I am a legally deafblind man struggling to advocate for myself and live my life.

To do this I require the help of Intervenors. Intervenors are specially trained individuals who support deafblind people by acting as their eyes and ears. Intervenors help me so I can do things for myself, they do not do for me.  Imagine living your life without vision or hearing! This is a reality for almost 500,000 Canadians.

The  Government has approved me and many others for Intervention services. This sounds wonderful except for the catch. To access these services, we must sign a contract with a service provider.  This would not be an issue except some service  providers limit the services that the Intervenor can do.  They can not assist with computer help. I am fully competent and know how computers work but I can not see it properly to use it fully. Since everything is on line these days including forms etc I am stuck. The other catch is that the Service Providers can not accommodate the number of hours  the Government has said I am entitled to. The Government is willing to provide funds for intervention but the Service Providers can not provide the service adequately. A simple solution would be direct funding to hire our own intervenors. But the Government will not do direct funding so I am stuck without any assistance to meet my needs.

 My business can not grow without someone to assist me. A large number of disabled people,  including deafblind rely on Government assistance as it is hard to find employment. My business could provide jobs for many disabled people so they would not need to use Social assistance. This would help the economy and help disabled people feel better about themselves. If the Government is willing to fund Intervenor services, why not direct funding. That way Deafblind people could have more say in who their intervenors are and allow some independence. This could cut out the middle man.

By signing this petition you are supporting a policy change that will improve the lives of thousands of deafblind Canadians by providing them with much needed resources and a say in their own lives. Please support direct funding for deafblind people to hire their own intervenors.