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Disability in the Public Service with Statistics Canada - May 20th at 12pm EDT

April 22nd, 2022
Algonquin Anishinabe Territory / Ottawa, ON
 
Join the National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS) on May 20th at 12pm EDT as we host Statistics Canada for an event on disability in the public service! Tony Labillois (Macroeconomic Accounts Branch), Jeremy Plaunt (Dissemination Division), and Rachel Boutin (Accessibility Secretariat) will share their lived experience as persons with disabilities working and thriving in the public sector, and guests are invited to ask their questions during the live Q & A portion.
 
Closed captioning and simultaneous interpretation will be provided. Online registration is required – please register here.
 
This event is supported by Employment and Social Development Canada and is a feature of our Virtual Access for All webinar series.
 
More About The Speakers

Tony Labillois, Macroeconomic Accounts Branch

Tony is currently the Director of Public Sector Statistics Division at Statistics Canada.  With 32 years of experience in the national statistics institute, including more than 22 years in the management team, they have acquired a vast experience in leadership, in sound management of programs, projects, budgets and human resources, developing and implementing simple and effective tools for evaluating activities, in communication, negotiation and outreach. Labillois has a solid reputation for partnership and collaboration in my organization and beyond. Tony likes to work hard, form innovative teams, concrete actions and results, build lasting relationships based on trust and carry out ambitious projects with a lot of fun. In this role and as the Champion for Persons with Disabilities since 2022, he has served on numerous interdepartmental committees, presented at various national and international events, and provided advice and consultation to several organizations. Labillois has won various awards and prizes in his life, including a Elizabeth II diamond jubilee medal in 2012.
 
The Macroeconomic Accounts Branch produces the Canadian System of Macroeconomic Accounts—an integrated framework of statistics and analysis which studies the evolution of the Canadian economy, providing measures of production of goods and services, savings, investment and asset and liabilities, international transactions in goods and services and financial assets. It also produces Canadian Government Finance Statistics for the International Monetary Fund and used by Finance Canada and the provinces and territories for fiscal arrangements and also publishes expenditures by functions of governments.

Jeremy Plaunt, Dissemination Division

Husband, father, proud public servant, musician, amateur photographer, hockey dad, and a keen advocate for disability inclusion, Jeremy is the new unit head of the Centre of Expertise for Accessibility, Dissemination division, Statistics Canada. His 20 year Public Service career includes significant experience in communications, public opinion research, marketing, performance measurement, and stakeholder relations. Facing mounting challenges with disability head-on has made him hyper-aware of barriers to disability inclusion. Jeremy has funnelled his awareness into his work, supporting disability inclusion in the design of Workplace 2.0 (the then “workplace of the future”), running components of the Panel on Labour Market Opportunities for Persons with Disability, Flexible Work Arrangements and Accessible Canada Consultations, and Workplace Harassment research, among others. While working for Employment and Social Development Canada’s Accessible Canada Directorate, he supported the 2019 Ministerial Summit on Accessibility and Accessible Canada Act Royal Assent Ceremonies. Jeremy’s passion for his work, his colleagues, and helping Canadians has earned him three Deputy Ministers awards for excellence (including ESDC’s 2021 award for excellence in a Healthy and Inclusive Workplace).

Statistics Canada’s Dissemination Division promotes a user centric approach to providing timely access to high-quality statistical information that matters to Canadians. The division has been hard at work researching innovative ways to enhancing the accessibility of our content to remove barriers for Canadians. Two recent pilot projects include the addition of sign language translations, in both American Sign Language (ASL) and langue des signes du Québec (LSQ) to a number of selected products as part of examining how to normalize the production and release of sign language translations with our publications, and the testing of a built-in text to speech (TTS) feature on selected pages of our website. 

Rachel Boutin, Accessibility Secretariat

Rachel has been working for the government for the last 17 years. She has worked at over 10 different organizations in over 30 different positions. She came back last November to Statistics Canada for an amazing mandate. She now works in the Accessibility Secretariat. Her bigger mandate right now is to produce StatCan accessibility plan for the next 3 years. StatCan wants to be fully accessible by 2040 and Rachel wants to participate in making sure that this happens. Rachel has been diagnosed at the very beginning of her career with Multiple Sclerosis. As the MS progress, so does Rachel’s career.
 
About NEADS’ Virtual Access for All Project

NEADS' Virtual Access for All Project provides educational support and awareness aimed at students with disabilities transitioning into post-secondary education. Accessibility and accommodations resources are provided through our quarterly State of the Schools publications, while our regular webinar series addresses topics such as self-advocacy, accessing accommodations at work and school, and transitioning into the workforce. Further, financial support is available through NEADS' Student Awards Program and Accessibility Resilience Program. Virtual Access for All is generously supported by Employment and Social Development Canada's Goal Getters Program, and has recently received an upward amendment in response to positive reception.

For more information:

National Educational Association of Disabled Students (NEADS), Rm. 514 Unicentre, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5B6, tel. (613) 380-8065, ext. 201
 
Carly Fox, Researcher and Communications Officer
carly.fox@neads.ca

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