Premier backs Fontaine over ASL interpreter comments

WINNIPEG — The premier has defended his accessibility minister after she was recorded complaining about an American Sign Language interpreter at an event.

Wab Kinew broke his silence Friday about a “hot mic” scandal involving cabinet minister Nahanni Fontaine, whose portfolio includes families, accessibility and gender equity.

“Our minister has apologized and is putting in the work with the community so it’s with the greatest of humility that I want to ask folks in the deaf community to keep working with her,” Kinew told reporters following an unrelated news conference in downtown Winnipeg.

The leader of the NDP said he has spoken to his colleague, who he said has been meeting with affected individuals this week, and he remains in her corner.

Fontaine has faced significant backlash about private remarks she made to a staffer on June 26 while talking about her speech at a gala to celebrate Indigenous women graduates.

“The woman, she shouldn’t have been on the stage … I’m like f—, why did I have her on the stage? Like, Jesus, I’m like, ‘You need to leave,’” Fontaine said about the translator in a video that was recorded and released by the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

The Opposition Tories have called for her resignation.

Canada’s first deaf parliamentarian, Gary Malkowski, called the remarks “deeply concerning, unethical, unprofessional and ableist.”

Malkowski, a former Ontario MPP, penned a letter to Kinew and Fontaine on Friday to request their government issue a formal, accessible apology in ASL.

Fontaine has issued numerous apologies via written medium and radio since the footage aired. Earlier this week, she told the Winnipeg Free Press she was disappointed in herself and the poor event setup that caused her to be frustrated.

Fontaine said she was surprised by the limited space on the stage — on which she and the translator had to stand — because it was overcrowded with decorations. She suggested it was a safety hazard.

Manitoba Deaf Association president Shawna Joynt and treasurer Doug Momtiuk visited her office on Wednesday to discuss those comments and the backlash.

The association issued a statement that described their meeting with Fontaine as positive and applauded the MLA’s commitment to work with ASL interpreters to ensure her events remain accessible.

Fontaine has expressed her desire to learn “from this huge misstep,” the association said.

“We will continue to be by her side as advisers on our accessibility needs. We know this will not sit well with everyone and we do understand these feelings,” the executive team wrote in an email to the Free Press.

The association’s leadership reminded critics in the statement that Fontaine helped “secure” an interpretation education program at Red River College Polytechnic.

But not all in the deaf community agree.

Cassandra Bell, a clinical social worker and therapist in Winnipeg, who was diagnosed in kindergarten with hearing loss which deteriorated to deafness, said she wrote to Kinew on Thursday night asking him to ask for Fontaine’s resignation. She said others in the deaf community have asked her for copies of the letter so they can send it to the premier as well.

“Speaking for myself, I think that minister Fontaine is not equipped to do her job as the minister of accessibility,” Bell said on Friday.

“The majority of the people in the deaf community, that I’ve connected with, many are saying the same thing. What Nahanni Fontaine said is audist, ableist, discriminatory, and shows the root of her beliefs at her core.

“I have noticed some hearing people standing up for her, saying it is a mistake, but to say these words and then proceed to write a written statement with no ASL translation, followed by a radio interview that is inaccessible to the community you are trying to reach and apologize to is not a mistake — it is an intentional harmful act.”

Bell said, despite the association’s statement, people in the deaf community should continue to call for Fontaine to step down.

“What minister Fontaine expressed, in what she believed to be a private moment, reveals her underlying convictions,” she said.

“We need someone in this role that understands what accessibility is truly about, preferably someone with lived experience as a person with a disability.”

Asked about Fontaine’s explanation for her comments, Kinew said it’s important for him to make any situation “that’s not a win” a learning opportunity.

» Winnipeg Free Press