Alright. Welcome, folks. We'll just give everyone a few minutes to join.
Alright.
Walt, should I get started? Should we give folks a couple more minutes to join?
Alright, well, I think in the interest of time we will get started shortly. On the screen right now, we have just our first
slide of our presentation, but on the bottom right-hand corner, there is a QR code.
Yeah, if anyone needs the slides ahead of time, or would like to take a look at the slides, you can scan that code on the right-hand side there
and it'll take you to slides. They are not yet translated, my apologies. We will share a fully translated version, probably in the new year along with our website launch.
Okay, so folks are just joining slowly. I'm gonna talk really briefly just about the accessibility features we have for this webinar.
First and foremost, again, we have the QR code for the presentation on the screen.
It is available currently in English. I just want to have a quick explanation of the accessibility features, so if you would like, you can select French audio, you can also select
American Sign Language, or Quebec Sign Language. To do that, you just need to click on the three dots on the bottom of your screen and you can select interpretation
and then there's also closed captions available. If you have any technical issues during our webinar today, please use the Q&A function rather than the chat, as we disable the chat just so it doesn't distract anybody with screen readers.
So if you're having any technical issues, please mention it in the Q&A. And also, anytime, add your questions in the Q&A as well.
Final thing, if you disconnect from our call today, please just use the same link, and hopefully you'll be able to rejoin.
If you need any other technical support, please mention it to Amin in the Q&A.
Alright, so we can get started now. Everybody, welcome to our webinar launch, Strengthening the Climate Resilience of People with Disabilities.
My name is Jasmine. I am from the Social Research and Demonstration Corporation. I will describe our organizations in a few moments.
I just want to first acknowledge with gratitude and respect that we'd like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous people of all the lands that we're on.
From coast to coast to coast, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territory of all the Inuit, Metis, and First Nations people that called this land home.
This acknowledgement is just a small but important part in honoring and showing respect for the diverse histories and cultures of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
We also acknowledge the colonial structures and the ongoing impact it has on all of our work.
And on the right-hand side there, there's just a screenshot of a map of North America. It's from the native land digital website, which is a really great resource if you're looking to learn more about treaties or about the lands that you are living on.
I always recommend it. One other note, we just want to acknowledge that, accessibility is a learning process, and we are not aiming… we aim for, perfection, but it is not always possible, so we're very open.
To, feedback and just acknowledge that it's a learning process.
Additionally, we use a person-centered approach when addressing., issues related to people with disabilities, but also want to acknowledge that, you know, language is very.
powerful and changes, and everyone has different preferences in how they would like to be, referred to.
So, you know, we often use identity-first language, so, you know, people with disabilities, but some communities prefer other ways, and we're gonna really take the lead from the community, in our work here.
Okay, so after all of that, I would just like to briefly go through the agenda. We did our welcome. I'm going to talk briefly about our goals for the webinar today., I'll provide a bit of a project overview, and we're going to have our team share some of the details
of the project. We'll talk about our advisory committee, and we'll also have some of our advisory committee members speak today.
And, if we have time, we will provide some more information about the timeline, as well as how you can get involved.
So the goals for the webinar today, this is our launch webinar, our official launch. We started this project in April of 2025
and we've been doing a lot of background work, but today we want to, you know, introduce the project and its purpose, including the scope and timeline.
We want to build awareness and a shared understanding, just to explain key concepts in our research framework
and this is really, you know, our ability to begin our community engagement. We're starting to ask participants to share their lived
experiences, and invite broad feedback. We'll also highlight the partnerships and the key actors that are involved
and share opportunities about how you can get involved and how to share information about the project.
So just briefly, our partners, so I'm from SRDC, and we are a non-profit research organization, and
we were, created specifically to develop field tests and rigorously evaluate new programs.
The other two partners on this project are Eviance, which is a national disability-led organization focused on disability issues, and they prioritize diverse knowledge and evidence, and inform policy practice and research
and then finally, Canadian Red Cross is also a partner on this project. I imagine most of you have heard of them
and they are dedicated to helping people in communities in Canada and around the world in times of need
and supporting them in strengthening their resilience.
So now, I'd like to turn it over to our team member Fraulein to discuss the project values.
Thanks, Jasmine. All right, hi everyone., you can just move to the next slide., yes, my name is Fraulein, I am part of the SRDC research team, and I will be introducing our values. … We ground our work in 9 core values that shape every stage of this project, from project planning to our knowledge-sharing activities.
I'm not going to go into the specific of each values listed here.
But as a summary, our values represent a shared commitment to a community-centered research practice that upholds disability justice and human rights
advances inclusivity and fosters reflection and growth. Our research approach will also focus on collaboration, co-creation, and community capacity building.
Our research is also grounded in an awareness of the diverse and intersecting experiences of people with disabilities
and recognizes people with disabilities as experts of their own climate experiences of climate-related emergencies. And these project values
reflect the goals of the project along with the values that our partner and SRDC, so Eviance's and the Canadian Red Cross share
and that's our values. I'm turning it back to Jasmine just to present our project overview.
Thank you Fraulein. So now I'll just go briefly over the project values, or project overview, including, the background and objectives.
So, as I mentioned, we started in April 2025, and this is a 3-year project, which is funded by Accessibility Standards Canada.
And we're taking a case study approach that focuses on collaborating with local disability communities, emergency management, and federally regulated organizations
and the goal of this is to better understand the varied and intersectional capacities and needs of people with disabilities related to climate emergencies.
and then also how service providers involved in emergency management, including federally regulated organizations, how can these organizations support the needs
through the programs and services they provide. So overall, we're going to take this case study approach, and with our results, it will inform the development of accessibility standards in emergency management.
But overall, you know, based on the values that Fraulein just described, it's really constructed as a listening exercise
and a starting point to develop conversations and connections between the community level
as well as with provincial and federal actors.
And just to provide a little bit on the background, so, you know, why this matters really is just that people with disabilities face higher risks
during climate emergencies, and this is solely, you know, due to systemic inequalities, isolation, ableism, and limited access to critical services.
People have intersectional needs as well, so, you know, factors like race, gender, income, and geography can impact these risks
and this leads to increased mortality and exclusion. Canada also has rights-based obligations. We are signatories on international frameworks, such as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Sendai Framework.
And these aim to protect people with disabilities through inclusive climate adaptation and emergency policies.
So we have an obligation as, you know, a rights… human rights-based obligation, to meet the needs of people with disabilities.
And so we need inclusive standards on how to do that, and that is one of the goals of this project.
And now on the screen, I just have a screenshot of, from, employment and social development Canada.
It is, just on titled Industries Under Federal Jurisdiction. I was not entirely sure what, you know, federally regulated organizations meant, and so, you know
this provides a bit of an overview. So on the left-hand side, you can see it's interprovincial and international transportation, so air, rail
roads, maritime, including ports. This also includes telecommunications and broadcasting
banks, postal services, feed flowers, seed, and grain. You can tell we're an agricultural country.
as well as miscellaneous industries, you know, mining, museums, and First Nations band councils, and Indigenous self-governments, so certain activities there. And then on the right-hand side, you see the estimate shares of employees in these industries as well, so you can see banks, are a big one there.
as well as transportation, telecommunications. And so these are the primary industries that will be creating recommendations for
but we also recognize that for non-regulated organizations, it's possible that, our recommendations might filter through, so hopefully it will impact more than just the federally regulated organizations.
Now I'd just like to turn it over to Vicki to discuss our methodology.
Thank you, Jasmine. Hi, everyone. My name is Vicki Chang. I'm a research associate at SRDC, and
it is my pleasure to be here today, and thank you for joining us.
So, over the next 3 slides, I will walk you through our research methodology.
Next slide, please. Thank you. So, our research questions are guided by four areas of inquiry that help us understand how community can better prepare for and respond to
climate emergencies in inclusive ways. So first, we explore the context and how past climate-related events have impacted communities and
assess our, the current emergency responses, for inclusivity.
Second, we engage people with disabilities and people with diverse backgrounds to explore the lived experiences
and the diverse needs of people with disabilities regarding accessible climate emergency planning.
Our questions also aim to identify existing and potential community collaboration
and surface capacities in addressing those intersectional needs.
And lastly, we look at which standards and policies can really enhance the capacity of service providers
to better support people with disabilities during climate emergencies.
Next slide, please.
So, for us to address and answer these questions, we use a case study approach
combining multiple research methods. We are conducting 3 case studies, first in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Second, in Cape Brenton, Nova Scotia, and a third community is to be determined.
So for each, we started, we start with document and literature review to understand
the community context, and then conduct interviews with people with disabilities
community experts and service providers. And this will allow us to capture
diverse perspectives, and how the come in to work together.
And we will hold, knowledge-sharing activities to validate findings and to provide reports in bilingual and accessible formats.
Next slide, please.
Thanks. So, our research is guided by 3 complementary frameworks.
First is intersectionality, and which we have touched on earlier. This helps us understand
how disability intersects with race, gender, individuality, and location, and together really creates distinct experiences during emergencies.
Second the second framework is the person-centered Emergency Preparedness Framework, which is known as the Capability Wheel.
It's developed by the University of Sydney's Collaborating for Inclusion project team in Australia
it exempts individual agencies across eight areas, like social connectedness,
transportation and house management. The last framework is the sociocultural activity theory. It's a system-based theory that helps us understand how people, organizations.
policies and resources interact across emergency management phases. We have drawn on Collaborating for Inclusion's application of this theory to also explore the collaborations required on this topic.
And now I'll hand it over to Patrick. He will be discussing our advisory committee, which plays a crucial role in our project.
Thanks, Vicki, and I'll just be, really quick, but my, yeah, I'm, principal Research Associate at SRDC, and I'm part of the team on this project. And, yep, we can switch slides now.
And, yes, we have a project advisory committee for the duration of this project, and the purpose is to have leadership and accountability, as well as ongoing support and guidance to the project.
The advisory committee will provide input on research planning and engagement strategies and research tools. It will help with networking and consultation with stakeholder groups
but also, we really want the advisory committee to be involved in broad, brainstorming sessions, discussions, and comments and feedbacks related to research findings
the structure of the advisory committee is based on balancing the need for local leadership.
For each case study, while also ensuring that the project communicates effectively at the provincial and federal level, and so it includes three key principles.
Each case study will be championed and guided by local disability representatives. It will also include key local emergency management representatives, but then provides space for provincial and federal disability and emergency management.
and as you can see, the current advisory committee is made up of a number of members.
It includes 3, disability organizations, Independent Living Canada, local. sorry, local disability organizations, Independent Living Canada.
Manitoba League for Person with Disability and Inclusion Winnipeg. It also includes Bretton Ability from the second case study,
probably Nova Scotia. And then 3 local emergency management organizations, the City of Winnipeg, the government of Manitoba, and the local Canadian Red Cross representative
and then two federally regulated organizations via rail and Transport Canada.
Back to you, Jasmine.
Great, thank you, everyone. So, at this stage of the project, we'd like to share some perspectives from our partners and our advisory committee members
so I'm actually just going to stop sharing my screen, and I will turn it over to Evan.
Thanks, Jasmine. Can everyone hear me okay? Looks like it, okay. So hi everyone, my name is Evan Wickland. I'm a senior researcher at Eviance, which is a partner.
and thanks to Jasmine and the team for this, inviting us to, to contribute to this webinar and to this project.
So first, maybe a little bit about Eviance, and why we are partners in this project.
So, first of all, evidence is a national OPD, which is an organization of persons with disabilities
and basically, we serve as a facilitator of knowledge
in the global cross-disability field bridging people and knowledge together at a national and local level to incite social change.
So, our organization's vision is to realize an inclusive,
equitable and accessible society that is sustainable for everyone.
and Eviance uses intersectionality and reflexivity in our work
to create solutions to advance human rights an equity focused decision-making
and we pursue many projects on diverse issues in the disability movement.
We are a partner on this exciting project, which is led by SRDC and partnered with the Red Cross
and the work that Eviance has undertaken on the intersection of climate change and disability.
As an organization aligns very well with this climate resilience project
and we're happy to be a part of this endeavor.
So, I'll just take the next few moments to speak about a few highlights which emphasize Eviance's work in this space
and explain why this project is so important to us.
So for instance, we have an ongoing project which runs from 2024 to 2027.
And it's called the Canadian Disability Climate Network Strategy
which is funded by the Employment and Social Development Canada, and
the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Program. In short, this project aims to localize SDGs in communities.
And it aims to foster disability leadership in climate change activism, or advocacy.
and create partnerships, hence this project really aligns with what we're doing today
and a large portion of our work is also about creating knowledge resources on the topic of disability and climate change
so as far as our activities within this other project that's very much related.
We're creating two networks. One which is an online network, which, which connects people with disabilities interested in climate change.
And another knowledge hub which is, which will be open to organizations
Where we'll share information and resources related to this topic.
And as I mentioned before, creating knowledge resources. We're also, you know, we're doing an environmental scan and a literature review
and so this all, this collectively, all these activities really do.
assist and inform our perspectives on this SRDC project.
So a little bit about, like, why climate change and disability and why it's important to us.
One reason is because there seems to be competing needs
between disability and climate change advocacy. So this is something sometimes referred to as eco-ableism, or it's, you know, it's
described differently, but in our review, we use the term eco-ableism.
Which is, like, an overarching issue in this space.
The concept generally refers to the ways in which climate change movements sometimes excludes the perspectives of people with disabilities.
And even, like, positions disability as a consequence of the changing environment.
So this idea of, like, the fear of disablement.
This paradigm is a theme that is at odds with the disability rights movement, right?
with which, alternatively, positions disability not as a problem to be fixed.
But both as a social construction and an identity to be celebrated
both in our current project and our work with SRDC.
We advocate for people with disabilities being included in all public.
Political and cultural societal discourse, this idea of "there's nothing about us without us", right?
So while it is important to communicate the possible harms of climate change
we think that we, you know, theorize that this
fear of disablement in this way leads to further exclusion of people with disabilities.
It obscures the larger picture about how climate change and disability are interconnected
and we also found in our literature review and environmental scans
people with disabilities are often positioned as subjects of vulnerability.
Which is an issue, yes. So we know that people with disabilities are made precarious by climate change
disproportionately than others, to others, rather. But when we only think about people with disabilities in terms of vulnerability
we erase the work that's already been --the great work that's being done in disability communities
and this perpetuates this idea of eco-ableism. So, it's important to emphasize the vulnerability of persons with disabilities.
But we need to recognize that this is not the only story, right? So, people with disabilities are also a very important part of the climate change movement
and they have knowledge and experience and expertise to contribute in this space. So we really want to
prop that up with this project as well and we do that in several ways
and I'll just. I'll be short here, but there's some recommendations and some early musings that we're
that we have from this project and our other
in our other project., which pertain directly
to this overall concept of climate change and disability.
So first, we recommend consistent and broad engagement with OPDs in all aspects of emergency preparedness
at all levels of research, policy, and planning.
and this includes making space and opportunities for people with disabilities to work in all aspects of
emergency management, such as mitigation. adaptation, response, recovery, etc.
We also advocate for all resources and communications to be accessible to diverse disability communities, which is not only
a universal design approach, but ensuring that materials
are individualized, and how do we find those needs? So this includes
accessible, forms of warning systems, accessible shelters, and ensuring that communication systems
are flexible enough to meet the diverse needs.
But, also utilize technologies when they're available.
We also believe in multi-level and interdisciplinary collaboration, as we're doing today.
Emergency management at large is a massive sector
And it's primarily shaped around a charity model of disability, which we problematize
collaboration between large organizations, governments, and local OPDs.
and community organizations can lead to more effective programming and service at all levels.
So, employment engagement rather with local organizations gives credibility to programs and projects.
And can provide increased opportunities for intersectional and even decolonial approaches to emergency response.
Okay, and there's one last thing I wanted to say.
We really believe that there needs to be attention paid to redefining care and interdependence within the climate change space.
So, disrupting, hierarchical, models of how care in is enacted and distributed
Allows for stronger collaboration and increased relationships across different communities.
Increasing who is contributing to climate strategies supports this idea of a more inclusive and accessible approach
to, climate change response. Okay, so those are just some themes that we're working on collectively
but this idea of collaboration, interdependence. Looking at, involving OPDs, drawing on experience of persons with disabilities, these are all themes that have come out in.
in this, in these past couple of years and continue on with this project.
Okay, I'll stop now, and I'll pass it back to, to Jasmine.
Great, thanks so much, Evan, for introducing Eviance and, you know, the important background and related, you know, issues that we're talking about today.
I would like to turn it over now to Alina and Allison from the Canadian Red Cross.
Hi everyone, my name is Alina Kaniewski, and I am with the Canadian Red Cross Emergency Management Program.
We're honored to be a part of this initiative, to better understand how people with disabilities are impacted by climate-related events.
The Red Cross supports many people in Canada every year during emergency events, supporting people to meet their basic needs, and strengthening their resilience to face such events.
This includes supporting people with diverse and complex needs.
And disability inclusion is critically important to our work.
and to our identity as a non-profit society.
So I'd like to introduce my colleague, Allison Everett, who is based in Winnipeg and has tremendous experience supporting people with disabilities through emergency events.
Hi, everyone. Yeah, thank you very much, Alina, and thank you to everybody for having me here today. Very, honored to be a part of this group.
so yeah, as Alina said, I'm based in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
so Treaty 1 territory here, and I've lived here for about, 20 years or so now, and I worked with the Canadian Red Cross, specifically in delivering relief services for emergencies.
in Manitoba, across various different communities for, 11 years now.
This summer, as many of you live in Manitoba, or if you were just watching the news, I would imagine, in other provinces as well.
you would know that this summer was, a particularly challenging one for a lot of people in the province.
due to predominantly wild fires, and so whether that was the impacts of fire or from smoke
from these events, they started very early this year for us, in May. Normally, we're kind of just
coming out of flood season, or what would be flood season, and heading into the fire season, because the temperatures aren't
normally high enough for the wildfires to be a huge risk at that point.
but like I said, this past summer was a little bit different for us, so, the wildfire, supports that we provided, I believe began on May 24th, and they actually went through until the end of September, so an exceptionally long fire season and response season for us here.
and as Alina said, like, we do a lot of work with, a variety of different communities.
who are impacted in these types of events, and, the people, you know, who are often feeling the impacts the most significantly are those who are particularly vulnerable for a variety of different reasons.
so vulnerabilities, can really be exacerbated in times of crisis, in times of emergency, as we know.
and, you know, just to be clear, like, vulnerabilities.
can be a large range of things that can make you more vulnerable in a given moment.
It could, of course, be, you know, complex health issues, particularly if it's wildfire smoke and you have complex health issues with regards to breathing.
It can also be, you know, pregnancy, it can be newborns, it can be, of course, people with disabilities. It can be people who are experiencing homelessness. So there's a variety of different
factors that can make you more vulnerable in a given emergency.
and we as the Canadian Red Cross really do try to work in the best way possible to ensure that we are meeting the needs of everybody who is coming to us for support.
to make sure that, you know, we're responding to what those needs are, that they're correctly being identified, and that,
you know, we're able to adjust services or provide referrals to other organizations to ensure that whatever a person might need in that moment can be provided.
So, I'll just speak to a couple of, of different pieces. So, for us as the Canadian Red Cross, specifically in Manitoba, we do support with evacuation supports in addition to supports once you're
in what we would, call a host community. So where you've been evacuated to.
So the transportation piece can be quite complex, particularly, in, you know, in a wildfire, that, you know, may be compromising road access or air access, or
boat access to a community, and so it's really looking at how to provide those types of services in a way that is as
quick and responsive as possible to ensure that we're able to get people out quickly, to make sure that those are safe options
but then, of course, ensuring that those different services also respond to a variety of needs
that you might have if you do have any type of disability, whether that be
a physical disability that would require you to be in a wheelchair, or that would require a walker, or a cane, or any
other type of mobility implement that, that's needed, because there's, of course, you know
Different varieties of transportation that would then be needed on the evacuation end, but also on the receiving end in the host community.
As I'm sure that many people are aware, you know, transportation particularly for wheelchairs is, you know, not
as prevalent as we would like it to be, those types of vehicles that can support that
are not as plentiful as we would like to see, and so it's really trying to
have an understanding of who is coming from the community,
what kind of needs might there be on the receiving end, and then ensuring that we have that available for people so that they're not
having to wait for any types of support, and so that they know that, you know, there's a lot of
care and attention that is being paid to everybody, and that, you know, we're aware of what's needed,
and that we're ready to provide that. Also noting that we do have some specialized teams within the organization, so we have
team of health navigators. These are folks with some health backgrounds who specifically work with the different.
facets of health, in different communities to see, how best to make connections for people.
how to, support them as they navigate a different health system. Specifically, when we look at people who might be coming from a northern or more remote community where health services are all in one center
and then they're coming to somewhere like the city of Winnipeg, which is much bigger. There's a lot of different types of health services. There's "Do I go to an urgent care?", "Do I call 911?", "Do I try and find a walk-in?"
And so that's where those Health Navigator roles can be really important for us, because they can help to facilitate, a lot of those conversations, make those connections, and just make sure that people aren't getting stuck in a long system, a long process
to get what they would need. So, working directly with partners to make those connections for people.
We have safety and well-being teams. These are more on our mental health, and psychosocial supports that, under that umbrella.
And so these are teams of, you know, fantastic volunteers and staff who are
what we would say is, in the field, who are, you know, at our reception center, they're at the shelter, they're at the airport, they're at wherever our teams are
and they're there to work with people who might be having, you know, a bit harder of a time
when they are evacuating, to, you know, have those conversations with people, sit down, you know, get people some water, get people a snack, and just really talk through what they're feeling and what they're experiencing, again, to make those connections for people to other organizations as well, if that's needed.
And then lastly, I'll just, shout out our fantastic team of Indigenous Peoples community support specialists.
and so these are our teams that are deployed.
And again, work at that field level, and so they're always in the field, they're there to support.
Our teams to ensure that we are delivering services in ways that are culturally safe, culturally respectful
, culturally competent, and so they're, they're watching, to make sure that our teams are working in a really good way, but then they're also there to make those connections, of course, with community members or community leadership or
whoever, just wants to have those conversations, and again, make those linkages. And so all of this is to highlight that we do have a lot of internal capacity that we really do rely upon in these, really complex
and challenging evacuations or operations. But also to highlight just the huge importance for us of partnerships. So we work all year round in trying to identify.
different organizations that we can be partnering with so that we're making those calls as soon as we're hearing about an operation
and those other teams are coming out as well, or they're sending us a phone number for an on-call person, or… They're meeting people at the airport, as well as our teams. So whatever that can look like, whatever that capacity of the organization is
so important for us across the country, to be making those connections, both in an operation and outside of an operation, to make sure that, you know, we're really well linked in, so that if we as the Canadian Red Cross don't do a specific type of work that's needed
We're finding the organization that does, and we're really amplifying the voices of those organizations
and showing the fantastic work that they do, and bringing them into the operations so that they can do what they're so good at
and, yeah, I think those are kind of my, my main points that I wanted
to touch on, but again, just really, like
trying to emphasize that we very much see that these responses, are incredibly challenging for people, and that they're only begin continue to become more frequent because of, the climate changes that we're seeing and the frequency of the responses that we're being called to.
And so, you know, our teams are you know, some staff that you might see out there, but predominantly volunteers, who are out there trying to
you know, support people in a really challenging moment and make sure that people know that we're there and that
You know, we want to be responsive to different needs, to different
requirements that people might have, to ensure that they are, you know, safe and comfortable, and that everything that they.
that they need to, be able to, you know, live in a good way, in a safe way during the evacuation can be met.
So, I think that's it for me. Thank you.
Fantastic. Thank you so much, everyone, for sharing, you know, the details, of what your organizations are doing currently, and then looking forward.
Now we can, move on to discuss, some of the next steps.
But actually, just before I do that, we also had invited a representative of the Arayl, the Catherine L'Engoie from Via Rail, is their, accessibility, expert.
And, she was unable to join us, but she did share a few words that I can, I can share now on behalf of Via Rail.
And so, as you all know, ViaRail is the passenger train organization, one of the federally regulated organizations, and they are represented on our advisory committee.
They just wanted to emphasize that, you know, they work extensively to ensure that their staff, receive training on accessibility and how to serve people with disabilities
, you know, and this also includes a training on how to respond in emergency situations, including, evacuations., and
training, I think, is something that is a key feature that we're going to return to throughout the project
and, she just mentioned that, as well, that within the past, couple of years, Via Rail, they've had to, you know, review their services that they
offer to customers with disabilities in the event of evacuation, because these types of events.
That are potentially, you know, caused or exacerbated by climate change
, you know, it's compelled them to explore new, paratransit options and establish new partnerships.
So, they really just want to, you know, respond to these unexpected conditions, such as extreme weather, wildfires
Smoke, and, you know. They really, plan to continue to work with their community partners to anticipate the needs, of
particular, folks with disabilities in situations that arise.
so I just wanted to add that note that we do have representation from the federally regulated organizations as well.
And, now, just in our last few minutes of speaking before the question and answer, I will just share
my screen one more time to talk about next steps.
and please bear with me for one moment. So for next steps of the project, we, as I mentioned, we started, on, in April, of this year, and I'm glad that, Allison, you mentioned the, situation in Manitoba, because Winnipeg, Manitoba was selected as our first case study
for the project, but we actually decided, due to the situation with the wildfires and the evacuations, and just how busy everyone was going to be
on the ground in Winnipeg, we delayed the launch of the project, including this webinar, I think about 6 or 7 months, due to that situation.
And I think for folks who.. I'm also located in Winnipeg, just so everyone knows, on beautiful Treaty One territory, and we had a very busy summer, because I think if folks don't understand, people
So Winnipeg's the only metro, big. city center in Manitoba, so if you're being evacuated, you're coming down to Winnipeg
And many of the folks who were impacted were in remote regions of Manitoba, and so, you know, it required an absolutely phenomenal effort on, on the part of all the
different jurisdictions and different volunteers and, non-profit organizations that we're working with, with folks impacted by
by that event this summer. … So while it was quite timely, as an example, you know, obviously we don't want to, you know, impact people
during a climate emergency, so we delayed the project.
So that was phase one. We've done a lot of planning and communications thus far, and now we're wrapping up that planning phase
in January 2026, we will be working in partnership with Eviance and, other, organizations located in Winnipeg to conduct our first
case study and then throughout, the, case, research data collection phase.
We will also be, working with Bretton Abilities in Sydney, Nova Scotia.
and we still haven't chosen our third case study yet, so if anyone has any ideas, you know, we're happy to hear them. We want to think about regional distribution.
as well as, you know, maybe, you know, a certain area that is affected by different types of climate events.
So, yeah, happy to hear ideas there. And then in January to March of 2028, we will be doing our analysis and knowledge dissemination phase. So, you know, the reporting
but we do plan to hold additional events such as this, you know, to share case study findings
as well as any other suggestions from the community, community where we might be able to share more information about the project and about the recommendations that we will
come to at the later stages of the project.
so that's timeline and next steps in terms of how you can get involved, you can visit our project website, which will be officially launched in January.
You can also just email us directly, I have my email address up there on the screen.
And, I think one thing that made, made me think a lot about this project is that I personally did not have an emergency plan, so if you don't have an emergency plan.
You may also want to create one, and there's some resources on the slides there that we will share
once we get it all translated for you all.
And I think that's it in terms of our presentation.
I just really want to thank you all for attending today, and if thank you for viewing this after the fact, we will post this recording on our website, once our website's all finalized.
But now I think we have some time, if anyone else wants to add any final comments
or if anyone has any questions, we have a little bit of time to speak to that now.
Go ahead, Patrick.
I was just gonna know, we have, 3 questions that are in the question and answer, and so I thought I could just read out.
Great. Please do.
The first question, so the first question I will read out is, how will the project ensure that the lived experiences of people with disabilities remain central throughout all three years?
I don't know if, Jasmine, you want to start with that, and maybe Evan can also talk to that.
Fantastic. Sure, yeah, yeah, I will I can start. So, really key to that is, so our project team includes folks with disabilities, so I think that's one component
Another really key component is just making sure that the partners that we're engaging with are people with lived experiences, and
so that's diverse individuals, with disabilities, and so we have
four key partners, including Eviance, who, you know, represent
or who are advocates and researchers and, you know, advocacy organizations for the disability communities that we're going to be meeting with
and I would really say that's the key, that's the central piece for us.
Evan, I don't know if there's anything you would like to add?
Yeah, maybe just to… yeah, just to add to that, Jasmine, that we really wanted to
do, a meaningful engagement with. The diverse disability community, right? And so that meant.
again, we're still early on in the project, but that meant, like, involving, OPDs, organizations for persons with disabilities from the outset.
So, like, in the recruitment process, in the so we didn't there's a. throughout the process, people with disabilities will be involved.
in a sort of participatory way, right? And so, to really emphasize that
there is expertise, there's knowledge, and there's experience, especially because people with disabilities, not especially, it's ethically, they're the
the right thing to do, of course. But, but there is a component of
people with disabilities being flexible or having to be flexible in their own lives due to
an inaccessible society, right? It's there… that's an overgeneralization, but there's so often that
people have to be spontaneous in
if the sidewalk hasn't been plowed. Or the bus doesn't come, and there's things that people with disabilities can do offer.
around, their own lived experiences and their own systematic knowledge.
And so, really, not just, like, involving, but really meaningfully engaging.
Not just at the beginning or at the end, where we sort of have done the work and then
you know, in the dissemination process. It is throughout the project, throughout the three years, right? And so they'll just add that's one of the major components of the work.
And maybe as a similar-ish question, what opportunities will community members with disabilities have to participate beyond today's webinar
especially those in smaller and remote regions.
Yeah, that's a really great question as well. We're gonna have to do some outreach with the community to find out how best to engage folks. So that's the thing, is we don't have all the answers, we have some ideas, you know, so, for example
sort of meeting people's accessibility needs is both, through, you know, virtual meetings, but it might be appropriate in some cases to have in-person meetings.
you know, providing accommodations as, as they're requested. But primarily, you know, we'll be doing focus groups and interviews, and there may be some other alternative formats that we can come up with, to ensure that, we have that meaningful
inclusion and Evan, I'm not sure if you folks want to add anything to that.
No, I don't think so. That's, that's, well put around yeah.
Yeah.
I could just, add in one thing. Yeah, I mean, we are taking a case study approach, so we will be focusing on those specific communities in terms of
You know, the in-depth, the detailed discussions with people with lived experience, but we also do
plan to, as much as possible, make sure that we're sharing the findings of the research throughout the project. And so, we will definitely keep anybody and everybody informed who would like to learn more about the findings of the research as the project progresses. So that's a definite. if you're not in one of those case study communities, obviously, we would like to.
Absolutely, yeah.
definitely keep you abreast of the research findings. And then… and then another question, which maybe the Red Cross or Red Cross or Eviance might be wanting to, respond to, but what immediate gaps have been observed in current emergency planning that disproportionately affect people with disabilities, especially in climate-related events?
So this is. I can just start, actually, on this. This is an exact question that we want to address through this research., so I don't want to kind of pretend that we have an answer to this question, because this
is the exact kind of question that we do want to, address through this research. So that is, that's an exact, great question that, would be a focus of our research
But, I will pass it on to, if the Red Cross would like to respond to that at all, or Evan, or anybody else
You know, and thank you, Patrick, for raising that, because that was what I was going to point to as well, is
you know, we in our department, anyway, within the Red Cross, we focus on emergency response.
So once folks are evacuated, you know, what are the challenges there, and how do we meet them? And I think Ali's done a beautiful job of covering.
you know, some of what we have observed and what, you know, we're doing to, to.
address those needs, you know, I think it'll be really interesting through this.
project, certainly as we have government partners that are part of the advisory committee as well, you know, when you're talking about large-scale emergency planning, this falls to government jurisdiction.
and I think we'll be able to really gain, good insights through their participation in this project, in this case study and the other two., so can we circle back to you, on that question in about two and a half years, if that's okay?
Yeah. Definitely.
Great.
Sorry, go ahead.
Yes. Maybe I'll just quickly add that, in our literature review and some of the research we've been doing
We found, like, a few gaps that have disproportionately impacted people with disabilities, especially
Not only in, like, the emergency event, but also
sometimes emergency preparedness is planned as, like, a one-off, right? So, like, climate disasters as, like, a single event.
and we problematized that idea of, like, having, like, a cyclical, sort of interrelated
conception of what a climate change, what a climate event is, right? It's ongoing, and it's repetitive, and we know it's getting worse, right? And so.
So, that's always changing, and the needs of people with disabilities are also always changing too, right?
Some of that is unpredictable. But it needs to be, at a systematic level.
we need to make sure that during the recovery phase of preparedness
and planning, that people, if people need to relocate to homes, that they're accessible homes, right?
Or they have, access to food, or. Maybe there's specific dietary need
are not quite as easily during the recovery phase if it's someone with a disability, right?
So, things like this, right, that are sort of unique to.
diversely located people so are so often overlooked when we talk about planning. I mean, that's, again, a generalization, and we try our best, I think
to do our best, but I think when it comes down to some of those small things, those individual needs, they're overlooked in planning for people with disabilities.
Great.
Thanks so much, Evan. Does anybody else have any questions that they wanted to ask at this point? We've just got a few more minutes, but you can put your question in the chat.
Great, okay. We do have a couple minutes left, if anyone wants to put. I think, can you put your hand up?
Probably easiest just to put it in the Q&A.
That might be it. Okay. Any final words from our panelists today?
No pressure.
Great, okay, well, I really want to thank everyone for attending today. Again, this is really just the first step, our launch, our project launch, and, so you'll certainly be hearing more from us in the new year.
We'll be leveraging our networks collectively to, you know, invite people to participate. Again, we'll be starting in Winnipeg, but we are definitely looking for
information from, you know, interested organizations and people, so please feel free to reach out.
And, I just, will mention that we will also, share the translated slides in the new year.
And the recording, we'll share a link, next week, so folks can view the recording, and also you can share the recording, which will have all the same accessibility features.
But again, I would like to thank you all very much for participating today, and I hope that you learned something, and I hope you're as excited as we are about this project.
Thank you everyone.