Dear friends!
I hope that everyone is staying safe and well and that like me; you are looking forward to the light at the end of the tunnel where we will be able to say a sweet so long to this unexpected pandemic and to be able to be a part of a renewed and refreshed normalcy.
Barrier free Canada – Canada sans Barrières continues to encourage Canadians with disabilities to speak up, speak out, and reach out and this will continue to be one of our main thrusts moving forward.
On October 12, I will be handing the torch over to our new president Penny Leclair but I will be staying on as an advisor to Penny and the BFC-CSB board for the immediate future.
As founder and as the first president of BFC-CSB, I feel extremely humbled and privileged that I was given the opportunity to lead an organization and team that has never been afraid to lead the way. BFC-CSB is largely responsible for having helped to kick start the campaign for accessibility legislation in Canada. We started this in late 2014 and our hard work paid off when an Accessible Canada Act was proclaimed in July 2019.
We have worked tirelessly to ensure that individual voices continue to be heard.
We continue to maintain presences on several Federal Government department advisory groups for disability issues including Elections Canada, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and the Canadian Transportation Agency.
Our reps continue to maintain close ties with Economic and Social Development Canada, the Minister’s office, and along with various other Federal Government entities.
We presently sit on the advisory group of Via Rail and we also continue to maintain close relationships with several other organizations for and of Canadians with disabilities.
BFC-CSB continues to grow in stature and profile and I am comforted and hugely confident that I am leaving it in the hands of a very wise, imaginative and committed leader along with a well balanced board that is insightful, creative, intuitive, and not afraid to face and conquer adversity.
Most importantly, they work as a team putting BFC-CSB’s agenda ahead of everything else and doing so to ensure that individuals have opportunities to provide feedback and suggestions. I am also very proud that our board can lay claim to being able to represent Canadians from coast to coast because of their homes in several Canadian provinces.
BFC-CSB will continue to work to use social media to help others raise their voices through our FB group BFC advocating for change and through LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social media avenues.
I thank each and every member of our present board for their tireless work: Albert Ruel, vice president. Char Young, secretary. Anthony Tibbs, treasurer. Louise Gillis, our outgoing director. Betti-Jo Ruston, Lorne Mckanzie, Megan Fultz, Penny Leclair our new president, and Sean Krump our directors. And I look forward to welcoming our new board members in the coming weeks.
I close by wishing each and everyone the best of luck in all you do.
Thank you for all of your continuing support.
May the winds be at your back and may the sun shine always over your shoulder.
Donna J. Jodhan
Barrier free Canada – Canada sans Barrières