-So now we are coming to the last item on our agenda,
our closing remarks.
I would like to now introduce Tina Namiesniowski
the senior Associate Deputy Minister
at Employment and Social Development Canada
and Deputy Minister Champion
for employees with disabilities in the federal public service,
who will provide some closing remarks.
It has been such a pleasure to be here with you --
with everybody today.
Over to you, Deputy Minister.
-Thank you very much for the introduction, Bean.
-It is with great pleasure that I join you today virtually...
-To really close out today's incredibly impressive event.
I've had a chance to be at the Congress
a couple years in a row, and every time I'm here,
I'm just so amazed by the conversation,
the quality of the discussion,
and, you know, the sharing of things that we all
need to be thinking about to make sure
that Canada can actually realize the potential
that we have set for ourselves,
as captured in the Accessible Canada Act,
you know, being barrier free by 2040.
And in some ways, that seems a long way off.
But in other ways, it's just around the corner.
And so, I think we all
need to keep thinking about all the things
that we need to do to actually get to that point.
-And for me, it's wonderful to be here, as well,
because it's the kickstart to...
-What a way to kickstart that by having the Congress today.
And as the minister referenced earlier,
it marks also the fifth anniversary
since the coming into force of the Accessible Canada Act.
I want to say thank you to our wonderful moderators,
Varda and Bean, to Prasanna, our keynote speaker,
to all of the panelists and moderators,
and to our performers and athletes
for making the third Canadian Congress On Disability Inclusion
such an exciting event.
-A big thanks to all of you
for sharing your experiences, expertise,
and views on disability, inclusion, and accessibility.
-And for contributing to the questions and answers
throughout the Congress.
And as I really reflect on the discussions and activities
of today,
it's really heartwarming to see the impressive spirit
of collaboration,
which was evident through all of the discussions.
And it's clear that there's, you know,
huge passion sitting around this big virtual table.
And it's also clear that we all have to really lean in
and think about the steps that are going to be necessary
to achieve that ambition that I referred to earlier.
Our thought leaders from the disability community,
academia, business,
government, and other sectors shared achievements
and next steps related to the implementation
of the Accessible Canada Act.
They also shared challenges
and best practices related to accessible
and inclusive-built environment and employment.
And I was really struck by some of the comments
that came out in this last conversation.
As champion for employees with disabilities
and the biggest employer in the country,
I think a lot about a lot of the questions
that came up today.
What more do we need to do?
What kind of bold action do we need to take?
How do we ensure that we're doing
and adhering very closely to the principle of
"Nothing About Us Without Us"
and really learning from the experiences
that our employees are having
and what they're telling us about those experiences,
because that's one of the ways
that we're actually going to get better
and make sure that we're not even putting in place barriers.
The more we can actually
eliminate the existence of barriers,
the less we actually have to accommodate people,
because it will just be a fact that we're inclusive.
Now, I recognize that there will always be some level of barrier,
but that then means that we have to get better at accommodation.
And one of the other comments that was raised today,
this afternoon, was really the need for proactive offers,
like right from the very beginning,
the first beginning start of an employee's "journey"
all the way through to what we all want to happen,
which is a fantastic personal experience
of every single employee that we hire,
including persons with disabilities,
and that they're able to achieve their potential
and have rewarding and the kind of career
that they want that, if they're interested in it,
you know, has the kind of career progression and advancement
that many people desire.
Not everybody wants to progress, but some do.
And we really need to make sure
that we're giving everybody the supports
that are necessary to achieve their potential.
So I think that's something that
we need to be reflecting on a little bit more.
-I also know that we shared a lot of information today.
It's possible that people could not participate
during this day.
-So if you haven't been able to actually be here
throughout the day, I've got good news for you.
We've actually recorded the event,
and there are transcripts of the panel discussions
that will be published online.
So an email will be sent out when -- letting everybody know
when that material will be ready.
The other thing that I want to say just before wrapping up
is your feedback on this event is very important to us.
We've used feedback from previous years
to really shape how we've run this event this year.
We've had some longer breaks,
interactive questions-and-answer components
to panel discussions, and...
-And the topics that were identified
as interesting to you
for -- were identified the previous years.
And we included them today.
-So I encourage you to take some time
at the end of the event to let us know about your experience
and to share your feedback on
how we can continue to improve the event.
So you're also going to receive an email
asking for your feedback.
So it's been a day packed with activities,
and I guess the last thing I want to do before signing off
is just really to thank everybody
who has been behind the organization
of this activity today,
and without the commitment and dedication of the folks
that are -- some of whom are in this room
that I'm looking at at the moment
and others who are behind the scenes,
I want to say a special thank you to
all of the accessible service providers today,
including captioning by VITAC,
English and French interpretation by translators,
conference interpreters, and American Sign Language,
and [speaks foreign language] interpretation by Asign.
Thank you, also, to the Proof Experiences team,
who has skillfully managed
and streamed all the sessions throughout the day.
And on behalf of the government of Canada
and Employment and Social Development Canada,
I'd like to wish you all a wonderful
National Accessibility Week.
-Thank you very much,
and I hope to see you in the next Canadian Congress
On Disability Inclusion.