ABOUT THE JOINT INTERVENERS<\/b><\/p>\n
The Deaf Wireless Canada Consultative Committee – Comit\u00e9 pour les Services Sans fil des Sourds du Canada, (<\/span>DWCC-CSSSC<\/b>), Canadian Association of the Deaf – Association des Sourds du Canada (<\/span>CAD-ASC<\/b>), Canadian National Society of the Deaf-Blind (<\/span>CNSDB<\/b>), and Deafness Advocacy Association Nova Scotia (<\/span>DAANS<\/b>), collectively referred to as <\/span>DWCC et al<\/b>, \u00a0advocate for the full inclusion of diverse members within the Canadian Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing (<\/span>DDBHH<\/b>) community in Canadian society. The spectrum of DDBHH life experiences range from those with cognitive delay, immigrants learning English or French as a second language, those with various degrees of hearing loss, those with the unique \u201cdouble\u201d disability of DeafBlindness, and finally native ASL\/LSQ users. <\/span><\/p>\n The four interveners introduce themselves as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n DWCC-CSSSC <\/b><\/a><\/span>is a standing committee of the CAD-ASC and is a group of Deaf, Deaf-Blind, and Hard of Hearing consultants, analysts and committee volunteers across Canada. DWCC’s mandate is to advocate for equality for Deaf, Deaf-Blind and Hard of Hearing Canadians in wireless telecommunications as in:<\/span><\/p>\n CAD-ASC<\/b><\/a><\/span> is a national information, research and community action organization of Deaf people in Canada. Founded in 1940, CAD-ASC provides consultation and information on Deaf issues to the public, business, media, educators, governments and others; conduct research and collects data. CAD-ASC promotes and protects the rights, needs, and concerns of Deaf people who use American Sign Language (ASL) and langue des signes qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise (LSQ). CAD-ASC is affiliated with the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD), and CAD-ASC is a United Nations-accredited Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.<\/span><\/p>\n CNSDB<\/span><\/b><\/a> was registered in 1985 as a national consumer-run advocacy association dedicated to helping Canadians who are deaf-blind achieve a higher quality of life. The CNSDB advocates for new and improved services, promotes public awareness of deaf-blind issues, and disseminates information in order to empower individuals who are deaf-blind to become full participants of society. CNSDB provides expertise in accessibility related to the needs of individuals who are living with the distinct disability of DeafBlindness, which is different from deafness or blindness due to being unable to use one sense in order to compensate for the loss of the other.<\/span><\/p>\n Population numbers of those living with dual disabilities of deafness and blindness according to Statistics Canada: 69.700 <\/a>(click for source information)<\/p>\n\n