{"id":40051,"date":"2025-07-05T06:10:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-05T06:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/40051\/"},"modified":"2025-07-05T06:10:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-05T06:10:09","slug":"manitobas-accessibility-minister-apologizes-for-demeaning-comment-about-sign-language-interpreter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/40051\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitoba\u2019s Accessibility Minister apologizes for \u2018demeaning\u2019 comment about sign-language interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Ms. Fontaine has been told by some deaf Manitobans and community groups that they have lost trust in her ability to represent them.Ruth Bonneville\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Manitoba\u2019s<\/a> Accessibility Minister is apologizing after she was heard on video using \u201cdemeaning\u201d language while questioning why a sign-language interpreter had been placed on the stage with her at a recent event.<\/p>\n

Nahanni Fontaine was preparing to speak with reporters during a gala celebrating Indigenous<\/a> graduates last week when she made the off-the-cuff comments, voicing her frustrations using an expletive with a member of her staff, which was captured on a hot mic.<\/p>\n

Over this past week, Ms. Fontaine, who is also Families Minister in Premier Wab Kinew\u2019s<\/a> government, has been told by many deaf Manitobans and community groups that they have lost trust in her ability to represent them, and that she should step down from her position as Accessibility Minister.<\/p>\n

Ms. Fontaine declined interview requests from The Globe and Mail, writing in a statement that she is sincerely apologetic.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring a private debrief with my staff, I was reflecting on my public speaking performance and remarked I had been distracted by the interpreter\u2019s hand movements. I was expressing frustration on my poor planning,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy comments were unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Kinew said it has been tough to see people being hurt by Ms. Fontaine\u2019s comments. But he emphasized that he remains in the minister\u2019s corner.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur minister has apologized and is putting in the work with the community,\u201d the Premier told reporters at an unrelated event Friday. \u201cIt\u2019s with the greatest of humility that I want to ask folks in the deaf community to keep working with her.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the gala, the first annual Mino\u2019Ayaawag Ikwewag Celebration of Indigenous Women Graduates, Ms. Fontaine agreed with her staffer, Ryan Stelter, when he compared American Sign Language (ASL) to \u201cfrantic hand movements.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using a four-letter profanity to express exasperation about not having a clear sightline of the audience because of the interpreter, Ms. Fontaine was captured on video saying: \u201cWhy did I have her on the stage? Like, Jesus, I\u2019m like, you need to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

The interpreter was removed from the stage for other speeches.<\/p>\n

Deborah Owczar, who is M\u00e9tis, was one of the women being honoured, having received a certificate in child and youth care from Red River College Polytechnic. She attended with her daughter, Stephanie Jebb, and had repeatedly requested ASL interpretation for the event.<\/p>\n

Ms. Owczar and Ms. Jebb, both of whom are deaf, told The Globe that watching Ms. Fontaine kick out the interpreter was humiliating and disrespectful.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy right to communication access was taken away. I no longer felt like I belonged in that room,\u201d Ms. Owczar said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has lost my trust \u2013 and the trust of many.\u201d<\/p>\n

The mother and daughter said they felt exhausted and demoralized as they attempted to follow the proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were made to feel invisible. It turned a moment of empowerment into one of erasure,\u201d Ms. Jebb said. \u201cHer reaction made it clear that she lacks both experience and cultural humility.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms. Owczar said Alex Krosney, the chief of staff for Ms. Fontaine, sent an apology note to her this week, shortly after her family had spoken with The Globe and other media outlets. She said it felt insincere and \u201cread more like a generic PR response than a genuine effort to reach out or make amends.\u201d<\/p>\n

She worries the incident was just one harmful stereotype about deaf people caught on camera. \u201cIt seems this kind of behaviour may be typical for her,\u201d she added. \u201cIt also makes you wonder what she says behind closed doors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jo-anne Jones, president of the Canadian Hard of Hearing Association\u2019s Manitoba chapter, agreed, suggesting it illustrates a broader pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just so very demeaning, unbelievably so. I\u2019m no longer sure she\u2019s the right minister for this job,\u201d Ms. Jones said in an interview. <\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a person who should be very comfortable with interpreters. Saying you\u2019re distracted by ASL is the equivalent of saying you\u2019re distracted by a person speaking in English or Cree next to you, helping others understand your very words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shawna Joynt, president of the Manitoba Deaf Association, said she held a meeting with Ms. Fontaine on Wednesday, where the minister committed to \u201clearn and make improvements from this huge misstep.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using ASL in a transcribed video statement to The Globe, Ms. Joynt said the association will \u201ccontinue to be by her side\u201d in an advisory capacity. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know this will not sit well with everyone,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Ms. Fontaine has been told by some deaf Manitobans and community groups that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":40052,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-40051","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}