Dear friends and fellow supporters of VRS in Canada,
As you may know, the CRTC has extended the deadlines for proposals and interventions for Telecom Notice 2014-188-1 (process for implementation of VRS in Canada) to July 25, 2014 for submissions of proposals and August 28, 2014 for submissions of interventions. To learn more about the Telecom Notice, please visit either http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2014/2014-188.htm (original notice), http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2014/2014-188-1.htm (update to original notice with deadline extension) or http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/vrs-srv.htm (video relay service announcement).
The Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada (AVLIC) is preparing an intervention with the specific request that the CRTC mandate the service administrator’s Board of Directors include AVLIC representatives to speak on behalf of the interpreting community, as well as to have representatives from the Deaf and hard of hearing communities on the board. As you are aware, AVLIC is the only national representative of interpreters in Canada; as interpreters will play a major role in the service provision of VRS, it is imperative that interpreters be well represented.
We will send our draft intervention to you for review prior to submission to the CRTC to ensure we are effectively wording our letter in solidarity with your letters. We request that you respond to us by June 1, 2014 should you have any comments for us.
AVLIC is asking all community stakeholders who will be submitting an intervention to the CRTC to include a similar request on their vision of the board composition – not only asking for Deaf and hard of hearing representation on the administrator’s board, but also to request the board require representatives from AVLIC to represent the interpreting community.
If you have any questions on AVLIC’s position or want AVLIC to provide feedback on any sections of your intervention related to interpreting issues, please let us know. You can contact the AVLIC office at avlic@avlic.ca.
Thank you for your support and consideration.
In solidarity,
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Christie Reaume
AVLIC President
ASL-English Interpreter (Ontario)
Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada
