St. Albert’s business leaders need to use their influence to encourage more of their peers to hire inclusively and pay fairly, Mayor Nolan Crouse said Wednesday.
Speaking to about 100 people at the St. Albert Inn during the second annual Mayor’s Lunch for Celebrating Inclusive Employment, Crouse named several businesses that hire people diagnosed with developmental disabilities and applauded their efforts. The lunch was held in partnership with the Gateway Association, which works with individuals with intellectual disabilities and their families.
“That’s what this is about – raising awareness of employment and as business leaders, we have the opportunity to ask other business leaders to influence each other,” Crouse said. “We must work to find the insiders at businesses to bring this whole matter forward.”
The city started holding the lunch to celebrate local businesses that employ individuals with special needs. It is a part of the legacy approved by council after the city hosted the 2012 Special Olympic Canada Winter Games.
But Crouse said business leaders also need to advocate for fair pay for workers with special needs. He told a story he recently heard of a local business that was willing to give one worker a job, but only as a volunteer.
“That’s not good enough in today’s society,” said Crouse. “We must advocate for corporate policy change, government change and role model these kinds of things ourselves.”
Jason Quintal of X-Calibur Ground Disturbance Solutions, a pipeline locating company, echoed Crouse’s message of the importance of diversity of employment. While X-Calibur is located in Rocky Mountain House, Quintal grew up in and around St. Albert.
“Albertans need to be accountable for their wealth and prosperity,” Quintal said. “Inclusive employment is a perfect example of accounting for that, for being accountable for others in the province.”
Quintal told the crowd he hires inclusively and works to adapt jobs to each person’s strengths.
But Quintal also included his perspective as the father of a child with a developmental disability. His 11-year-old daughter Bailey has been diagnosed with a rare condition called schizencephaly, in which some parts of the brain do not develop as expected.
As a result, he said, Bailey, who also has cerebral palsy, has difficulties when it comes to logic and intuition – she is unable to string together facts or form conclusions.
“Bailey does not know this and does not regret this,” Quintal said. “It only exists when she is in a position that requires intuition. Consciously and unconsciously, we avoid these situations and don’t notice it all.”
But Bailey, like any other worker in his company or any other person, has strengths she can bring to any job as a creative and emotional individual.
“I have never imagined she will never find success in the workplace,” Quintal said.
