Please send the letter below to your member of parliament.

Dear Member of Parliament,

I ask you to offer your support to bring library services for blind and print disabled Canadians into the mainstream, and to prevent the reinforcement of segregation in library services. It is the responsibility of government and the public library system to serve all citizens, including blind and otherwise print disabled people.

Unfortunately, after a long consultation process, and just when the opportunity for an integrated national public library system for blind and print disabled Canadians seemed possible, nothing materialized.

A three-year consultative process took place from 2007 to 2010 called the Initiative for Equitable Library Access (IELA). The overwhelming majority of those involved in the IELA expressed a strong preference to adopt a public service model for library services for blind and print-disabled Canadians.

Early in 2011, despite the strong consensus for a publicly accountable, publicly funded library system, the Federal Government inexplicably gifted the CNIB with $7,000,000 for library use; this was done despite the repeatedly expressed wish of IELA participants to stop supporting the Library Services of the CNIB.

It is a profound disappointment to many that, at the end of the protracted IELA process, the government handed the reins over to CNIB and has yet to present any kind of integrated national plan. Government should not treat a private library as a substitute for inclusive service that ought to be an integral part of the public library system.

All citizens, including blind people, pay taxes. In return, we expect public accountability for our tax dollars. Blind voters should be respected as equal citizens and must no longer be treated as marginalized people who receive inferior services.

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada, ratified the United Nations Convention on the rights of the disabled on behalf of all Canadians in 2009. We sincerely hope the Government will live up to its word by ensuring it fulfills its commitment and brings library services for blind and print disabled citizens into the mainstream.

In view of the above, I ask members of the House to question the Federal Government about its intention and to demand an immediate scrutiny of the present situation concerning library services for blind and print disabled Canadians.

I look forward to hearing a positive response to these concerns.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Lalonde, President
Canadian Federation of the Blind