Cross Talk: Season Four, Episode 12

"On how it took a crisis to make government communication more accessible in Canada.” From April 2, 2020.  In the daily public briefings about the covid-19 held by government and public health authorities in the city of Toronto, the province of Ontario, and the federal government of Canada, a sign language interpreter is participating.  They should have been routinely included in public announcements and briefings for many years now; perhaps decades.  But their appearance has been unusual.  Until now.  It seems it has taken a real public health emergency to bring American Sign Language translation and interpretation into the strategic communications approach of public bodies in Canada. Sign language that fits use by local populations everywhere should be part of the communication.  While we're thinking about this more "accessible" communication approach, let's also get rid of some nasty old discriminatory language, too.

Opens with audio from daily briefing by Ontario Premier Doug Ford, as he recognizes the work of ASL interpreter Christopher Desloges. 

The full scripts of this episode -- and others, starting with Season Four Episode 10, are also available at https://paulcrossradio1.wordpress.com Beginning now, any audio embedded in the podcast is shown transcribed in the script on the Wordpress site.