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troubleThis post is full of curse words.
So, in a fucking stunning display of Privilege, the "agencies" who "represent" "people" with disabilities (and I'll get to why those are all in scare quotes in a moment) had a "debate" (by which I mean candidates answered carefully scripted questions) about disability issues tonight. And I call it a display of privilege because the only planned questions were ones submitted by the agencies. Absolutely NO ONE not associated with an agency was allowed to submit questions.
[I Had Words, and three questions from the audience were allowed - only one of which was from someone who didn't represent an agency ANYWAY - me. And if you think the moderator didn't know who represented an agency, she addressed one of them by name.]
I don't even know where to start, I'm shaking with so much rage.
First, and oh my foremost, people with disabilities are not here to be your very special lesson about being HEROIC. No really, they are not. Do not sit there as a political candidate and talk to an audience with at least 50% PWD (visible disabilities - I'm not sure who was there without an aid) that they are HEROIC for their STRUGGLES. Holy fuck.
Second, why in hell was there no planning for people with disabilities to attend properly. WisCon - A VOLUNTEER RUN CON - has designated parking spaces for wheelchairs, and spaces reserved up front for people who may need them for whatever reason. This place? Well, everyone I saw parking their wheelchair had to move chairs out of the way to do it. There was no designated spaces for people who might need to sit up front because of a disability at all. And, AND, AND!!! There was no interpreter for the Deaf. I guess they assumed no Deaf people would be interested in this, and planned accordingly.
Third, omg, third, there are not TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE IN NOVA SCOTIA. There is not "people with disabilities" and "residents of Nova Scotia". PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE RESIDENTS OF NOVA SCOTIA. THEIR CONCERNS ARE NOT ONLY HEALTH CARE. THEIR CONCERNS ARE NOT ONLY JOB TRAINING.
Fuck, that reminds me, apparently the only funding to make spaces accessible will be for "employers" - because shops shouldn't get funding to help them be more accessible. I GUESS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DON'T SHOP.
I am harming my keyboard, I'm hitting it so hard.
Which is why I'd like to go back to who was allowed to ask questions, and how those questions were asked, and what reasons were given for that. Basically, it was presented in a way that implied the Parties (which, I should note, were only the Conservatives, the Liberals, and the NDP - and I assure you there are other parties running in this election, who also have candidates in all ridings, and of course are allowed to participate in other types of election "debates") were doing us all a FAVOUR by being there. In a word: NO. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FUCKING VOTE. Candidates showing up to discuss the issues of their constituents are not doing those constituents a favour.
[Don is also harming his keyboard, but he's currently writing angry emails.]
Oh, right, yes, the questions. The questions were submitted to the candidates in advance, so they'd have time to "research" the answers. None of the other "debates" held so far have had this stipulated. Questions were asked and the candidates were expected to have an answer of some sort, without a script. (Oh, the Conservative kept "going off script" and then pointing out he had to "get back on script", and that's when I killed him, your honour.)
[And then they managed to talk around almost every question, including my favourite which was "list three things your party will do about this issue if elected into government, of which only one candidate bothered to list three things.]
Oh! OH! RIGHT! And for the first time in my experience, none of them even got close to the "three minutes" they were each allowed to speak. None of them seemed to think there was three minutes worth of material to some very pointed and complicated questions.
Also, apparently disabilities are all physical or intellectual, which I'm sure will be a wonderful thing for my various friends who have some from of mental health issues affecting them.
So, I threw a fit, as I said, and got ONE QUESTION that wasn't from an agency asked - how many people with disabilities are involved with your campaign. How many people with disabilities are involved on the provincial level. Did you consult anyone with a disability before attending this panel.
These are apparently incredibly difficult questions to answer. So, yes, there are volunteers with disabilities(and we're going to get back to volunteers in a moment) involved in some of the campaigns, maybe, they all weren't really sure (except the NDP candidate, who asked the young man with Down's Syndrome in the audience to "wave to everyone!" the way you would a child or a [damn it, I can't come up with a good curse word here without being terribly offensive to a friend of mine, I love you Raven, I'm trying] pet), but no one knows of anyone officially involved with the campaign on a higher level, and although everyone "spoke to a person with a disability before hand", all of them had to admit (carefully, without actually saying this) that they hadn't actually talked to them about any issues about disability before attending the panel. GOSH WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? IT WAS ONLY THE AGENCIES RIGHT?
Damn it, it explains why I got asked what agency I was representing.
So, yes, the moderator accepted these three questions, two of which could be summed up as "I represent a specific agency. We need more money. Thank you." (except in question form) and then had the audacity to say "Since we can't all ask questions about our individual needs, we're not going to accept anymore questions." WHAT? THERE WERE A LOT OF HANDS UP. I know my question wasn't about "my individual needs", and I have to assume that other people also didn't have specific questions about themselves - I would have asked about the stupid fucking SHOPS.
[I must be calming down, I now want to make a joke about Fucking Shops. The Wee Feminist Book Store & Sex Shop here is fully accessible, by the way, and brought in a terp for Deaf people during their free Pride Week talks about Queer Sex. I'M JUST SAYING.]
Oh, right, and volunteering.
Look, Volunteers are Wonderful People. But when your answer to every question about funding and giving full access to people with disabilities is to talk about volunteers you are saying their needs aren't important enough to pay someone for. You are also expecting a huge amount of work from people - and, let's be honest, it's primarily women and I AM NOT HAVING AN ARGUMENT ABOUT THIS - for free. You are saying that this work isn't important enough to be given to paid professionals.
It also, quite frankly, depends on a person with a disability being likable and/or non-offensive. And whereas I would like to say that everyone everywhere is always kind and not cranky, that's a ridiculous thing to do. With someone being paid to assist someone with a disability, there is monetary rewards for showing up and being employed. Otherwise, it's all about being acceptable to someone.
[Oh, but the NDP would allow PWD who need some form of home care a $500 allowance per month to pay for this, that could go to a "friend, a neighbour, or a family member". People, let me put that to you in money terms. Let's generously say that your average aid is 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, 6.25$ an hour, roughly. Before taxes, of course. That's less than minimum wage. Fuck you, NDP.]
Fuck. There is too much fucking FAIL to even begin to catalog it all. If you think I'm making a dent, you should see the "Please Fuck Off" letter Don is writing to the candidates in our riding. Not one of them thought this was important enough to show up at, even in the audience. EVERYONE ONE OF THEM HAS SAID DISABILITY ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT WHEN ASKED. Apparently just not important enough to be at a "debate" that addressed those very issues.
I'm fucking through. I am eating my ballot. The whole lot of them can fuck themselves. If they wanted my vote, they wouldn't have acted like such utter ASSHOLES.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I will calm down and write a proper letter to some people. Tomorrow. After I kick something.
So, in a fucking stunning display of Privilege, the "agencies" who "represent" "people" with disabilities (and I'll get to why those are all in scare quotes in a moment) had a "debate" (by which I mean candidates answered carefully scripted questions) about disability issues tonight. And I call it a display of privilege because the only planned questions were ones submitted by the agencies. Absolutely NO ONE not associated with an agency was allowed to submit questions.
[I Had Words, and three questions from the audience were allowed - only one of which was from someone who didn't represent an agency ANYWAY - me. And if you think the moderator didn't know who represented an agency, she addressed one of them by name.]
I don't even know where to start, I'm shaking with so much rage.
First, and oh my foremost, people with disabilities are not here to be your very special lesson about being HEROIC. No really, they are not. Do not sit there as a political candidate and talk to an audience with at least 50% PWD (visible disabilities - I'm not sure who was there without an aid) that they are HEROIC for their STRUGGLES. Holy fuck.
Second, why in hell was there no planning for people with disabilities to attend properly. WisCon - A VOLUNTEER RUN CON - has designated parking spaces for wheelchairs, and spaces reserved up front for people who may need them for whatever reason. This place? Well, everyone I saw parking their wheelchair had to move chairs out of the way to do it. There was no designated spaces for people who might need to sit up front because of a disability at all. And, AND, AND!!! There was no interpreter for the Deaf. I guess they assumed no Deaf people would be interested in this, and planned accordingly.
Third, omg, third, there are not TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE IN NOVA SCOTIA. There is not "people with disabilities" and "residents of Nova Scotia". PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE RESIDENTS OF NOVA SCOTIA. THEIR CONCERNS ARE NOT ONLY HEALTH CARE. THEIR CONCERNS ARE NOT ONLY JOB TRAINING.
Fuck, that reminds me, apparently the only funding to make spaces accessible will be for "employers" - because shops shouldn't get funding to help them be more accessible. I GUESS PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES DON'T SHOP.
I am harming my keyboard, I'm hitting it so hard.
Which is why I'd like to go back to who was allowed to ask questions, and how those questions were asked, and what reasons were given for that. Basically, it was presented in a way that implied the Parties (which, I should note, were only the Conservatives, the Liberals, and the NDP - and I assure you there are other parties running in this election, who also have candidates in all ridings, and of course are allowed to participate in other types of election "debates") were doing us all a FAVOUR by being there. In a word: NO. PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES FUCKING VOTE. Candidates showing up to discuss the issues of their constituents are not doing those constituents a favour.
[Don is also harming his keyboard, but he's currently writing angry emails.]
Oh, right, yes, the questions. The questions were submitted to the candidates in advance, so they'd have time to "research" the answers. None of the other "debates" held so far have had this stipulated. Questions were asked and the candidates were expected to have an answer of some sort, without a script. (Oh, the Conservative kept "going off script" and then pointing out he had to "get back on script", and that's when I killed him, your honour.)
[And then they managed to talk around almost every question, including my favourite which was "list three things your party will do about this issue if elected into government, of which only one candidate bothered to list three things.]
Oh! OH! RIGHT! And for the first time in my experience, none of them even got close to the "three minutes" they were each allowed to speak. None of them seemed to think there was three minutes worth of material to some very pointed and complicated questions.
Also, apparently disabilities are all physical or intellectual, which I'm sure will be a wonderful thing for my various friends who have some from of mental health issues affecting them.
So, I threw a fit, as I said, and got ONE QUESTION that wasn't from an agency asked - how many people with disabilities are involved with your campaign. How many people with disabilities are involved on the provincial level. Did you consult anyone with a disability before attending this panel.
These are apparently incredibly difficult questions to answer. So, yes, there are volunteers with disabilities(and we're going to get back to volunteers in a moment) involved in some of the campaigns, maybe, they all weren't really sure (except the NDP candidate, who asked the young man with Down's Syndrome in the audience to "wave to everyone!" the way you would a child or a [damn it, I can't come up with a good curse word here without being terribly offensive to a friend of mine, I love you Raven, I'm trying] pet), but no one knows of anyone officially involved with the campaign on a higher level, and although everyone "spoke to a person with a disability before hand", all of them had to admit (carefully, without actually saying this) that they hadn't actually talked to them about any issues about disability before attending the panel. GOSH WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? IT WAS ONLY THE AGENCIES RIGHT?
Damn it, it explains why I got asked what agency I was representing.
So, yes, the moderator accepted these three questions, two of which could be summed up as "I represent a specific agency. We need more money. Thank you." (except in question form) and then had the audacity to say "Since we can't all ask questions about our individual needs, we're not going to accept anymore questions." WHAT? THERE WERE A LOT OF HANDS UP. I know my question wasn't about "my individual needs", and I have to assume that other people also didn't have specific questions about themselves - I would have asked about the stupid fucking SHOPS.
[I must be calming down, I now want to make a joke about Fucking Shops. The Wee Feminist Book Store & Sex Shop here is fully accessible, by the way, and brought in a terp for Deaf people during their free Pride Week talks about Queer Sex. I'M JUST SAYING.]
Oh, right, and volunteering.
Look, Volunteers are Wonderful People. But when your answer to every question about funding and giving full access to people with disabilities is to talk about volunteers you are saying their needs aren't important enough to pay someone for. You are also expecting a huge amount of work from people - and, let's be honest, it's primarily women and I AM NOT HAVING AN ARGUMENT ABOUT THIS - for free. You are saying that this work isn't important enough to be given to paid professionals.
It also, quite frankly, depends on a person with a disability being likable and/or non-offensive. And whereas I would like to say that everyone everywhere is always kind and not cranky, that's a ridiculous thing to do. With someone being paid to assist someone with a disability, there is monetary rewards for showing up and being employed. Otherwise, it's all about being acceptable to someone.
[Oh, but the NDP would allow PWD who need some form of home care a $500 allowance per month to pay for this, that could go to a "friend, a neighbour, or a family member". People, let me put that to you in money terms. Let's generously say that your average aid is 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. So, 6.25$ an hour, roughly. Before taxes, of course. That's less than minimum wage. Fuck you, NDP.]
Fuck. There is too much fucking FAIL to even begin to catalog it all. If you think I'm making a dent, you should see the "Please Fuck Off" letter Don is writing to the candidates in our riding. Not one of them thought this was important enough to show up at, even in the audience. EVERYONE ONE OF THEM HAS SAID DISABILITY ISSUES ARE IMPORTANT WHEN ASKED. Apparently just not important enough to be at a "debate" that addressed those very issues.
I'm fucking through. I am eating my ballot. The whole lot of them can fuck themselves. If they wanted my vote, they wouldn't have acted like such utter ASSHOLES.
Tomorrow, tomorrow, I will calm down and write a proper letter to some people. Tomorrow. After I kick something.
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Date: 2009-06-04 02:19 am (UTC)D: