Do people with disabilities and their relatives need to ask for gifts and donations to have their needs fulfilled?
RELEASE
Montreal, December 3nd 2019 – Today, for the International Day of the Persons with Disabilities, there will be a human chain (11h30 in front of the CLSC de Rosemont in Montreal) organised by Mouvement PHAS (Disabled Individuals for Access to Services). This demonstration for the access to public health and social services for the people with disabilities and their relatives will be held as a part of the We are and We demand! campaign.
With our thematic, Christmas gifts and guignolée, this demonstration aims to denounce invisible, inaccessible, inexistent or insufficient services. We demand that responsible ministers answer to the many needs and to our demands as soon as the next budget.
As always, we reaffirm our demand for a major reinvestment in health and social services to take place, for the purpose of ending waiting lists and to adequately meet the needs of all individuals with an intellectual disability, an autism spectrum disorder or with a physical disability, as well as the needs of their families throughout all the regions of Quebec.
As Electra Dalamagas of Autism Montreal affirms: “It’s awful to see the important decline that occurred in the past few years in terms of access to social and health services for individuals with disabilities and their families. We have observed increasing delays to obtain services, as well as a continuous reduction in hours of services received in programs such as rehabilitation, residential, home support services, family support, and day program activities. Families with little support are often being told to seek services in the private sector when they don’t have the means for it.”
“The actual government did a few reinvestment announcements since a year. Although, to really compensate the many years of compression and negligence in the services and programs of the health and social services network, it is urgent to do something major and rapidly, claims Mathieu Francoeur, Coordinator of the Mouvement PHAS”
People With disabilities and their families do not want to have to believe in Santa, they do not want to beg money to pay for essential services. They have the right to public services of a great quality, as the rest of the population. It is a question of dignity and equality.
The Movement of Disabled Individuals for Access to Services (PHAS Movement) (Mouvement des personnes handicapées pour l’accès aux services), is a coalition whose mission is to rally together individuals with disabilities and their families to promote and collectively defend the right to access public social services and health services that adequately meet their needs.
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For information and interviews:
Mathieu Francoeur
Cellphone : (514) 638-4777
Email : mobilisationphas@yahoo.ca
Demands : http://mouvementphas.org/actualites/revendications-de-la-campagne