Helping Make The Canadian Media Look More Like The Real Canada

TORONTO – The McGuinty government today launched a new partnership aimed at raising the profile of people with disabilities in the Canadian movie, television and radio industry, announced Madeleine Meilleur, Minister of Community and Social Services.

“Seeing more people with disabilities portrayed in Canadian television shows and movies would go a long way towards changing attitudes about people with disabilities,” said Meilleur. “Today, approximately 12 per cent of Canadians are living with some kind of disability.  And that number is likely to rise dramatically as our population ages.”

The new project, called the Media Access and Participation Initiative (MAP), will make tools and resources available to Canadian broadcasters and producers to encourage and help them to make the media industry more inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities.

Despite the growing number of people with disabilities in Canada, research by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters shows that this is a community that lags far behind in employment and portrayal within the Canadian media industry.  The MAP initiative is designed to increase the presence of people with disabilities both in front of the camera, and behind it.

The project is the result of a partnership between the government and Innoversity, a non-profit organization that connects the mainstream Canadian media with minority communities in an effort to foster a more diverse media landscape.

“My hope is that the MAP Initiative will raise the awareness of the significant contribution people with disabilities can make to the media workplace as well as in the programs they produce,” said Cynthia Reyes, co-founder of Innoversity.

The launch of the new MAP initiative is just one of the ways the McGuinty government is working to build a province where everyone has a chance to contribute.  The government is also:

• Working to implement the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 by developing and enforcing universal accessibility standards for the public and private sectors.
• Committing nearly $276 million in new funding to strengthen community supports for adults with a developmental disability.
• Providing $28.2 million to help universities and colleges provide services for students with disabilities to help them succeed.

“One of the major barriers that people with a disability face is that of the attitude of those around them,” said Meilleur.  “The media industry has an important role to play when it comes to promoting inclusion and breaking down stereotypes about minority communities.”