{"id":94237,"date":"2025-06-30T09:51:30","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T13:51:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=94237"},"modified":"2025-06-30T09:51:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-30T13:51:30","slug":"manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/","title":{"rendered":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Steve Lambert The Manitoba cabinet minister responsible for services for people with disabilities is apologizing for comments she made about a sign-language interpreter. Nahanni Fontaine hosted a celebration for Indigenous women graduates Thursday in Winnipeg, and had a sign-language interpreter on stage with her during her speech. Afterward, while preparing to speak to reporters, Fontaine told one of her staff that she was thrown off by the woman’s presence and that the woman should not have been on stage. The comments were captured and reported on by First Nations TV channel APTN. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for Fontaine to apologize and said she should be removed as minister responsible for accessibility. Fontaine has issued a statement in which she apologizes and says she was worried about not being… <\/p>\n

\n
\n
This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription – Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>\n
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Steve Lambert The Manitoba cabinet minister responsible for services for people with disabilities is apologizing for comments she made about a sign-language interpreter. Nahanni Fontaine hosted a celebration for Indigenous women graduates Thursday in Winnipeg, and had a sign-language interpreter on stage with her during her speech. Afterward, while preparing to speak to reporters, Fontaine told one of her staff that she was thrown off by the woman’s presence and that the woman should not have been on stage. The comments were captured and reported on by First Nations TV channel APTN. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for Fontaine to apologize and said she should be removed as minister responsible for accessibility. Fontaine has issued a statement in which she apologizes and says she was worried about not being... <\/p>\n

This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.
Register<\/a><\/div>
Already a member? Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nManitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Steve Lambert The Manitoba cabinet minister responsible for services for people with disabilities is apologizing for comments she made about a sign-language interpreter. Nahanni Fontaine hosted a celebration for Indigenous women graduates Thursday in Winnipeg, and had a sign-language interpreter on stage with her during her speech. Afterward, while preparing to speak to reporters, Fontaine told one of her staff that she was thrown off by the woman’s presence and that the woman should not have been on stage. The comments were captured and reported on by First Nations TV channel APTN. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for Fontaine to apologize and said she should be removed as minister responsible for accessibility. Fontaine has issued a statement in which she apologizes and says she was worried about not being\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":338,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/\",\"name\":\"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/30\\\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Turtle Island News\",\"description\":\"Your Source for Local News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Turtle Island News\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2016\\\/08\\\/turtle150.jpg\",\"width\":140,\"height\":150,\"caption\":\"Turtle Island News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/TurtleIslandNews\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/newsattheturtle\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/channel\\\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\",\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lynda Powless\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/lynda\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News","og_description":"By Steve Lambert The Manitoba cabinet minister responsible for services for people with disabilities is apologizing for comments she made about a sign-language interpreter. Nahanni Fontaine hosted a celebration for Indigenous women graduates Thursday in Winnipeg, and had a sign-language interpreter on stage with her during her speech. Afterward, while preparing to speak to reporters, Fontaine told one of her staff that she was thrown off by the woman’s presence and that the woman should not have been on stage. The comments were captured and reported on by First Nations TV channel APTN. The Opposition Progressive Conservatives called for Fontaine to apologize and said she should be removed as minister responsible for accessibility. Fontaine has issued a statement in which she apologizes and says she was worried about not being","og_url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/","og_site_name":"The Turtle Island News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","article_published_time":"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":725,"height":483,"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lynda Powless","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_site":"@newsattheturtle","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lynda Powless","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/"},"author":{"name":"Lynda Powless","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458"},"headline":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter","datePublished":"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/"},"wordCount":338,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"articleSection":["National News","ticker"],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/","name":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter - The Turtle Island News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-30T13:51:30+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-CA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/30\/manitoba-cabinet-minister-apologizes-for-complaints-about-sign-language-interpreter\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Manitoba cabinet minister apologizes for complaints about sign-language interpreter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","name":"The Turtle Island News","description":"Your Source for Local News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-CA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#organization","name":"Turtle Island News","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/turtle150.jpg","width":140,"height":150,"caption":"Turtle Island News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/","https:\/\/x.com\/newsattheturtle","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCOqB-hG3L6hRLsmqY0e5k0g"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458","name":"Lynda Powless","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-CA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9dcf622653a010411b0a01d44ed2a1a41158cc5195ea70acd7914787f81e63a1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Lynda Powless"},"url":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/author\/lynda\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101363"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94237"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94237\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94238,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94237\/revisions\/94238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}