Introduction of Guests (28 April 2026)

From Hansard (28 April 2026)

 

Guests from Deaf and Hard of Hearing Community

Hon. Terry Jenson: — Well thank you, Mr. Speaker. And to you and through you this afternoon and to all member of the Assembly, I’d like to introduce a group of guests joining us today in the west gallery, from the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

Mr. Speaker, with us today are Nairn Gilles, the executive director of the Saskatchewan Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services. Nairn is joined by Wyatt Scott, the executive director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf; Robyn Holmes, the president of the Saskatchewan deaf association; Dr. Joanne Weber, a Canada Research Chair in deaf education and associate professor at the University of Alberta.

And we’re also joined by Gary Malkowski, Mr. Speaker. Gary is an internationally recognized speaker and leader, and he’s also the world’s first deaf parliamentarian, previously representing the riding of York East in the Ontario legislature. He’s also the first deaf parliamentarian in the world to address the legislature in sign language.

Mr. Malkowski also served as the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Citizenship and the Minister Responsible for the Disabled, and he was also the parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Education and Training.

Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity to meet with these advocates for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community earlier today to learn more about their work and the progress that we as Canadians and people in Saskatchewan have made to ensure that our society is inclusive to those who have a hearing impairment. We also had the opportunity to discuss some of the barriers that still exist with those who have a hearing impairment and what steps we can take to ensure that they are able to fully participate within our society.

With that, Mr. Speaker, I’d like to invite all members to join me in welcoming these individuals and thank them for their continued work to make Canada and Saskatchewan a more accessible place, and welcome them to the Legislative Assembly. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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