![]() 10, Barker said he hadn’t experienced long repair delays. Until his wheelchair stopped working Oct. ![]() “People are tired of waiting.”īarker has relied on the program since he broke his neck and was paralyzed while playing hockey in 1993. ![]() “Anything in the disability world, it’s always the waiting game,” Kron said. He knows he’s among many advocates in the same queue. 8, Kinew responded to Free Press coverage of the issue by posting on social media: “I’ll commit right now that an NDP government will fund these wheelchair repair technician jobs.”Īs soon as the change in government was announced on election night, David Kron was writing to the new premier requesting a meeting. “We’re hopeful that, given the commitment that was made during the campaign… that we’ll make progress,” said Manitoba Possible chief executive officer Lindsey Cooke.Ĭooke and agency staff have acknowledged the current level of service violates the human rights of Manitobans who rely on wheelchairs for their mobility. The program hasn’t had a funding increase since 2011, when the previous NDP government was in power. Immediately after NDP Leader Wab Kinew was officially sworn in as premier Wednesday, Manitoba Possible, the non-profit that runs the wheelchair program, sent a message to his office asking for a meeting. A field technician job and administrative assistant job are also vacant - and the agency has said it can’t afford to hire additional staff to address chronic gaps in rural service and in Winnipeg. “I’m not going down like that.”Ī power wheelchair technician position is one of three jobs still vacant because of a lack of funding in the services program. ![]() Wheelchair users must not be left “rotting in their beds,” waiting for essential services, he said. The Teulon resident, an electrician by trade, is joining a chorus of voices calling for the provincial government to prioritize Manitoba’s publicly funded wheelchair services program. “What if I couldn’t do that? I’d still be lying in bed,” Barker said. When the long wait time for a power wheelchair repair had him facing the prospect of being stuck in bed for three weeks, Doug Barker figured out how to install a new motor himself. Free Press 101: How we practise journalism. ![]()
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