October 6, 2004
Community Living Authority Act (Bill 45)
Question to Minister of Children and Family Development Stan Hagen
R. Lee: I am pleased to rise in the House to support the amendment to section 5 of Bill 45. For the past few months I have had the opportunity to have meetings with the members, staff and also self-advocates — people with developmental disabilities and their families — at the Burnaby Association for Community Inclusion and on other occasions, listening to their concerns and challenges, including the issues of individualized funding, training, microboard, more involvement of the local communities and also the families. I am pleased that the government has introduced this bill to establish the community living British Columbia authority.
After we wrote the proposed act, one question remained, which is how to ensure that the stakeholders, the self-advocates, have a direct voice and also the opportunity to participate in the decision-making process in the board governing the authority. Today the amendment will increase the number of directors from nine to 11, including two individuals with developmental disabilities. This will certainly address the concerns expressed by the community, and I commend the Minister of Children and Family Development for listening to their concerns and for putting in this amendment.
