One of the highlights of the fall legislative session came last week on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which aims to celebrate and promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all parts of society.
This year’s theme is The Future is Accessible which is very fitting as this fall our government finished successfully transitioning Valley View Centre residents into communities of their choice. Through this transition, our government focused on making the residents’ move as easy as possible.
Focusing on a person-centered approached to ensure each resident felt safe and comfortable during the transition. Stakeholders have stated that a person-centered approach was critical to the success of the transition and the contribution of family and friends to each individual's transition was significant.
Our government is working to create new provincial accessibility legislation aimed at removing and preventing accessibility barriers to people with disabilities.
It is our commitment to continue implementation of the Disability Strategy that will help make all of our communities more inclusive.
These transitions and this legislation will help to make Saskatchewan a more inclusive province that is welcoming, responsive, innovative, and accessible, to everyone.
I am so pleased to see a new café in Moose Jaw employing adults with disabilities to ensure they feel included and gain a meaningful employment experience. The Kinsmen Café is run by Moose Jaw Families for Change, a local non-profit organization that works with adults with disabilities in both residential and community settings.
Every year the staff at Moose Jaw Families for Change sits down with its clients to ask them about their goals and aspirations. From these meetings a theme emerged – all of the clients wanted to have a job, as many have never worked before.
The staff began thinking of what they could do and with the majority of their clients expressing interest in the food service industry, the idea of opening a cafe quickly came to mind.
Having the opportunity to contribute to the community gives the workers a stronger sense of inclusion and belonging and gives them valuable job skills that will help them with future jobs.
Our government will continue working to build a province where everyone can participate and live the life they choose, no matter their abilities.
Now that the fall legislative session is complete, I look forward to more time in the community and back in the constituency office leading up to Christmas and in the New Year.
The New Year and the next decade holds a lot of promise for our province and its people. Our government has set the stage for a new decade of growth with a plan that serves as a roadmap for a growing province of 1.4 million people and a strong economy with 100,000 new jobs. I encourage you to learn more online at saskgrowthplan.ca.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
