-Hello, everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us virtually
from across Canada and beyond.
I am thrilled to welcome you to the third annual
Canadian Congress on Disability Inclusion or CCDI.
My name is Bean Gill, and I'm joining you.
For those of you who do not know me,
I am an East Indian woman with short blonde hair,
wearing an orange tank top
and have indigenous beaded earrings on as well.
I will now tell you about the virtual event platform.
CCDI is bilingual and you can enjoy the event
in the official language of your choice.
Some speakers will speak French,
some speakers will speak English,
and some will address us in sign language.
To access interpretation,
please click on the icon called "interpretation"
that looks like a globe
and choose the language that you'd like to hear.
The interpretation icon also gives you the option
to access interpretation in American Sign Language
and Quebec Sign Language,
which is called French Sign Language in Zoom.
The event also offers communication access,
real-time translation or CART,
captioning in English and French.
To access the captioning,
please click on the link for English or for French.
The links are in the chat and in the e-mails
that were sent out in advance of the event.
If you need help accessing the services
or have a technical problem, don't worry.
Please type your question into the chat.
Event organizers will help you find an appropriate solution.
Another thing that is very important,
to ensure that there are no interruptions,
please disconnect from your virtual private network or VPN
if you have one.
Now over to you Varda for the format of the Congress.
-Thank you all and welcome to the third
Canadian Congress of the CCDI
for people who are handicapped or DCC for handicapped people.
I am also very privileged to be one of your --
one of your hosts today.
I am Varda Etienne and I am with you
from unceded land
which has all long been a land of exchange
for the First Nations.
I am a black person of Haitian origin.
I was born in Quebec.
I am a radio host for 27 years,
and I'm very involved for people
who have mental health issues
because I myself do live with bipolar issues.
And I also work for women
who are victims of family violence.
As been said earlier, this event is bilingual,
so you can choose to follow in the language of your choice.
Some people will be speaking French.
Others will be speaking English,
and others will speak to you in sign language.
To access interpretation --
To access interpretation,
click on the icon entitled "interpretation."
It looks like a globe
and please choose the language of your choice
once you've clicked on it.
Bean.
-Yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Varda.
I would be happy to.
I ask that we all remain respectful throughout the event.
You will see that there are health breaks
between activities.
If you need to step away from your computer
during a panel discussion
to rest, get some water, or otherwise,
don't worry, you won't miss out.
We will be recording panel discussions.
The recordings and transcripts
of the panel discussions will be available
to everyone after the Congress.
Last but not least, we want to hear from you.
After the Congress,
we will share a feedback form.
I encourage you to provide feedback.
We want to know what works, but also what we can be --
what can be improved for the next Congress.
Please fill in this.
Please fill this out at the end of the event.
Also tell us what topics you are interested
for future CCDIs.
Varda, did you know that this is the five-year anniversary
of the coming into force of the Accessible Canada Act?
-Yes, I know it's already been five years and this is amazing.
And did you know as well
that the goal of the Accessible Canada Act
is to make Canada barrier free between now and 2024?
We need to figure out what the obstacles are and surmount them.
There are very important definitions
that we should be discussing during the event.
For example, "barrier" means anything,
including anything physical or architectural,
technical or attitudinal,
anything that is based on information or communications
or anything that is a result of a policy
or a practice that hinders the full
and equal participation in society of persons
with an impairment, including a physical, mental,
intellectual, cognitive learning, communication,
or sensory impairment, or functional limitation.
Then "disability" means any impairment, including physical,
mental, intellectual, cognitive learning,
communication or sensory impairment,
or a functional limitation,
whether permanent, temporary,
or episodic in nature or evidence or not,
that in an interaction with the barrier
hinders a person's full
and equal participation in society.
Bean, what's next now?
-I would like to now invite Elder Luce Bélanger
to provide a Land Acknowledgement,
our intention to create a space where everyone feels welcome
and can participate as much as they want.
Please join me in welcoming Elder Luce Bélanger.
-Merci.
Miigwetch. Thank you.
Great spirit, this is the a great moment.
And thank you.
That is always a first prayer.
I would like to say thank you for my life.
I call to the eater.
And I wish for the eastern door to open for us for this meeting.
There is an eagle at the eastern door,
and the eagle invites us to be able to create
a better world together.
And then towards the southern door,
the door of the water, of the coyote, of wisdom,
a door through which sometimes we learn,
maybe sometimes in easy ways,
but sometimes in complicated ways.
But the important thing is to continue...
...is to continue trying.
And then there's the western door,
the bear door.
And I would like to underscore
that this is for healing, for medicine.
And I hope for us to be able to all heal together today.
I hope that we can find solutions to allow us
to live together more functionally.
Also, the northern door now, the door of wisdom,
the door of those who have come before us,
the door of people who are always present with us,
our ancestors.
And I would like to invite this door to open for wisdom,
to allow us to understand
and to find solutions together for what is to come.
Everything that is above me,
everything that is in the universe today,
for example, is the full moon,
so I would like to acknowledge a Grandmother Moon
who is there with us today.
The moon makes oceans move
and makes our emotions move within us as well.
So I would like to thank the moon,
and I would also like us to remember that around us
there is an entire universe.
I would also like to thank Mother Earth,
who nourishes us every day,
who guides us and who feeds us unconditionally.
I pray that together, children all around the world,
and humans from all around the world
can together find something to drink and something to eat.
I would like to thank you for being with us today.
You are there to help us improve everybody's lives,
to help us contribute together,
to make the world a better place.
And I would also like to finish with the "Water Song."
So I am a mighty Algonquin woman.
And we say that this is a song to transform water.
So this, I have in my hands right now a copper container.
We say that copper interacts with water.
It is also said that water represents our emotions.
So I would like to invite you to close your eyes
and to imagine yourself...
...to imagine yourself surrounded by water
and integrate that in you, please, while I sing.
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ En die en ♪
♪ Aah key mis kquee ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ En die en ♪
♪ Aah key mis kquee ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ En die en ♪
♪ Aah key mis kquee ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ En die en ♪
♪ Aah key mis kquee ♪
♪ Nee bee wah bow ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya hey ♪
♪ Hey ya hey ya hey ya ho ♪
Thank you very much and I wish you all a great meeting.
I hope that you can share together,
and I hope that you can keep having a vision
for a better future here in our beautiful country,
and I hope that we also have an influence everywhere
around the world.
Thank you so much.
-Wow!
-Thank you so much, Elder Luce,
for sharing your words of wisdom and that beautiful song.
I love visualization,
so thank you for inviting us along on that journey.
Events like CCDI are important to me
because as a racially marginalized woman
with a visible disability,
I've really seen how discrimination
can impact somebody's life.
But by having Congresses like this
and events like this,
it really opens the door for true inclusivity
and to really be sharing stories
and sharing our experiences with one another,
which will bring us into a more inclusive society.
So I absolutely am honored to be one of the MCs
at this event tonight, today,
and I thank all of you for joining us here.
Varda.
-I would like -- Elder Bélanger,
I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Because this prayer, this song, was great for me to hear.
I love water,
and I was able to visualize
being surrounded by water.
And your introductory remarks really appeased me.
So I would like to thank you.
So when we talk about disability inclusion,
this is something that's very important.
Everybody should have their place.
And it is our responsibility to create a place for everybody,
to create a sense of belonging for everybody.
I am somebody who has mental health issues
and the very few that can be invisible for some people.
So it means that even if it's an invisible disability,
I can put myself in the shoes of somebody
who has a disability.
I don't like using the word "mental" disability,
but it is important that for us in 2024
that we are able to destigmatize these taboos
around all kinds of disabilities.
We should all be seen as full human beings
who belong just as much as others.
And that is why I am so touched
and I am thrilled to be with you here today.
And I would also like to wish you all a fantastic day with us.
I am very enthusiastic about being here at this event,
and I'm so sorry I'm getting emotional.
I'm -- This Congress is so important for me
and it makes me emotional.
I would like to thank the Canadian government
for having this type of event that is very needed.
Bean, I'm sorry. I'm getting emotional.
I'll let you speak for a couple of minutes.
-Oh, it's okay, Varda.
One thing I always say is --
don't apologize for your emotions.
-Thank you, my love. Thank you.
-I know that's the one thing that makes us human.
If we didn't have emotions, if we didn't show emotions,
we would just be like the rest of the mammals.
So don't apologize. Emotions are welcome.
Let them flow.