Alberta Deaf News. Message from the Editor:

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1 Alberta Deaf News December 2014 Message from the Editor: Winter has started for certain now! Alberta is covered in snow, and temperatures are plummeting! It feels like we have a different weather warning every day now everything from winter storms to heavy snow to icy conditions to extreme windchill. Stay safe out there! The holiday season is traditionally a peak of activity within the Alberta Deaf community, and this year is no different. There are plenty of events occurring this month, even some that have nothing to do at all with the holidays! There s something for everyone! I am very happy to announce that ADN Vlogs will be starting again this month, as Imran Hakamali will be bringing you all the latest ADN news in vlog format and gives this newsletter a presence in Calgary to complement your Edmonton--based editor! Give him a warm welcome and congratulations if you see him around, and look out for his vlogs starting early this month! Stay safe and enjoy the holidays! Damian Karl ADN Editor

2 Greetings to all Deaf Albertans and Deaf community members! I am sure that you all are adjusting to the snowy weather and cold temperatures...well, we all should not complain about it - look at the unbelievablyheavy snowfall for the City of Buffalo recently. Anyway, I have to admit that the City of Calgary should take the sign board of "City of Champions" from the City of Edmonton and place it in Calgary. WHY? The Calgary Flames have been impressive while Oilers have been horrible. The Calgary Stampeders beat the Edmonton Eskimos all 4 games this season and Calgary will play the Grey Cup game against the Hamilton Tiger Cats in Vancouver, BC on Sunday, Nov. 30th. I strongly feel that Calgary will win this year. Good Luck to the Stampeders for their cup after some tough losses in play-offs the past several years. I am just updating you all that there are several current topics/issues as follows; 1) I had a wonderful trip to/from Calgary on Monday, November 3rd for a meeting with 8+ CAD Seniors led by Grace Court, SC President in the DHA basement focusing on travel plans, budgeting, and fundraising efforts for 10 events at the 3rd Western Canada Deaf 55+ Games in Winnipeg next August Then, I made a power point presentation for the CAD board and members relating to AAD and what AAD has been doing such as serving, promoting - updating key info on the CAV - Canadian Administator of Video Relay Service, and finally a Questions - Answers session. I would like to thank Sam Milliken for being my wonderful chauffeur driver/ companion and the CAD Board and members for being wonderful hosts Handwaves for all Calgarians as you enjoy CAD's 79th year anniversary this year and then being ready for DAE 2015 & 80th year anniversary next September 2015! 2) Rebecca Lehman of Calgary and Ryan Fyten of Edmonton were contracted to act as technical support with our ipad users, both new and experienced, for a year of service until June Handwaves & Congrats to both of you, Rebecca and Ryan - enjoy your time with our group! 3) AAD AGM/Open Forum at EADCC on Saturday, November 15th There were about 25+ attendants present and the meeting went very well. Justyna Grela, President of DYC - Deaf Youth Canada gave a power point presentation about the DYC board team's draft of a tentative schedule plan for hosting the 1st Canada/Alberta Deaf Teens Leadership and Literacy Camp in a camp site - planned for August After the camp, her team and the campers would head to Edmonton for the final week to do volunteer work for three key mega events: Canada/Alberta Family Literacy for the Deaf, 1st Canada Deaf 55+ Games, and 1st Canada Deaf Expo. Finally, some of us enjoyed pizza, drinks and chatting. Be ready for more possible info about those mega -events in later pages of this issue or in future issues of ADN.

3 Many Thanks and Handwaves to Justyna for her excellent effort on presentation and those members who attended the AAD AGM/Open Forum for their support and interest. 4) Emil Kvarnberg of Calgary & Calvin Novak of Edmonton as AAD Reps are well prepared to attend CAD-ASC's 2-day conference on "Social Enterprise" in Ottawa on Dec. 5th - 6th. They will make a presentation about their experiences during the CAD - EAD general meeting on Monday, January 5th. Also, they will do a joint presentation for attendees during AAD's next board meeting and open forum at EADCC on Saturday, February 7th. 5) The CAD-ASC board and DYANS have been working together for a final plan of events for CAD-ASC's upcoming AGM 2015 and 75th Anniversary Banquet and Celebration party tentatively in Halifax, NS July 2-5, 2015 subject to final CAD-ASC board approval on Dec. 4th or 7th. It will be shared with AAD/EAD/CAD boards & members via or in meetings. OK! 6) At last, AAD is hiring a new staff person - Imran Hakamali of Calgary on contract work as our new ADN - Alberta Deaf News Vlogger starting on December 1st for a 3-month probation till February Congrats and Handwaves for Imran! Many Thanks! Hope that you all enjoy your very busy month of December with CAD's 79th Anniversary/X-mas Banquet Party in Calgary on Saturday, December 6th, EAD SC's Annual X-mas Dinner on Tuesday, December 16th, ASD's Annual X-mas Concert on Thursday, December 18th and EAD's Happy New Year's Eve party on Wednesday, December 31st plus a quick countdown to the best day of the year - Christmas Day on December 25th (25 days left - smiles?). AAD board sincerely wishes you all a wonderful and safe x-mas holiday! Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to you all Keep in touch! For more info, pls feel free to contact me in person anytime or donmcthy@shaw.ca AAD ly Donald Mc Carthy, AAD President

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5 Canadian-Ukrainian Deaf Relations During the AAD AGM on November , the AAD board approved a donation of up to $2,000 to Ihor Kobel of the Ukrainian deaf community towards the purchase of a new laptop which is desperately needed for presentations and networking with other Deaf communities (including Canada) and potential sponsors or donors. Below please find a recent letter from Mr. Kobel and two recent pictures showing Ukrainian-Canadian Deaf solidarity and cooperation. Hello, I am back in Canada for a short visit to work with professor Olenka Bilash at the Department of Secondary Education U of A and with Debra Russell as well. In 2000 a small team of Ukrainian and Canaduan partners established a Canada-Ukraine Alliance for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Persons to help Ukrainian Deaf in their fight for removing a ban on the Ukrainian Sign language which had existed since We chose a strategy of running Deaf camps inviting hearing and deaf families with deaf children, school teachers and administrations and university students as well. Since 2000 we have run 25 summer camps in different regions of Ukraine. We are planning our next summer camp in 2015 on the Black Sea in Odesa, Ukraine if there will be no war any more. After death of professor Michael Rodda who was the father of the Alliance we have been suffering a lot from a lack of financial support from our Canadian partners. We are asking for help in purchasing a laptop to use during our summer camp sessions and during Sign Language courses for hearing parents during a school year. Our old laptop which I bought in 2003 in Canada is very outdated. Thank you very much for your consideration Ihor Kobel, Ph.D. member of Board of Directors of Ukraine-Canada Alliance for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Persons

6 Howdy EAD Members, Families and Friends, I hope you all have enjoyed the autumn. We have been busy preparing for the winter wonderland coming up soon. Don t forget to wear warm clothes, mittens and toques. Are you guys ready to have some hot chocolate and enjoy the fireplace in the beautiful and white winter wonderland?! The EAD Board and directors have been busy with their position duties, and we are working to improve our EAD system for the better with new bylaws and policies. Vice President Kyle Badree is working on the building itself with the custodians and volunteers. Kyle and Bruce Batt cleaned up in the outdoor area of EADCC Building. They are doing great Sadly, Marvin is leaving our EAD facility staff. He was our custodian for a long time. Thank you Marvin Youngs, for your hard work at EADCC and we look forward to you coming to EAD to socialize with us. Our EAD Secretary Roni Mc Carthy is upgrading our booking forms and updating related policies. Please Roni for booking EADCC Facility; her is roni.mccarthy@yahoo.com. The Board Directors are still working on their respective events and clubs, and are doing great. Some are still learning their position duties and responsibilities. If you have any concerns or issues with the EAD Board oreadcc, I am here to listen - my is: 02mathewkuntz@gmail.com. Marie Anderson is working on a New Year s party for Wednesday December 31 from 8pm to 2am. We will have games, prizes and champagne bottles. This year it is our turn to host NYE since CAD (Calgary Association of the Deaf) and EAD agreed from DAC (Deaf Alberta Coalition) last year that one of the big two cities will host the NYE every year, and next year it will be CAD s turn to host the party. We hope to alternate every year, building a new tradition in Alberta. We are looking forward to see the new year of 2015 EAD is looking for one or more special project/thematic directors to join our EAD Board of Directors. This will help control our schedule balance with 3 or 4 special project directors sharing the responsibilities of running special events, charities, fundraising parties and workshops in If you are interested to take this position, please contact me at 02mathewkuntz@gmail.com. Just to remind you guys, we will have the EAD General Meeting for EAD members only on Monday, December 1st at 7pm If you cannot make it that night, we will have a General Meeting every first Monday of the month Our first 2015 General Meeting will be on Monday, January 6th at 7pm in EADCC (Edmonton Association of the Deaf Community Centre). Happy Holidays and Be Safe!! We will see you all on December 1st or next year! Message from EAD President Mathew Kuntz

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13 AVLIC Job Announcement Request for Proposal - No : Translation of AVLIC Materials Issue date: November 17, 2014 Click here to view the full RFP No document and details. Contract Term: The Contract will commence on or around February 1, 2015, and will end January 31, Proposal Submission Deadlines: * Receipt Confirmation Form: Proponents must complete and submit a Receipt Confirmation Form (Appendix B) on or before December 19, 2014, to be considered. * Closing Date & Time: Final Proposal must be received by 11am PST on January 5, Purpose of Request for Proposal (RFP) AVLIC has implemented logistics to improve communication with/to the membership and our stakeholders. Communication distributed in American Sign Language (ASL) needs to be on par with English-based communication. The purpose of this Request for Proposal is to engage a contractor for 12 months to translate selected AVLIC documents and materials on an as needed basis, predominantly from English to ASL but also from ASL to English, which are intended for distribution to the membership and/or stakeholders. Services Required by the Successful Contractor The successful Contractor will, in a timely manner, translate selected AVLIC material from written English to ASL or from ASL to written English for distribution to the AVLIC membership and/or stakeholders. Estimated turnaround time for translations should be outlined in the Proposal. Remuneration will be pre-negotiated as part of the Contract and will be based on: * Per page of written English text to be translated into ASL * Per minute of ASL video to be translated into written English The Contractor will translate AVLIC material on subject matters including, but not limited to: 1. AVLIC announcements 2. News releases 3. Annual General Meeting proposed motions 4. AVLIC position papers (in part or in full) 5. Updates about the Canadian Evaluation System 6. Updates about the Dispute Resolution Process 7. Updates from AVLIC Board meetings 8. Updates from committees 9. And any other material as determined by the AVLIC Board of Directors. Note: If you know of someone who has the skills and expertise to carry out this project, please forward them this link to the RFP ( ). AVLIC welcomes all proposals for consideration.

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30 DECEMBER 2014 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 EAD General Meeting CAD General Meeting 2 EAD SC Day CWC Nite 6 ADSA Bowling CAD Christmas & 79th Annual Banquet Deaf Youth Forum EAD Community Bingo EAD SC Day CAD Cingo Darts Night EAD SC Day Christmas Eve 25 Christmas Day 26 Boxing Day New Year s Eve New Year s Party JANUARY 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 New Year s Day EAD General Meeting CAD General Meeting 6 EAD SC Day CWC Night Darts Night EAD SC Day & Community Bingo ACSD Executive Board Meeting EAD SC Day EAD Community Bingo EAD SC Day EAD Board Meeting

31 FEBRUARY 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 EAD General Meeting CAD General Meeting 3 EAD SC Day CAD Cingo CWC Night 7 ACSD Board of Directors Meeting AAD Board Meeting EAD SC Day Valentine s Day Family Day 17 EAD SC Day CAD Aingo High Five Cup 21 High Five Cup Mardi Gras Party EAD Board Meeting EAD SC Day EAD Community Bingo 28 MARCH 2015 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 CAD General Meeting EAD General Meeting 3 EAD SC Day CWC Nite EAD SC Day & Community Bingo St. Patrick s Day EAD SC Day & Club Meeting EAD SC Fundraising Party EAD SC Day EAD Community Bingo EAD SC Day EAD Board Meeting

32 Alberta Deaf Directory November 2014 Calgary Association of the Deaf President: Robyn Mackie #512, Ave NE Calgary, AB T1Y 6M6 The primary purpose of the Calgary Association of the Deaf is to protect and promote the rights, needs and concerns of Deaf Calgarians while endeavouring to improve the quality of life for Deaf people in general. Alberta Association of the Deaf c/o EADCC President: Donald McCarthy #204, St. Edmonton, AB T5M 1V1 The most basic of AAD's 12 objectives is to assist in promoting the general well-being of all Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons in Alberta. Alberta Deaf Sports Association President: Brenda Hillcox Administration: Sally Korol #205, Street Edmonton, AB T5M 1V1 Website: albertadeafsports.ca Deaf and Hear Alberta CEO: Joanne Pawelek Deaf and Hear Alberta enhances the lives of Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing persons by removing barriers and building bridges to communication. Calgary Office: 63 Cornell Road NW, Calgary, AB T2L 0L4 Phone (voice): TTY: Fax: General and equipment inquiries: Interpreting services: Edmonton Office: (Interpreting Services and Equipment Services- by appointment only) Alberta School for the Deaf Street Edmonton, AB T6H 3L2 Phone (voice): TTY: General and equipment inquiries: Interpreting services: Alberta Cultural Society of the Deaf President: Sandra Reid #206, Street Edmonton, AB T5M 1V1 or fax: Serving Deaf Albertans through the Deaf Community and Culture. Western Canadian Centre for Deaf Studies (WCCDS) & David Peikoff Chair of Deaf Studies WCCDS Director & Peikoff Research Chair: Dr. Lynn McQuarrie Education North, University of Alberta Edmonton, AB T6G 2G5 or WCCDS is a research, development, and training center that partners with the Deaf and Hard of Hearing communities, Affiliated researchers, and other Institutions to ensure ongoing networking and research/training collaborations with University - Community partners from around the country and around the world. The David Peikoff Chair of Deaf Studies is an endowed research chair within the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta and supports the activities of WCCDS in the area of research and education. Edmonton Association of the Deaf President: Mathew Kuntz # Street NW Edmonton, Alberta T5M 1V1 02mathewkuntz@gmail.com Connect Society CEO: Cheryl Redhead Street Edmonton, AB T6H 3L2 Phone/TTY: , ext. 227 Fax: redhead@connectsociety.org Website: Connect Society is a non-profit and charitable organization that provides programs and services to Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing children, adults and their families. Programs include Early Intervention (0-3), Early Childhood (2 1/2-5 1/2), Family Support (0-18), Stay and Study (6-19), and Community Living Support Services - residential and outreach (adults). Edmonton Fellowship of the Deaf-Blind President: Nancy Lynn Dillon efdbpresident@gmail.com c/o ASD St, Edmonton, AB T6H 3L2