September 16, 2005
This letter supports Gary Malkowski, Nancy Barker and Scott Simser in their activities to make captioning available in Canadian movie theatres.
According to the Canadian Hearing Society, almost 25% of people in Canada have some degree of hearing loss and cannot understand movies without captioning. This is a large number of people who are being denied equal access and equal quality of access to information which is an established Canadian Human Right.
Showing captioned movies in theatres is a win-win situation for everyone. The Deaf community would benefit from the captioning. The theaters would in turn tap into this huge market who would be easily lured into movie theatres and their concession stands. Deaf individuals and theaters are benefiting. More people attending the theaters promote profit. Rear-window captioning promotes accessibility.
A good business sense and a good understanding of Human Rights dictates the outcome of this complaint.
We write to offer our support to Gary Malkowski, Nancy Barker and Scott Simser in their endeavors in this field.
Sincerely,
Chris Racine
MAPSLI President