Ottawa, ON (March 22, 2013) —The Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologists (CASLPA) congratulated the government on several positive steps that were announced in yesterday’s 2013 federal budget. CASLPA was particularly pleased at the government’s commitment to improving health care on reserves and its focus on education for the country’s Aboriginal populations.
“Healthcare for Aboriginal communities has been an ongoing issue of concern for CASLPA. The current lack of access to speech-language pathology and audiology services has serious repercussions. It’s important to note that when left untreated and undiagnosed, speech, language and hearing disorders become more difficult to treat and can lead to long-term learning and social problems,” said Joanne Charlebois, Executive Director at the Canadian Association of Speech-Language Pathologists and Audiologist (CASLPA).
“The government’s inclusion of $48 million over the next two years towards improving quality of health services in First Nations communities is noteworthy and will make a great difference for the people that live there,” continued Charlebois.
The 2013 budget also included a variety of incentives meant to promote education and skills training for the country’s Aboriginal populations. The $241 million investment over the next five years will help ensure that young recipients have the incentive to participate in training necessary for them to gain employment.
“By investing in skills training, the government is effectively investing in the future prosperity of the country’s Aboriginal population. It is our hope that education in treating communications disorders will take place in order to address the current lack of available services in many First Nations communities,” concluded Charlebois. “It is extremely important that members of Canada’s Aboriginal communities collaborate and participate in the delivery of communication disorder services. CASLPA has met with several Members of Parliament to stress the need to build community capacity for training community members in a supportive role to deliver speech, language and hearing programming.”
Taken from https://sac-oac.ca/.
