Valentine to MLAs & MPs

Valentine’s Day
Greetings

Heartfelt appreciation to all Manitoba elected officials
from the Family Advocacy Network of Manitoba (FAN).

The pandemic has had a heart wrenching impact on all citizens. Families have experienced what
feels like a long road of distress and tears. Manitobans who have a loved one with an
intellectual, developmental, behavioural diagnosis; some also with physical limitations; have
experienced unceasing hardships creating what feels like a multilane highway of tears.
As you care deeply about your loved ones, so do families in your ridings.
The message being heard by FAN families is that our loved ones are not valued.

Despite the wholehearted efforts of the provincial Department of Families and the federal
Disability Inclusion portfolio, children and adults with disabilities do not receive adequate nor
acceptable service delivery. Imperative to quality service delivery is an essential provider group
of front-line respite, childcare, day program and residential direct support workers. To sustain
them a living wage and improved training opportunities are vital. The importance of this
workforce is diminished when there is no commitment from elected officials to invest in the
required fiscal resources needed to maintain these essential front-line employees.
Investment in quality service delivery is key to healthy outcomes and well-being.

The heart of the matter is that failing to recognize our sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers is
something that government has been doing without much thought for a very long time despite
the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (1982), the Convention on the Rights of People
with Disabilities (ratified 2010), and Manitoba’s Accessibility for Manitobans Act (2013).
Every day families advocate to have their loved ones be recognized as whole citizens.

On behalf of Manitoba families FAN invites you to have a “heart to heart” talk about
implementing action, both provincially and federally, that will impact service delivery and
the well-being of those in your riding. Families know your duties are to speak to your
constituent’s views and advocate on their behalf. Families need your help.
You are a family’s direct link to implement change.

FAN is Hope, Unity, Grassroots, Support – HUGS