I vigourously support and work on issues that I KNOW SOMETHING ABOUT.  It makes a difference, when you speak from personal experience. I ALWAYS do a small analysis to determine priorities: 

•  Is this something I am passionate about? Or is this interesting as an observer?
•  Do I have, or can I make the time necessary to be involved with this at the level I choose?
• What skills can I provide?
• What do I know about this issue or group? Where or how can I find out more?
• Can I deal with any ‘fallout’ that results in my activity as an advocate of this group or cause? (work, friends, services, notoriety?)
• Will I establish a personal time-line for my level of involvement and stick to it? (you may care, be passionate, but you can’t do it all alone)

What are my advocacy concerns these days? Most deal with disability groups, and the issues of equity, inclusion, and quality of life. My other interests are Environmental.  I am president of the Halifax Chapter of Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians, Chair of Halifax Regional Municipality Advisory Committee for Persons with Disabilities, ‘telephone tree’ for my church’s (Universalist Unitarian or UU) Planetary Concerns committee, planning person on the ‘Mosaic for Mental Health’ project and member of the VISTA (Visually Impaired Safe Travel Advisory) committee. That’s my quota. I lend my name in support of others that I can not be active in for the obvious reason; time.  It’s not fair to take something on that will result in meeting being missed, phone calls and e-mails not being returned, or worse, BURNOUT. Watch for that, but for goodness sake, be active. Advocacy is not a scary word. It makes the world accountable. 

In Support of Jane Goodall

I’m not the philanthropic type. I wish I had a life that would allow me to support all of the great people who are doing good and important work on this planet. Sometimes, I am moved to find a way to cough up some money.  Today was one of those times.  While cruising through my daily e-mail from the BBC, I linked into a story on the DR Congo.  The Democratic (and using the word ‘democratic’ sometimes irks me) Republic of Congo is experiencing some difficulty.  Rebels have seized control of the eastern Gorilla Sector and are threatening to execute any wildlife rangers who enter.  Somehow this stuck in my mind.  I began to think about Jane Goodall, the world renowned primatologist, who has been a lifetime personal hero of mine. Her kind face looked down at me from a poster in the bedroom of my childhood.  I have wept when listening to this woman’s passionate words in support of her life-long work with the chimps and their habitat.  She is the woman who ‘lived with the chimps’ of the Gombe forrest by the shores of lake Tanganika in Africa.  In 1960 she began her on site study at a time when it was unheard of for a woman to enter the forests  in Eastern Africa alone. Now, at age 74, she continues to travel and lecture around the world, almost non-stop,  raising the world’s environmental consciousness.  Dr. Goodall was made a Dame of the British Empire.  She has earned the respect and support she deserves. Despite receiving countless accolades, titles, awards, and degrees, she remains a quiet, unassuming woman.  Her focus is unwavering and she rarely shows sign of letting up, despite health concerns. Jane is the type of selfless individual who must be reminded to sleep and eat occasionally.  If you don’t know her story, find a book, a video or documentary. How fitting on International Women’s Day, to support her work and cause.  In 1977, she established the Jane Goodall  Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation. I found her web site this morning, and became a member of her institute. Go to www.janegoodall.org for information. To quote Jane Goodall, “We have a choice to use the gift of our lives to make the world a better place”.