CPA Conference on Disabilities Outcomes booklet

CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities: Summary of the proceedings

Published by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Headquarters Secretariat www.cpahq.org

CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This booklet is the outcome of a partnership between the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the Nova Scotia House of Assembly.

Published by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) CPA Headquarters Secretariat Richmond House Houses of Parliament London SW1A 0AA United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0)20 7799 1460 Email: hq.sec@cpahq.org Website: www.cpahq.org Booklet edited and designed by the CPA Headquarters Secretariat editor@cpahq.org For additional copies of this publication please contact the CPA Headquarters Secretariat.

CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

Overview The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with the Nova Scotia House of Assembly held the first conference of its kind bringing together over 50 Commonwealth Parliamentarians with disabilities, carers and parliamentary officials from eight of the nine regions of the CPA for the CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities from 31 August to 1 September 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The conference provided Members of Parliament with disabilities with an excellent opportunity to network, share experiences, good practice and innovations from Commonwealth jurisdictions that are designed to support them to fully participate in political and public life. Ensuring a disability perspective in all aspects of policy and legislation, effective implementation and enforcement of existing disability laws and policies and providing for equal employment opportunities and training are among the factors that contribute to the reduction of poverty and to the social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities in the Commonwealth.

At the opening of the conference, Hon. Kevin S. Murphy MLA, Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly said: “It is a privilege to welcome my fellow Parliamentarians with disabilities to Halifax, Nova Scotia for this unique Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities Conference. Nova Scotia became the 3rd province in Canada to pass accessibility legislation that ensures fair and equal access for all citizens. It is my hope that we will collaborate to develop and make recommendations to the CPA to create a formal network of Parliamentarians with disabilities within the Association.”

Hon. Jackson Lafferty, MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and CPA Executive Committee Representative for the Canada Region, said: “The World Health Organisation reports that around 15% of the world’s population, or an estimated 1 billion people live with some form of disability or different ability. Persons with disabilities have a great deal to contribute to our society and democracies and must be given equal opportunities and the right support. The CPA recognises the importance of creating inclusive Parliaments and has supported the inclusion of special interest groups recognizing their importance in strengthening parliamentary democracy across the Commonwealth. However, despite constituting 15% of the world’s population, Parliamentarians with disabilities are in the minority or non-existent in most Commonwealth Legislatures, and significantly underrepresented in governance and other levels of decision-making.”

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

Objectives of the conference It was envisioned that the conference would bring forward the following outcomes or recommendations.

A) a proposal to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International Executive Committee for the establishment of a network for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities; and B) a report of the recommendations and discussions that could be shared with the wider Commonwealth Parliamentary Association membership to ensure information sharing on good practice is disseminated across all 180 Commonwealth Parliaments and Legislatures.

During their deliberations, the conference participants were invited to consider the following three questions: 1) What can you do as individual Members of Parliament to advance the understanding and involvement of persons with disabilities in democratic institutions?

2) What Parliament should be doing to encourage persons with disabilities to take part in parliamentary democracy?

3) What international organisations, such as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, can do to encourage Parliaments to be more inclusive of persons with disabilities.

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

Recommendations The recommendations set out below are based on individual and collective experiences shared by the conference participants in being elected and in fulfilling their duties as Parliamentarians with disabilities. These recommendations address the three questions that participants were asked to consider during their deliberations. The recommendations are as follows: 1. Documentation from the conference is made available to the CPA membership: a) the list of recommendations is shared with all Parliament and Legislature Members of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and be included in the report of this conference; b) the transcript of the conference proceedings be made available to those requiring it to provide context and information for each of the listed recommendations; and c) the list of recommendations serves as a guide for the development of action items by and for the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network.

2. Establishment of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network: It is recommended that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association International Executive Committee approve the proposal prepared by the Speaker of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in March 2016 and move forward with the creation of a network to be known as the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network.

3. Support in seeking elected office: It is recommended that: a) outreach activities / programmes, including outreach tools such as educational and promotional videos, be developed and distributed to encourage persons with disabilities to seek elected office; b) all Parliamentarians be encouraged to be ‘leaders’ and ‘ambassadors’ that ‘inspire’, ‘empower’, ‘encourage’ and ‘support’ persons with disabilities to seek elected office;

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

c) political parties be encouraged to pro-actively recruit and support persons with disabilities to become party candidates and once selected as candidates the parties be further encouraged to provide any additional assistance, financial and otherwise, that a candidate with disabilities requires to be elected as a Parliamentarian; d) the voting process, including physical polling stations, be accessible to persons with disabilities recognising that this may require regular audits of the physical voting spaces; and e) data collection / surveys / research to be conducted by an independent agency to understand more fully the reasons why persons with disabilities run for public office or choose not to run for public office. The methodology needs to be well formulated to produce worthwhile results that will serve as powerful evidence to advance and improve the current situation.

4. Accessibility and Inclusiveness: It is recommended that: a) Parliament buildings be fully accessible; b) jurisdictions are encouraged to share technical and other relevant information that will assist other Parliaments in making their buildings more accessible; c) accessibility statutes / legislation be enacted in all jurisdictions and that the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association support the development of standardized / uniform legislation that can be used as a template for all Commonwealth Parliamentary Association member jurisdictions; d) barriers, be they physical barriers as well as other barriers facing persons with disabilities created by ever present stigma, stereotyping, assumptions and attitudes associated with and towards persons with disabilities, be identified and strategies developed and put in place to overcome these barriers; e) all persons recognise that low income and poverty levels are additional barriers compromising the ability of persons with disabilities to seek elected office; and f) the term ‘person with disabilities’ mirror the second paragraph of Article 1 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and 4 | CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities: Summary of the proceedings

CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

Optional Protocol that reads as follows: “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which in interaction with various barriers may hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”

5. Funding: It is recommended that: a) once created, funding be provided by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association to the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network; b) funding be made available to assist candidates with disabilities to run for public office; c) funding commitments by Parliaments be made to make their Parliament buildings and legislative processes accessible and inclusive; and d) funding be provided by governments for government programmes to support persons with disabilities.

6. Collaboration: It is recommended that: a) once created, the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network works collaboratively with Parliaments, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), other levels of government and other organisations whose mandate is to work with and assist persons with disabilities; b) Parliaments work collaboratively with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), other levels of government and organisations whose mandate is to work with and assist persons with disabilities; and c) a mechanism be established to facilitate the sharing of ‘best practices’ employed to improve accessibility and inclusiveness as well as the success stories and failures to permit strengthened inter-jurisdictional collaboration on the global issue of providing better support and access to elected persons with disabilities.

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

7. Important roles for persons with disabilities: It is recommended that: a) Parliamentarians with disabilities be encouraged to educate their fellow Parliamentarians, the press, the parliamentary staff and table officers on disability related issues; b) Parliamentarians with disabilities become advocates for the recognition and acceptance by Parliaments and Governments that their permanent care givers, sign-language interpreters and other attendants, needed to allow them to carry out their daily routine, (i) are also required to allow Parliamentarians’ participation in parliamentary procedures and decision-making processes; (ii) are not to be seen as ‘strangers’ and are not to be excluded from activities that Parliamentarians with disabilities are attending on the basis that these activities have traditionally been attended exclusively by elected Parliamentarians to the exclusion of all others; and (iii) it is universally understood that their presence is to assist and aid Parliamentarians with disabilities and that they will not benefit personally from their attendance at any such activity. c) Parliamentarians with disabilities be encouraged to assume an advocacy role in securing acceptance for the reality that permanent care givers, signlanguage interpreters and others required by Parliamentarians with disabilities to fully participate in parliamentary procedures and decision-making functions are not ‘strangers’ and should be permitted to attend activities previously reserved exclusive for elected officials; d) Parliamentarians with disabilities advocate for any required amendments to Standing Orders or other regulations to remove barriers; e) governments be lobbied to appoint qualified candidates with disabilities to appointed positions such as agencies, boards and commissions; f) political parties be lobbied to hire qualified persons with disabilities as members of their political staff; 6 | CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities: Summary of the proceedings

CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

g) qualified persons with disabilities be considered for positions within the civil service (bureaucracy) that are directly involved in policy implementation affecting persons with disabilities; h) governments provide mandatory sensitivity training to all civil servants on issues regarding disabilities, accessibility, inclusiveness and all matters related to persons with disabilities; i) Parliamentarians with disabilities be leaders and champions and that they occupy an important place at the decision-making table when policy decisions impacting persons with disabilities are being made; and j) experienced Parliamentarians with disabilities assume a mentorship role, vis-Ă -vis newly elected Parliamentarians with disabilities.

Further information and links: CPA news release: Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities call for more inclusive and fully accessible Legislatures - https://tinyurl.com/y72hjq44 CPA YouTube Video: Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities call for more inclusive and fully accessible Legislatures - https://youtu.be/yQaYnNWrKyI CPA images album: CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities in Nova Scotia, Canada - http://tinyurl.com/y87xys3x Articles and reports by CPA Members attending the conference were also published in The Parliamentarian: 2017 Issue Four (published in December 2017). To access the digital version of the Journal please visit: https://issuu.com/theparliamentarian/docs/theparliamentarian2017issuefourfina The Parliamentarian archives can also be found at: www.cpahq.org/cpahq/parliamentarianarchive.

Visit the CPA website www.cpahq.org for further information.

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities:

CPA Conference participants: The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) in partnership with the Nova Scotia House of Assembly held the CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities from 31 August to 1 September 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Conference participants included the following: • Hon. Kevin Murphy, MLA, Speaker of the House of Assembly – CPA Nova Scotia • Hon. Jackson Lafferty, MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – CPA Northwest Territories • Hon. Frederic Azeem, MPA - CPA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa • Hon. Jeremy Balfour, MSP - CPA Scotland • Rt Hon. Lord Blencathra - CPA United Kingdom • Ms Stephanie Cadieux, MLA – CPA British Columbia • Shri Moriram Chandravanshi, MLA – CPA Chhattisgarh • Hon. Nickson Chilangwa, MP – CPA Zambia • Hon. Sebastian Kopulande, MP – CPA Zambia • Hon. Dr Clement T. Chiwaya, MP, Deputy Speaker – CPA Malawi • Hon. Dr Edward Doherty, MP – CPA New Brunswick • Hon. Steven Fletcher, MLA – CPA Manitoba • Senator Kerryann F. Ifill, President of the Senate – CPA Barbados • Hon. Ann Jones, AM, Deputy Presiding Officer – CPA Wales • Senator Hon. Bathmavathi Krishnan – CPA Malaysia • Hon. Tracy MacCharles, MPP – CPA Ontario • Hon. Alfie MacLeod, MLA – CPA Nova Scotia • Senator Dr Floyd Morris – CPA Jamaica • Hon. Carla Qualtrough, MP – CPA Canada Federal • Hon. Mwantatu Mbarak, MP – CPA Zanzibar • Hon. Linda Reid, MLA – CPA British Columbia • Senator H. R. Ian Roach - CPA Trinidad and Tobago • Deputy Paul F. Routier – CPA Jersey • Ms Liesl Tesch, AM, MP – CPA New South Wales • Mr Gareth Ward, MP – CPA New South Wales • Hon. Francis (Buck) Watts, MLA, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – CPA Prince Edward Island • Hon. Gulab Singh Thakur, MLA - CPA Himachal Pradesh • Hon. Fajolu Abimbola Olutope, MP - CPA Ondo State • Ms Meenakshi Dhar, Director of Programmes - CPA Headquarters Secretariat 8 | CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities: Summary of the proceedings

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CPA Conference for Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities: Summary of the proceedings Published June 2018

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