From the President’s Desk
Welcome to Spring 2025!!! We truly are subjected to very changeable weather; and how do you think the groundhogs feel, as I am sure pink slips are on the way for those predicting an early spring.
March has been a very busy month, and I was honoured to attend our CCB Calgary, Alberta Chapter 90th anniversary celebration and dinner on March 15th. I am always interested in meeting with Chapters across Canada and finding out what types of activities they are involved in.
I was very proud of the Calgary group, as they have more than enough activity to keep everyone involved 7 days a week. The Chapter has even brought in activities to keep everyone fit. For example, one of their activities is swimming, where members can enjoy taking a dip at a local indoor pool. The group has the pool rented for their own use, for use together with their peers. A wonderful way to keep fit, while mentoring with your Chapter members.
I did have the pleasure to meet Chapter President, Joanne Chatterton, who was kind enough to supply us with a member profile below. Thank you, Joanne and your executive team, for a job well done, and a very active and ambitious group.
Moving to the other side of the Country, the Atlantic Sports and Recreation Weekend planning is well under way and this year the event is taking place in Moncton, New Brunswick. On behalf of the CCB, a big thank you to the organizing committee, and the City of Moncton for hosting this event.
Recently I was privy to attend a webinar hosted by Elections Canada, outlining their expedited call to action since the writ fell last week for a Federal Election, called for April 28th, 2025. Outlined in this session was a true dedicated effort to ensure Accessibility at the polling stations.
The importance of proper identification, as well as knowing advance polls will be open during the Easter weekend for those who are unable to cast their ballot on April 28th.
Please visit ElectionsCanada.ca if you have any questions, as polling stations may have relocated since the last Federal election. This information will be identified on your voting card you receive from Elections Canada.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, staff, and many volunteers across Canada, we wish you a very Happy Easter. We also urge everyone to exercise their right to vote in this very important Federal Election, while also remembering to get your eyes checked on a regular basis.
Jim Tokos,
National President
Member Spotlight:
We would like to introduce Joanne Chatterton from the CCB Calgary Chapter in Alberta.
Joanne Chatterton is the President of the CCB Calgary Chapter. Joanne was born in the UK and was raised in Southern Alberta. She started having issues with her sight in her mid-thirties, due to RP. Joanne has always had tremendous support from her family, who love to get involved and help out where they can. She’s back to using her cane now, after Selby, her guide dog, just recently retired.
Joanne discovered the CCB after having moved to Calgary in 2013. She started out bowling, in the CCB bowling league, which is still going strong, and then she became more involved with other activities along the way.
She reflects on how the Calgary Chapter was very inclusive, welcoming, and everyone was always happy to see you and greet you with a smile.
“I got lots of support when I first joined CCB, so I wanted to be President so I could give back. The CCB is a lot of fun,” says Joanne. “But with 67 members, it’s a lot of work as well!”
“It is a very busy Chapter. We pretty much run activities every day,” explains Joanne. “These activities include bowling, curling, swimming, cribbage and yoga, just to name a few!”
And this doesn’t even include all the social events the Chapter hosts as well, especially around holidays.
One of the Chapter activities that deserves to be highlighted is the swimming, which started a year and a half ago. The Chapter rents a pool, and it is an exclusive swim for members only. This gives the members a chance to get some fantastic exercise, without having to worry about bumping into members of the public in the water. “The thing I really enjoy about the CCB is the peer support,” says Joanne. “With so many activities happening all the time, it just sort of happens naturally.” The chapter also gives back to the community helping to fundraise for blind hockey.
When asked what she is most proud of with her work with CCB, Joane said that it is the fact the Calgary Chapter is about to celebrate it’s 90th anniversary.
We have a great executive in our Chapter, and I definitely don’t do all of this by myself,” states Joanne. “We have been fortunate to have such dedicated members and chapter executives over such a lengthy period of time. I think that’s how we managed to stay relevant for 90 years.”
ANNOUNCEMENTS
CCB Men’s Group
CCB’s “Men of CCB” monthly meetings are an opportunity for members to discuss issues relevant to topics of particular interest to this group. It has been in existence for a few years now and is held from 7:00 to 9:00pm on the fourth Tuesday of each month.
The previous host of these meetings had to pass off this duty as his business was taking more of his time – a rough problem to have!
Over the last couple of months, Jim Hamilton has taken over the hosting duties for this group, after about a 7-month gap between the previous host’s departure, and Jim’s taking up the mantle, attendance has been down – but on the rise in the last couple of months. So, we would encourage those, who are interested in this kind of experience, to join these monthly discussions.
To provide a taste of what’s to come, the general topic for the March meeting was “fitness,” where members talked about a few specific exercises needed to keep up with their lives. Other upcoming topics include:
– talking books, as well as “apps” to access music, sports programming, TV, and movies,
– cooking, including finding recipes, etc.,
– general mobility skills, including apps, techniques, and equipment/navigational aids,
Most importantly, there is an incredibly supportive atmosphere among group members. It is a monthly opportunity to chat with peers. As such, lots of non-specific topics also come up in discussion. Naturally, “confidentiality” is, and has been, especially important in this context.
If you wish to join this group, please contact Jim Hamilton at jim.hamilton@rogers.com
CCB’s GTT Tech Tips:
Each month we will be highlighting a tech tip that is intended to make your life a little easier! These may include tips on such things as smart phones, apps and websites.
4 finger swipe right and left, will move you through apps that are in the app switcher
As an example, you have had messages open, and you opened mail, now you want to go back to messages, just swipe right or left with four fingers.
We would like to invite you to submit a tip that you find helpful when using your iPhone or Windows computer. Make sure your tip is not too long or complicated and we will mention your name as the contributor.
Thank you for your submissions. Send them to
And for Android fans out there, the CCB GTT group also has an Android users’ group that meet monthly as well!
CCB’s GTT is highly active and has many types of meetings that you are welcome to join each month to learn about new assistive technology. Whether you are a beginner, or an advanced user, there’s always something new to learn!
If you would like assistance with your smart phone or computer, as well as a complete list of GTT contacts and meetings, please visit the GTT blog at www.gttprogram.blog
GTT and the MVIPs:
I used all my fingers, but they weren’t enough to count the members of the CCB Chapter here in Mississauga who have benefitted from the help of the always patient tech instructors of the GTT. The Get Together with Technology program has rescued lots of stranded persons across Canada who have visual impairment. I include myself in that number and my ability to type and hear these letters has a direct line to the GTT folks in Ottawa.
It all started with the discovery of the CCB which changed my life after the major change of losing my sight. I realized that I had become illiterate, being unable to either read or write. The CCB was the beacon of hope that led me to the GTT and the kind and patient teachers who would help me to restore my literacy.
My own personal experience of so much support, motivation and inspiration has enabled me to continue with my life’s interests and led me to places I would never have imagined.
When the Mississauga Chapter was formed a few years ago, I could talk on the phone only if I memorized that number and I had a Google Home to call the number for me. Then a nice blind lady explained that I could add names and numbers into my phone and even add symbols to cause the dialing to pause so that I could add an extension number.
Until that day, I had to ask a sighted person to help me navigate a call requiring an extension number. It was so frustrating to encounter an automated phone directory which made it simply impossible for me to wait for a beep before adding another set of numbers.
Clearly something had to change and so the search began. Imagine my relief when I stumbled onto the CCB and heard a pleasant voice answer my call and assure me that I had found the right home.
Our Chapter members meet together virtually using the skills we learned from the GTT; we send each other emails and texts that we mastered with a little GTT guidance; we slide between Apple, Microsoft and Google, Android and iOS and even Braille input devices all with cheerful affirmation from instructors on the GTT weekly slate of open tech talk. Heck, we even learned how to pay our bills and do our banking online to follow up on training on shopping sites!
When I meet new or prospective Chapter members I don’t hesitate to ask, “how do you rate your comfort with Assistive Tech?” As I listen to the answer, I am figuring in my mind which session and subject would work best and then I share the GTT phone number, email address or Zoom link based on the reply.
The Mississauga Chapter is proud that one of our members, Michael Feir, is a featured host on the CCB National Zooms sessions so we enjoy a local privilege right at hand.
If you were to ask any VIP about the GTT you would get a more personal testimonial, but I am sure that they would all agree with the words above and even improve on them.
I remember the day when I had a conversation with a prospective Chapter member, and I told him the motto of the CCB that a lack of sight is not a lack of vision, and he just spurted out “I’ve felt that my whole life but never put it into words. Why haven’t I heard this before now?”
Ever since then, I have tried to insert that motto, not in those exact words but with the same message to the people I meet in our community. The CCB gave me the concept, but it is the GTT that has given me the tools to read, hear, write and communicate that message whenever I can. And when the people I talk with are excited by that idea, but who cannot amplify the message themselves through lack of skill, I tell them, “I know someone who can fix that for you!”
Submitted by Anthony Colter, CCB Mississauga Chapter President
Advocacy on Guide Dog Rights:
Here is a link to a video that CNIB has done regarding guide dog rights. It is Ontario specific but has good messaging, nonetheless.
Opportunity to Participate in a Research Study on Smoking:
Greetings! My name is Stuart. I am a postdoctoral research scientist studying smoking cessation with INTREPID Lab at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto and am myself visually impaired. I have just begun an exciting new research project at the frontiers of nicotine dependence and vision loss. I want to learn what tools, motivators, and approaches have most helped visually impaired individuals successfully quit smoking. I also want to learn of any challenges or barriers and how they were overcome.
The ultimate goal of this research is to co-create, alongside people with lived experience of smoking and vision loss, a gold-standard guide for people with vision loss to quit smoking. Built on a foundation of lived experience, it will offer visually impaired people who smoke the best-ever chance of successfully and permanently quitting smoking.
Are you interested in being a part of this research effort? If you are a person with lived experience of vision loss, and smoke or used to smoke, here is how you can help:
Share your own lived experiences with INTREPID lab by completing a brief online survey.
Based on survey results, work with INTREPID researchers and people with lived experience to co-develop a guide to quit smoking specifically for people with vision loss.
For more information or to take part, email Stuart at Stuart.MatanLithwick@camh.ca
The only way that we will reach this goal is if we do it together!
It’s back!! Next Coast-to-Coast-to-Coast Bistro Night
Saturday, April 26th, 2025 (please adjust for your time zone)
7:30pm-9:30pm Atlantic Time
6:30pm – 8:30pm Ontario Time
The zoom room will open 15 minutes before the starting time.
Just as before, the evening will begin with a brief meet and greet followed by music, music, music.
As always, the Bistro night will feature singing, piano and guitar and so much more! Music will be in English and some French as well.
We encourage performers to register as soon as possible as there are limited spots.
Come along, listen, tap your feet to the beat, and have a fun time while sipping on your favorite drink
Please e-mail Louise at lburley@ccbnational.net for more information.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!!!
Louise and Mr. Fig!
IN THE NEWS
Blind Skateboarder Fundraises to Donate iPads to Visually Impaired Youth:
Brent Devloo says his iPad is the reason he was able to graduate high school after he suddenly became blind in the 11th grade.
Now, the Langley resident is fundraising to give iPads to other visually impaired youth.
Devloo was 16 when he lost his vision one day in history class in 2011. He was eventually diagnosed with a rare DNA mutation called Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, which can cause sudden vision loss.
He said his mom’s friends donated an iPad to him at the time. The built-in screen-reading technology called Voiceover helped him do his homework.
“It’s the reason I finished school because I was able to type and read and do everything quickly without learning a whole computer,” he said.
He says the technology also helped him start his clothing line, “The Blind Kid.” He uses the funds from it to purchase iPads for other blind kids.
So far, Devloo has given away five iPads and says he has just about enough money for another one.
He hopes to inspire kids who become blind to not only continue their schooling but to return to their passions as soon as they can.
For him, it was skateboarding—a sport he considered challenging even when he still had his sight.
But instead of viewing it as a challenge, Devloo said he found it freeing.
“If I’m at a skatepark, I’ve got to start at the corner and just go by feeling … and eventually build up enough commitment and bravery,” he said.
Devloo also pursued another passion — creating music — using his iPad, an endeavor that put him on Stevie Wonder’s radar and landed him the opportunity to record music with Wonder’s producer.
Devloo said becoming blind made him grow up quickly, and he hopes his gifts can make that process a little easier for others.
“I can help kids with school and connect them to creativity, and just because I knew how much it helped me,” said Devloo.
Mike Faux, owner of the indoor HMI Skatepark in Hope and a friend of Devloo, is working with Devloo to create a documentary about his experience as a blind skateboarder.
The two became friends when Devloo started visiting Faux’s skatepark.
“Every time I see Brett out there, it just blows my mind,” said Faux, who is a skateboarding instructor and has taught Olympians in the past.
“This documentary is going to show that to people, and it’s going to inspire them that nothing can stop you.”
Devloo hopes the documentary will inspire those who find themselves in the situation he was in. And his message to those youth?
“Let it piss you off when people tell you that you can’t do something.”
By Michelle Gomez, CBC News
For the First Time in Canada, Surgeons Put Teeth in Patients’ Eyes to Restore Sight:
Surgery aims to restore sight by implanting a telescopic lens in a tooth
When Brent Chapman’s doctor first pitched him on the idea of having one of his own teeth surgically embedded in his eye to restore his sight, he says he felt “a little apprehensive.”
But then he spoke to a woman in Australia who had undergone the same procedure to tremendous success.
“She had been completely blind for 20 years, and is now snow skiing,” Chapman, 33, of North Vancouver, said. “I know it sounds a little crazy and science fiction-y.”
Chapman, who is blind in both eyes, is one of three Canadians undergoing osteo-odonto keratoprosthesis (OOKP) — or as it’s more commonly known, tooth-in-eye surgery — at a B.C. hospital this week.
It involves removing a patient’s tooth, usually the canine, installing a plastic optical lens inside it, and then implanting the whole thing into the eye.
While it dates back several decades, the surgery has never been performed in Canada before now. And if all goes well, one of the doctors behind the initiative hopes to make it available in the long-term.
How does it work?
Why a tooth? Because teeth have dentine, which is the hardest substance the body produces, making it the ideal casing to bridge the plastic lens and the patient’s eye, says Dr. Greg Moloney, an ophthalmologist and surgeon at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital in Vancouver.
“There is no risk of rejection, because we’re using part of the patient’s own body,” he told As It Happens host Nil Kӧksal.
Moloney headed up the trio of Canadian surgeries this week. All of them went smoothly, he says, though the patients will be monitored closely.
He has performed seven successful tooth-in-eye surgeries in his native Australia before being recruited to do them in Canada. He says he’s used to people reacting to it with shock and horror.
“It is a rare operation that most people have not heard of, even if you are an eye surgeon,” Moloney said.
It’s not a cure-all for every vision problem, he says. It’s specifically meant for people with severe corneal blindness in the front of the eyes caused by conjunctival scarring from autoimmune diseases, chemical burns and other traumas, but who still have healthy retina and optic nerves in the back of their eyes.
And often, Moloney says, it’s the last resort when all other options fail.
That’s because it’s quite intensive, he says. It involves two surgeries, several months apart, which means Chapman and the two other Canadian patients will return to the operating room later this year.
During the first surgery, Moloney and his colleagues remove the patient’s tooth, shave it down into a rectangle, and drill a small hole in it to accommodate the lens.
They then remove scar tissue from the patient’s eye and fill it with a small flap of soft tissue from inside their cheek.
Finally, they implant the tooth-encased lens inside the cheek so that it can grow new tissue around it.
A few months later, they go back in, remove the tooth from the cheek and sew it into the front of the eye, underneath the cheek tissue. The result is a pink-coloured eye with a small black circle, through which the patient can see.
Because the surgery is so intensive, he says they only perform it in one eye.
The procedure is not risk-free, says Moloney.
“With any ocular surgery of any kind, there’s a chance that we could introduce infection and lose all our vision,” he said.
However, he says the surgery has been performed for several decades in 10 countries, including the U.K. and Australia, with a high success rate.
A 2022 study out of Italy found that, on average, 27 years after surgery, 94 per cent of patients could still see.
“The risk-reward ratio for these patients, when they have no vision at all, is well worth it, we think,” Moloney said.
Chapman, who spoke to CBC the day before his first surgery, says it’s worth trying.
The massage therapist says he could see just fine until he was 13 years old, when he took some ibuprofen after a school basketball game, triggering a rare auto-immune reaction known as Stevens-Johnson syndrome.
He was in a coma for 27 days, and had severe burns all over his body, including his eyes. His sight never fully recovered.
Over the last 20 years, he says he’s had about 50 surgeries, including 10 corneal implants. Sometimes, he says, they work for a few months. One restored partial vision for two whole years.
But, inevitably, he always loses his sight again.
“When I get it back, you know, it would be sort of this great rush,” he said. “Then I’d lose it again and it would be heartbreaking, and I sort of sank into this depression.”
He’s hopeful these two surgeries at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital will be his last.
“I’ve been imagining myself, you know, playing basketball again and shooting hoops,” he said. “I’d like to travel more and, you know, just see the world.”
Moloney’s goal is to keep helping patients like Chapman in Canada by opening the country’s first OOKP clinic at Mount Saint Joseph.
The St. Paul’s Foundation charity has raised $430,000 to start the clinic and fund it for three years, after which the B.C. health agency Providence Health Care will fold it into its annual budget.
Dr. Samir Jabbour, an ophthalmologist at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, called the new clinic a “great opportunity for Canadian medicine.”
Jabbour, who was not involved in the B.C. surgeries, says there are very few cases in which a patient would require this kind of rare and complex surgery. But when it happens, they have to shoulder the cost of travelling outside the country.
“The fact that we have it now in Canada definitely makes it much easier for patient care,” he said.
Chapman says he’s incredibly grateful to Moloney and everyone else who made this possible.
“Hopefully, this’ll break some ground,” he said. “If there’s other people in Canada that maybe need this and it becomes, you know, an established thing here, I’d feel really great about that.”
By Sheena Goodyear, CBC News
Important Tax Season Info for Older Adults:
We know that filing taxes can feel overwhelming and confusing. That’s why we’re sharing information to help older Canadians put money back in their wallets and to make life more affordable for them.
For low-income Canadians aged 65 or older, it’s especially important they file their taxes on time, because tax returns are used to determine eligibility for financial supports like the Guaranteed Income Supplement or the GST rebate. Filing on time helps avoid unnecessary payment disruptions.
Tax credits to help make your life more affordable.
The age amount credit may help you reduce your payable income tax. To be eligible, you must be 65 or older at the end of 2024 and your net income must be less than $102,925. You can transfer all or part of this credit to your spouse or common-law partner.
If you report your eligible pension, superannuation or annuity payments on your tax return, you may qualify for the pension income amount credit. However, your income from Old Age Security benefits, Canada Pension Plan benefits and Quebec Pension Plan benefits are not eligible for this credit.
The Canada caregiver credit provides help to those supporting a family member with a disability or illness. The family member must rely on you for necessities such as food, clothing and shelter.
The disability tax credit helps reduce the income tax that people with severe and prolonged physical or mental impairments may have to pay. It aims to help offset some of the costs related to the impairment. Supporting family members may also be eligible for this credit.
If you have medical expenses that exceed 3% of your net income or $2,759, you may be eligible for the medical expenses credit. You can also claim expenses that you paid on behalf of a family member and that were not reimbursed.
The home accessibility expenses credit is a tax credit for home renovation expenses. The renovation must permanently make a home more accessible for seniors or people with disabilities living in the home.
The multigenerational home renovation tax credit can help with renovation costs and provide a refund of up to a maximum of $7,500 for each eligible claim related to the construction of a secondary suite. This tax credit is intended to help adults aged 65 or older or adults eligible for the disability tax credit live with a family member.
To find out about other tax credits you may be eligible for, visit the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) All deductions, credits and expenses webpage.
Canada Disability Benefit Regulations Now Available:
We are pleased to announce that the finalized Canada Disability Benefit Regulations and the related Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement (RIAS) were published in Part II of the Canada Gazette on March 12, 2025: Canada Gazette, Part 2, Volume 159, Number 6: Canada Disability Benefit Regulations.
The regulations set out how the Canada Disability Benefit will be administered and delivered and were finalized considering feedback submitted by Canadians during the regulatory engagement process. The RIAS provides a description of the regulations, the rationale for the chosen approaches and an assessment of their costs and benefits. It also summarizes all changes made since the proposed regulations were published in Part I of the Canada Gazette.
Additional information, including a summary of the regulations and common questions and answers about the new benefit, is available at the following links:
Summary of the Canada Disability Benefit Regulations:
Canada Disability Benefit: additional details and scenarios:
Please note that the application process for the Canada Disability Benefit is not yet open. More details about the application process will be available on the Canada Disability Benefit application page in the coming months.
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