WEBVTT

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Hello! This is DeafDots, 
8 December 2023. 

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Bringing alerts & news reports 
at intervals for all Deaf Canadians. 

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Don’t forget to subscribe, 
like, and follow

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 DeafDots to get 
new video updates! 

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[ANSELMO]: Nearly fifty people 
protested at Confederation Building 

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on November 15 to call attention 
to the lack of ASL interpreters 

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in Newfoundland and Labrador. 
Representatives from the Coalition 

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of Persons with Disabilities and
 the NL Association of the Deaf 

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were present with members
 and supporters. They called 

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for the government to address the
 shortage of ASL services in the province. 

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They say there are only six interpreters 
supporting over 600 deaf adults.

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The protest occurred due to critical 
situations among senior citizens 

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as services and supports are lacking 
which has created a deteriorating 

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quality of life in long term care, 
personal care homes and nursing homes.

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Seniors have no access to 
communication in ASL. Staffs know little 

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or no sign language. Many times
 there are no interpreters available 

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for hospital emergencies. 
The NLAD team in collaboration 

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with the Coalition of Persons 
with Disabilities organized the rally. 

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There are many Seniors 
who find technology inaccessible. 

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Many do not use laptops or computers
 or cannot afford to buy computers. 

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Politicians from three groups – Liberals, the Progressive Conservative 

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and the New Democratic Party were present and pledged to improve 

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the quality of senior care and better quality of life and want 

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to work together to resolve the interpreter shortage crisis.

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[ANSELMO]: Myles Murphy says 
Canada is experiencing a shortage 

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of ASL interpreters which 
has hit the province harder. 

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Murphy is concerned about those 
who live in personal-care homes 

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where they miss out on health 
care and social programming. 

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They are calling on the province to 
recruit and retain more ASL interpreters.

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[ANSELMO]: In that interview with NTV, 
Newfoundland Health Minister 

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Tom Osborne promised to meet 
with members of the deaf community 

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to help resolve issues that are facing. 
What are the real issues, and 

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how has the shortage of ASL interpreters 
affected Deaf people in Newfoundland?

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There are two main reasons: 
senior citizens' access, and interpreters. 

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Senior citizens' access has been 
inadequate, there is no help and 

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each Deaf senior is isolated 
in different homes and becoming lonely... 

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where is their access? The
 second reason is interpreters, 

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there are only 6 interpreters
 all over Newfoundland and 

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we are continually struggling to
 book interpreters for deaf clients. 

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This is why we are protesting.

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[ANSELMO]: A new deaf owned handyman 
business has opened in Calgary, 

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Alberta that serves both commercial 
and residential customers. 

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They offer emergency handyman
 services, including winter snow removal, 

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renovations and construction work. 

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DeafDots interviewed two representatives
 of this company, called Silent Renovation.

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My name is Miguel Acha (namesign). 
I have another business called Ecuprogram 

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which is an auto body shop for 13 years. 
One day a deaf person came 

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in looking for a job. I asked 
him what his skills were. 

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That person said contracted 
tradesperson. As time progressed on, 

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I had a project that needed some 
workers so I called that person 

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to work on this project. 
I recognized the quality work. 

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I moved to another place and 
needed more help so I got another person 

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to come and help out. Both of them 
have shown excellent talents to finish it. 

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I was impressed with them, 
so I decided to start a business, 

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Silent Renovations. I want
 to hire exclusively deaf people 

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to come to work for us 
and see how it goes.

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What kind of tradespersons are you hiring 
and what services do you plan to offer?

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I asked Deaf people what skills they had. 
Many said renovations, painting, 

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construction, many are around Calgary. 
I am looking for plumbers, 

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electricians and so on. I want
 to create a team of Deaf workers 

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to make communication easier. 
If I hire a hearing on our team, 

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he may feel left out so I prefer 
to keep the team all Deaf 

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and send them out to jobs
 and see how it goes. 

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Keep in mind this is a new business 
but I feel it will succeed. 

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With your help we can do better.

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[ANSELMO]: We asked Cheryl, 
a Manager at Silent Renovations 

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how they communicate 
with hearing customers?

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How hearing people communicating 
with me related to business is challenging.

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 Many hearing people 
who contact me often ask me 

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 about communicating 
with our Deaf team. 

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 I would expand that we have 
better technologies than before. 

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 We have many options - 
hiring interpreters, 

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 using online Video Remote
 Interpreting services, 

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 Zoom with an interpreter, 
gesturing through body language, 

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 ASL, written communication, 
and many more. 

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 Hearing people are interested 
and willing to support our Deaf team. 

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 They are impressed 
with our team’s friendliness; 

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 smiling faces that 
make them feel good.

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(ANSELMO) How is your experience 
working for Silent Renovations so far?

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I have creative skills and when
 I heard about Miguel setting up 

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a growing business called Silent 
Renovations. That got my interest 

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and motivated me to work and 
invest my time in their growth. 

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I wanted to empower Deaf people
 to show that they can do it 

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and that they have skills 
to do everything… renovations, 

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creativity and craftsmanship. I see 
what they do and am impressed. 

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That is why I want hearing people
 to see that Deaf people can 

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do everything and to support and 
empower our team is something 

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I want to encourage. It is heartwarming
 how hearing people have 

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found Deaf people to work hard and 
not waste time with communication 

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while focusing seriously on making 
sure everything is perfectly done, 

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and don't miss any mistakes. This makes 
them notice their quality work 

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within the team. Please come and support, 
see our Deaf team, thank you!

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[ANSELMO]: They both inspire 
me with their message and goal 

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to prove themselves and 
engage with hearing customers! 

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They promote themselves through 
their Facebook page “Silent Renovations”.

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[ANSELMO]: The Canadian Tamil 
Association of Deaf in Toronto is hosting 

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a Christmas Party in Ontario in December. 
DeafDots asked Robyn Mackie, 

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our street reporter, 
to tell us more about it.

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[ROBYN]: Tamil is a specific 
community of people in Tamil Nadu 

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which is in southern India and also 
Sri Lanka who speak the Tamil language. 

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I spoke with a representative of CTAD to tell 
us more about the Tamil Deaf community.

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CTAD stands for Canadian Tamil 
Association of the Deaf (namesign). 

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The idea occurred to Anpalakan 
Pathmanathan who founded the organization 

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June 16, 2021. Why? To cherish Deaf Tamil 
culture and heritage in the Deaf community. 

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[ROBYN]: There are 237,890 Tamil people
 in Canada. What does CTAD do?

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Various events we do - crafts, activities, 
workshops and so forth. 

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We list our events on Facebook 
page “CTAD” and Instagram. 

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People who attended our events in the past 
3 years average 30 to 50 members. 

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On December 16 is our Christmas
 party and you are welcome! 

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[ROBYN]: CTAD’s members are both 
Deaf people and CODAs who moved here 

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from India and Sri Lanka, 
or were born in Canada.

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[ANSELMO]: Thanks Robyn
 for the fascinating report! 

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There is a Deaf bar in Edmonton, 
Alberta that serves exclusively 

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Deaf customers who come together
 to socialize and enjoy their 

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drinks served by deaf employers. 
This bar, called “Handtalk”, 

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is owned by the Edmonton
 Association for the Deaf in 1990. 

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DeafDots asked a representative 
if people working at 

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the bar need to 
be trained or get licenses?

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Bartenders are required to take formal 
training or hold special certificates, 

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it depends. EAD itself is 
a nonprofit organization meaning 

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we do not collect profits. 
We are not open to the public. 

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We are only open to members. 
We are not paid, only volunteers. 

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Other places are open to the 
public to drink, they generate profits 

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and pay their bar vendors. 
Here it is very different. 

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We, as a nonprofit organization, 
provide basic training related 

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to food and safety, observing 
alcohol consumption and when 

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to stop servicing them due to our 
responsibility for safety when they walk out. 

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We teach how to budget, the right 
temperature for alcohol, and 

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proper ways to clean our 
surroundings. That is our basic training. 

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They also need to 
understand alcohol poisoning. 

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If we, supposedly mix the drinks
 excessively, could cause them 

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to die or get alcohol poisoning. 
So we have to make sure to properly mix 

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in the right amounts. That’s the
 basic training we provide.

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Can anyone become a bartender or 
are there specific requirements for it?

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Really, anyone can get involved 
as volunteer bartenders at Handtalk. 

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They need to understand it is critical
 that they know safety procedures. 

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It’s the only thing we require. 
We focus on the enjoyment of socializing. 

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To meet new people, to develop 
relationships within our deaf community. 

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That is the most important thing.

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[ANSELMO]: There was talk about 
removing the name "Handtalk". 

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Why is a change needed? What brought 
up the issue requiring the change? 

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When will the change happen?

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Yes, The Handtalk name itself 
was originally Indigenous using PISL 

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(Plains Indian Sign Language) as this sign 
was used in their language in the past. 

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Their PISL is dwindling so they
 wanted the sign “Handtalk” to stay clean. 

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They don’t want alcohol 
to be linked to that word. 

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We understood that they want
 to use that sign Handtalk differently. 

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We had used that “Handtalk” sign
 in our Community Centre when serving alcohol 

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at events, socials, etc. It seems 
they see Handtalk in a negative way. 

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We realized that and 
decided to change the name. 

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But the sign Handtalk will stay 
there in our place as it is part of us. 

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Handtalk could have different
 meanings, understanding

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 it is not used as Handtalk Bar. 
Hope that clears it up.

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[ANSELMO]: EAD's building is now 
paid off and owned by EAD, 

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are there any future plans for it? 

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Can you explain the features 
of the entire building?

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EAD’s building is over 10,000 square 
feet with 5,000 square feet on each floor.

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 It was paid off approximately 
ten years ago. 

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The first floor is used 
as rental or leased property. 

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The second floor is completely ours 
as our office and includes cooking, 

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a meeting room, and board meeting room. 
There are four different organizations' 

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offices and Handtalk which
 has darts and a pool table. 

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Those areas are our space
 for community socialization. 

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That is groovy. First floor brings 
us revenue on a monthly basis along 

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with our cash flow to help pay for various
 purposes that our community benefits.

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[ANSELMO]: Are you intending 
to continue as director of Handtalk? 

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Are there candidates interested
 in taking over that social room?

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No, I don't intend to continue as Handtalk 
director. It will end this summer. 

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I hope to pass it on to someone who's 
interested to take over this Handtalk 

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and continue with the Deaf
 community socially, hopefully.

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[ANSELMO]: Passing along Deaf culture 
and opportunity for people to socialize 

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is a great goal that we should do
 in other cities across Canada! 

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Thank you for watching DeafDots. 

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Please send your 
news suggestions through 

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our website www.DeafDots.ca 
or email to news@deafdots.ca. 

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Don’t forget to subscribe, 
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