Eighth Edition

PDD Safety Standards to be reviewed The Alberta government has announced who will be on the PDD Safety Standards Consultation Team. The team includes two self-advocates from the Disability Action Hall in Calgary: Tammy Poirier and Jennifer Stewart. They have lots of experience living in different kinds of homes. The first meeting of the team was on December 17. They were to talk about how they will have their talks with the community and the different ways to get all of the facts and hear people’s stories of their experiences. If you have any questions about the consultation process, please visit the website for the latest information http://www.humanservices.alberta.ca/disabili ty-services/pdd-safety-standardsconsultation.html .

PDD Provincial Self-Advocate Advisory Committee Update The PDD PSAAC is working on a small celebration for all the past Advocates and Allies who have sat on the committee to be held in April. They are also working on the first edition of a newsletter. They will not meet again until April the date and location is to be confirmed yet.

Inside this issue PDD Safety Standards Review PDD PSAAC Update South Region News Calgary Region News Northwest Region News Central Alberta News Edmonton Region News 50/50 Draw Winner AACT renewal form

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AACT Mission We are a united Alberta Network that learns about issues and advocates passionately for positive change in society.

Albertans Advocating for Change Together (AACT) • www.albertaact.com • [email protected]

Inside this issue

December 24, 2015

The Alberta Hoot

Eighth Edition

South Region News The South Region Self-Advocacy Network (SRSAN) held their elections at the SRSAN meeting in November. We have two new directors, Chantal and Ramni. We had a tie for the other director position so we are interviewing them to see who will take that spot. There was also a tie for the SAIPA and SRSAN board position. This person is part of the SAIPA and SRSAN board. We are also interviewing for this position. Leigh Bremner, Regional Director of Disability Services, came to our SRSAN meeting. She talked with many of us during the lunch hour. This was important to us because we are working towards building a relationship again with PDD South. We talked about voting in the federal election and what worked really well and what barriers there were to voting. We are giving that information to Elections Canada. We also talked about the SRSAN retreat. This is where we come up with our goals for the next two years. The retreat will be in June 2016 and we are starting to plan.

Events We had a community awareness event for Human Rights Day on December 10th. There were cultural dancers, writing for rights with Amnesty International, and information booths. We had different events to celebrate International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). There were mini-TED Talks about different topics such as employment and inclusion, a dance workshop, and the first ever Lethbridge Inclusion Awards. We are really excited about the day and the awards.

Some SRSAN members are volunteering to wrap Christmas gifts at the mall.

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December 24, 2015

The Alberta Hoot

Eighth Edition

Calgary Region News By Brodie Boychuk

International Day of Persons with Disabilities On December 3, International Day of Disabled Persons was celebrated at Jack Singer Concert Hall in Calgary. The event had lots of things like speeches, films, and dances from MOMO and other dance companies. Brad Robertson, a member of the Disability Action Hall showed a video and gave a speech. Also, the Disability Action Hall put up a photo booth framed like a small house to share what we think home should be like and how the PDD Safety Standards do not fit with that.

Bill 205: Nothing About Us Without Us

may be important to us. Bill 205 speaks about our rights as citizens and why we need to be treated like everyone else. Until this bill, there have been some laws that treat us differently because of our disability; Despite the fact that Alberta has a human rights act, other Alberta laws and practices, such as needing a doctor’s note to get married, minimum wage exemptions to pay us less than minimum wage, and PDD telling city hall where we live because we have a disability are, in my opinion, simply wrong.

Northwest Region News

Congratulations to Paulette McGinnis for achieving the Distinguished Toastmasters Award. This is the highest level award in It is a great first step, and more steps will Toastmasters. be needed. We have some concerns about the loop holes. The Human Services “Never say that a Minister can still decide without asking us if person with a disability can't they think a change is trivial or urgent. achieve their What the Minister may think is trivial goals and dreams,” said Paulette. “I have proven that.” MLA Marie Renaud introduced Private Member’s Bill 205 in the Alberta legislature. Bill 205 asks that any time the government wishes to make policy changes that impact people's lives to talk to us first.

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December 24, 2015

The Alberta Hoot

Eighth Edition

Central Alberta News CAAN Meetings

Horizon Hurricanes

Our next CAAN Director’s meeting is January 12th. We will be going over our CAAN Objectives and creating our objectives for 2016-2019 as well as planning upcoming events.

The Hurricanes are collecting toys and cash donations for our local Secret Santa so that everyone in the community can have a nice Christmas.

The Cash Crazy Raffle wrapped up on November 23rd and cash prizes totally $1750.00 were given out. A profit of $4134.00 was made. The third and final raffle will begin on February 22nd, with some big ticket prize items like two tickets to the Big Valley Country Music Jamboree, and other awesome prizes. The sessions are all now booked and confirmed, registration will come out in February with the fee for the two night three day conference being on $200.00. The 2016 Self-Advocacy Standing Strong Conference marks the 10th conference over 20 years!!

On November 20th the Hurricanes had a presentation from the Fire Department on Personal and Fire Safety. On November 27th there was an International Day of Persons with Disabilities Community Recognition and Dance in Wetaskiwin. Three people got awards for their outstanding work in the community. It was well attended.

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December 24, 2015

The Alberta Hoot

Eighth Edition

beside the office due to the lack of sidewalks and construction traffic. The City will also host CARS Leadership & Advisory Council an Information Session for Transit users to learn hands-on how the new vinyl refillable The LA Council is slowing down for the bus pass MyRide will work and how to use it Christmas break and excited about their for the January 2016 bus passes. We wish Christmas Secret Santa and Pot Luck. everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Central Alberta News (cont.)

Edmonton Region News by Amy A. Park

They had a 50/50 raffle at the CARS Agency Christmas party and added funds to their LAFT-Learning About Food Together Group that cooks suppers at the Ronald McDonald House. The many committees got all their 2016 schedules sorted and all their meeting dates set. The LA Council website had a LINKS page added with all our friends, supports, and services. The web site will have a few more changes very soon. Everyone was very pleased with the outcomes from the meeting with City of Red Deer Transit and the Riverlands Redevelopment Committee representative, and the bus stop was relocated to right

The Self Advocacy Federation has been busy working on our strategic plan! For the months of October to December we have been taking a close look at education and employment. We have had a couple of people from the Gateway Association come and speak to us on these topics. We have also recently finished our latest film called House Of Horrors! This film was about group homes and the problems with them. It was written by our very own Amy Park and our ally Chris McBain. You can view it on our Youtube channel or Facebook page! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FNR2RYgaBw

We have also recently attended JumpStart to talk about who we are and to show our How To Train Staff PowerPoint. We plan to continue to educate staff and students about what we want to see in our staff! We also hope to recruit new members to join the SAF. 5

December 24, 2015

The Alberta Hoot

Eighth Edition

Congratulations to the winner of our 50/50 Draw

From left to right: Bernadine Hansen, Elizabeth Hinz, Tarah Patterson, Doug Edey, Illie Drozd, Brad Robertson, Amanda Woods, and Ernie Berghout.

Time to Renew Your AACT Membership for 2016 This is the fourth and final Alberta Hoot for 2015. We plan great things for 2016 with more news about what regional self-advocacy groups are doing, more tips for speaking up and information about issues that affect you. Don’t be left in the dark. Renew today. Print and fill in this form and send it in with your membership dues to AACT 3420 Underwood Place NW Calgary, Alberta T2N 4G7

□ Paper member ($15.00)

OR

□ Email member ($5.00)

Name: _______________________________ Email: ___________________________ Address: __________________________ City: _______________ Postal Code: _______

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