A Petition to the Ministry of Health, to Provincial Health Service Authority, and to Provincial Language Service To ensure restoration of the Medical Interpreting Service and to return its ownership to the Deaf Community of British Columbia through the Okanagan Valley Association of the Deaf and the Greater Vancouver Association of the Deaf, we the undersigned are presenting this Petition. To the Provincial Language Service, we the undersigned deaf residents of British Columbia demand:
• That the Provincial Language Service reject all recommendations found in Medical Interpreting Services Review Final Report (Russell and Malcolm) dated January 2017 because this report is viewed as being unfairly biased against the Medical Interpreting Services and also is not valid;
• That the Provincial Language Service destroy the Final Report, a copy of which we struggled but managed to obtain under B.C.'s Freedom of Information Act. To the Ministry of Health, we the undersigned deaf residents of British Columbia demand:
• The Provincial Language Service, a nongovernmental organization within or under the Provincial Health Service Authority, cease to be the source of funding of our cherished Medical Interpreting Services currently operated by the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing;
• The recognition that only the deaf residents of British Columbia be identified as sole stakeholders, and not any other groups identified in the Final Report, in the programme run by the Medical Interpreting Services;
• An acknowledgement of the fact that the deaf residents were the ones involved in the lawsuit against the Government of British Columbia in the last decade of the 20th Century to obtain unlimited interpreting services for any and all medical purposes, and, therefore, have a voice in management of the affairs of the Medical Interpreting Services, not the Provincial Health Service Authority and the Provincial Language Service, which are viewed as unwelcome intervenors and even unwelcome intruders;
• That the oversight of the Medical Interpreting Services be taken away from the Provincial Health Service Authority and the Provincial Language Service and assigned to the deaf community of British Columbia under the joint leadership of the Greater Vancouver Association of the Deaf and the Okanagan Valley Association of the Deaf; and
• That the Ministry of Health become the direct source of funding of the Medical Interpreting Service which will be operated by a corporate entity (currently Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) to be selected by the two monitoring Associations of the Deaf. We believe this will enable better and more open communication by the deaf community of British Columbia and the oversight officials (to be selected by the two Associations of the Deaf).
To date, communication with the Provincial Language Service has been practically non-existent. Efforts to reach the Provincial Language Service have been largely rebuffed, much to the dismay of several deaf individuals. Also, the Provincial Language Service does not show familiarity with the Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, and unique characteristics of the deaf community. Finally, we believe this will enhance the chance for success of the Medical Interpreting Services for the ultimate benefit of all deaf residents of British Columbia. We expect complete agreement with the aforementioned Demands by the Ministry of Health.
We ask that a response from the Ministry of Health respond to the two associations of the deaf no later than April 30, 2018.
ASL Vlog: https://youtu.be/V29FoL49EPc
