Ontario Hansard - 20-December2006

SIGN LANGUAGE IN SCHOOLS

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton-Victoria-Brock): My question is to the Premier. Today in the gallery we have former MPP Gary Malkowski, and with him several representatives from the Ontario Association of the Deaf, the Bob Rumball Centre for the Deaf as well as the Canadian Hearing Society.

As you know, Premier, American sign language along with English and French are all recognized as languages of instruction under the Education Act. The act also develops the regulations for the use of American sign language and LSQ. Can you tell Mr. Malkowski and the representatives mentioned who are here today what the status is and why there has been little or no action from your government on developing and implementing regulations on ASL and LSQ under the Education Act?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): To the Minister of Education.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne (Minister of Education): Thank you very much for the question. The member should know that since I was parliamentary assistant, actually, to Minister Kennedy, we have been in conversation with the folks who are concerned about this, because there's a range of issues here in terms of language of instruction and exactly what the regulation should say. I will commit to the member that we will continue to have that conversation with Gary Malkowski and the people who have been in communication with us.

Ms. Scott: Thank you, Minister, but there have been many consultations. It's gone on for a long time. The president of the Ontario Association of the Deaf, as recently as October of this year, clearly stated that most deaf students do not pass the standard grade 10 literacy test. That's a pretty woeful statistic from a minister in a government where the leader proclaims himself as the education Premier.

You know you have the power to implement action if you so choose. Regulations have been created governing the other languages of instruction. You know you can pass regulations under the Education Act. Numerous studies, including the recent Ontario Human Rights Commission's Guidelines on Accessible Education, November 2004, and the recent federal court's Canadian Association of the Deaf decision, August 2006, recognize that action is needed.

Please, Minister, why are you avoiding the implementation of ASL and LSQ regulations in schools across Ontario? You have the ability to do so. Will you commit today to a timeline, please?

Hon. Ms. Wynne: First of all, action on enactment of this regulation could have taken place under the previous government; it did not. Eight years it sat. What we're trying to do in the education system, in addition to putting extra resources into the post-secondary system for interpretation, is build capacity. Gary Malkowski and I have had many conversations about this, that what is really needed is capacity in the system.

The member opposite makes a gesture that suggests we're not doing anything. In fact, what we're doing is working with our teachers of the deaf. We're working with the school system as a whole to make sure that the professional development and the training is in place that will allow capacity in the system. We can pass a regulation, we can change a regulation, but if there is no capacity, if there are no teachers to deliver, if there is no way for students to get the service they need, then the regulation is meaningless. So we're going to build capacity rather than make a paper decision.