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Government of Manitoba Media Release |<\/p>\nGovernment of Manitoba Media Release |<\/p>\n
The Manitoba government has established the inaugural Intellectual Disability Issues Advisory (IDIA) Council to create a collaborative partnership with community stakeholders to better support Manitobans with an intellectual disability, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for accessibility, announced today.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur government looks forward to the expertise and passion the new council will provide and the valuable role they will play in shaping programs and services for Manitobans with an intellectual disability and their families,\u201d said Squires. \u201cThe council will provide the Department of Families with important insights about their lived experience in the field as we continue to work towards implementing the recommendations made by the Vulnerable Persons Living with a Mental Disability Task Force.\u201d<\/p>\n
The creation of an advisory council was the number one recommendation of the task force.<\/p>\n
The IDIA Council members are:<\/p>\n
Maria Arentsen,
\nJacqueline Leach,
\nScott Smith,
\nSuzanne Swanton,
\nJoni Wilson,
\nHeidi Wurmann,
\nValerie Wolbert, and
\nEvelyn Yelinek.<\/p>\n
The council members were selected by eligible Manitobans that submitted applications and consist of representatives from service delivery organizations, disability advocacy organizations, families of people with an intellectual disability, Indigenous stakeholders, and two self-advocates.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs an advocate, I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to speak for people with intellectual disabilities who aren\u2019t able to speak for themselves,\u201d said Valerie Wolbert, president, People First Manitoba. \u201cI will work hard to ensure that the changes being made to the Vulnerable Persons Act will improve the lives of those who fall under this piece of legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe establishment of the IDIA Council is a significant step forward in the implementation of the 81 recommendations from 16 areas of concern of the Pathways to Dignity: Rights, Safeguards, Planning and Decision Making report,\u201d said Scott Smith, director of program development and quality assurance, Pulford Community Living Services. \u201cHaving community experience and expertise at the table will be critical in advising the recommendations to the legislation that affect the lives of 7,500 adults who live with an intellectual disability in Manitoba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heidi Wurmann, assistant deputy minister, Department of Families, will chair the council. Inaugural council members will serve a two-year term.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Government of Manitoba Media Release | The Manitoba government has established the inaugural Intellectual Disability Issues Advisory (IDIA) Council to create a collaborative partnership with community stakeholders to better support Manitobans with an intellectual disability, Families Minister Rochelle Squires, minister responsible for accessibility, announced today. \u201cOur government looks forward to the expertise and passion the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[13],"class_list":["post-38107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local","tag-coverage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38107","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38107"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38107\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38107"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38107"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swanriver.valleybiz.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38107"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}