Canada: Saskatchewan announces elimination of hearing aid plan from the budget

An online petition against the cuts started by Saskatoon High School student Mary-Jayne Morris has attracted more than 1,500 signatures, a CBCNews report said.

The protesters noted that Saskatchewan had fewer public audiologists per capita than any other province and lacked comprehensive hearing tests for newborns.

In a recent national study for its treatment of the deaf and hard of hearing, Saskatchewan received one of the worst grades.

Claudia Baptiste, president of the volunteer advocacy group Saskatchewan A.G. Bell said her 12-year-old son, Zachary, and hundreds of families across the province would be affected by elimination of the plan.

The government, supported by private audiologists, in a news release issued on Thursday, signed by 11 private sector audiologists from cities around the province, said A.G. Bell was spreading misinformation and said public sector and private audiologists, along with groups like A.G. Bell should work with the government to ensure that services remain focused on the patient, and not on providers, media reports said.

Baptiste and others opposed the statement by government and the private, for-profit companies and issued their own statement.

"Saskatchewan children's communication skills will be at risk, which in turn will affect their literacy levels, academic success and social & emotional well-being," said the A G Bell statement quoted the media.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj,Image: Wikimedia Commons)