To All Registered DHH Stakeholders and Complainants:
The Interim Board of Directors of CAV has received a number of complaints surrounding the selection of the ASL Member/Director and the Third DHH Member/Director. These complaints assert that the processes followed to select the ASL Member/Director and the Third DHH Member/Director were flawed and do not accurately reflect the choices of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community. We have reviewed these complaints with the CAV’s legal counsel and wish to provide the following responses.
Appointment of the ASL Director
With respect to the ASL Member/Director selection process, we have received complaints that suggest voters were “inappropriately” influenced in casting their votes.
We note that only Registered ASL Stakeholder groups were eligible to vote in the CAV election process to determine the ASL Member/Director. The Interim Board of CAV provided clear, complete and accurate information about candidates for the ASL Member/Director position and the election process to all Registered ASL Stakeholders. All ASL Stakeholders thus had all of the information required to carefully consider the nominees and to select a candidate.
Certain ASL Stakeholder groups ran their own internal consultation processes to canvass their members to determine how they would vote. How these consultation processes were conducted was entirely up to the ASL Stakeholder groups themselves. It was up to each ASL Stakeholder group to certify that its vote represented its members. It is not open to the Interim Board of CAV to question the validity of any ballot received from a Registered ASL Stakeholder. The Interim Board is required to rely on the certifications received from Stakeholders, and the Interim Board did not, nor should it have, involved itself in these internal Stakeholder deliberations and discussions.
Accordingly, we believe that the ASL Member/Director election process was conducted fairly and legally, and fully complied with the CAV Bylaws, as approved by the CRTC (available online at: Constating documents for the CAV). Therefore, the Interim Board of CAV has no basis, nor sees any need, to question the results of the ASL Member/Director election process, and will take no further steps in relation to such election. CAV’s external legal counsel concurs with this view.
Appointment of the Third DHH Director
With respect to the appointment of the Third DHH Member/Director, the CAV Bylaws provide that the Third DHH Member/Director is to be jointly selected by the ASL Director and the LSQ Director (section 6(c)). The person serving as the Third DHH Member/Director may represent the interests of ASL users, LSQ users, or both ASL and LSQ users.
The individuals elected to become the ASL Director and the LSQ Director on the permanent Board of Directors of the CAV have jointly chosen Suzanne Laforest to serve as the Third DHH Director, which they have assured us was made after careful consideration. This appointment was made in full compliance with the process set out in the CAV Bylaw and is valid. We therefore have no basis nor any reason to question this appointment and will take no further steps in relation to this appointment.
We have also been made aware of concerns that the appointment of two DHH Directors who use LSQ will provide a preference for the roll out of LSQ services over ASL services. We note that all seven Directors who will serve on the Board of Directors of CAV will have a duty to make decisions that are in the best interests of the CAV. The appointment of two Directors who use LSQ will NOT result in a preference for the roll out of VRS services in LSQ over ASL. The CRTC has directed that VRS services in ASL and LSQ must be treated as equally as possible—in fact, the Board of Directors of CAV has a duty to take all reasonable efforts to ensure that ASL and LSQ services are equally comprehensive. ASL and LSQ services will launch on the same day.
In the near future, the final two Directors of the permanent Board of Directors (the Independent Directors) will be chosen jointly by the three DHH Directors and the two TSP Directors. Following this, the seven members of the permanent Board of Directors as well as the two Permanent Invitees will assume their duties at a meeting to be scheduled this spring. Once the permanent Board has been established, CAV will move forward in its work to bring VRS to Canada.
Until the permanent Board of Directors is in place, the Interim Board of Directors will continue to be responsible for CAV activities.
We thank you for your support and collaboration in working together to reach our goals.
Thank you,
Gary Birch
Jonathan Daniels
Frank Folino
