Dear Community Partner,

This is an invitation to attend the consultation as part of the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation’s White Paper that is being held in Vancouver January 15th.  This consultation is in addition to the other scheduled consultations across the province.

The Disability White Paper Leadership Team, made up of government, the disability community and the business community, wants to hear from you about how we, as a society, can increase accessibility and decrease barriers for people living with disabilities in B.C.

On December 3, 2013, the B.C. government launched a consultation with British Columbians to better understand how government, businesses and communities can increase accessibility and decrease barriers for people living with disabilities. www.engage.gov.bc.ca/disabilitywhitepaper

The online conversations have been themed around six areas: innovation, personal supports, work and contribution, housing and physical accessibility, support networks, and RDSPs/asset accumulation.

Your feedback and comments will help to inform the development of a White Paper – a document that reflects the voice of British Columbians – that will form the foundation for a Summit in June on the issues facing people with disabilities in British Columbia.

The approach is modeled after the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities pledge to ensure that any discussion of disability issues be done with the disability community – ‘nothing about us without us’.

The Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation asked the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities to help bring together a group of leaders in the disability community for an open discussion on this important issue. Thank you to the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities for their leadership and guidance in helping to make this event possible.

When:    January 15, 2014
Noon – 5 pm (lunch will be provided at 1 pm)

Where:  Creekside Community Centre
1 Athletes Way
Vancouver, BC

RSVP: Please RSVP by January 8 to disabilitywhitepaper@gov.bc.ca
            Space is limited to 100 participants

In advance of this dialogue, we invite you to think about this question:

What B.C. would look like if it was the most progressive province for people living with disabilities?

Time sensitive!

Sean Muir, Executive Director of The Healthy Aboriginal Network, is seeking assistance from youth in evaluating a new financial literacy comic book, The Game Plan. If you work with youth and can help (evaluations must be completed this Friday, August 16th), please see details from Sean below.

Financial literacy comic book evaluation
We are evaluating The Game Plan this week. Hard copies have gone out to several organizations across Canada but being summer, access to youth is a challenge. So just to make sure we have enough response we are wondering if there are any organizations that are willing to have their youth answer a short online pre-test, have their youth read the comic digitally (I’ll email you a PDF. Don’t use the one on our website – it’s just a preview) and then answer another short test after reading the book. The deadline for the online feedback is Friday, August 16th. We will be immensely grateful if you’re able to help. The questionnaires can be found at:

Pre-test survey www.surveymonkey.com/s/PYRLDLD
Post-test survey www.surveymonkey.com/s/PYBD23Y

Email sean@thehealthyaboriginal.net to receive an evaluation copy of the publication

Drop by The Healthy Aboriginal Network website to see their extensive collection of comic books and posters on health and social issues for youth at: http://thehealthyaboriginal.net/

BCCPD received the following notice from local film director and educator, Sarah Van Borek, who is working with SFU on a new project:

We Are BC is looking for video submissions (deadline extended to Sept. 2nd). I feel very strongly about the need to include a diversity of voices from people across the province who have disabilities or who work with people with disabilities – to help paint a picture of the various ways they are working and contributing to and/or are affected by B.C.’s economy.

I am a Vancouver-based film director and educator working with SFU Public Square to produce “WE ARE BC,” a crowdsourced, user-generated film by and for BC residents about how each of us affects and is affected by B.C.’s economy. Participating is simple and free. BC residents can submit a 30-second unedited video clip (taken with a smartphone, laptop, etc) that reflects one of the questions/themes outlined in our website’s “What To Film” and submit it online by AUGUST 15th. Contributors could star in the We Are BC film as “co-directors,” win a $500 Peoples’ Choice Award, and have their video showcased in a We Are BC legacy website.

The We Are BC film will be screened in a world premiere at The Orpheum Theatre on October 3, to kick-off a critical province-wide dialogue that explores the question: How do we chart BC’s economy to create wealth, promote equality and protect the environment? This event is part of a larger 2013 Community Summit on “Charting BC’s Economic Future” hosted by SFU Public Square.

Submission guidelines, FAQs, and more can be found online. For more information, please contact Sarah Van Borek by email at: wearebc@sfu.ca

For more information

Website: www.sfu.ca/wearebc
Related blog: http://at.sfu.ca/KTyaoH